Beliefs on a few large subjects

Note: The views contained herein are not necessarily the exact view of the author, even though I wrote them and they came from my head. I'm bound to accidentally say something wrong, or worse, something I don't believe, so bear with me as these are touchy subjects.

ABORTION:
I am, for lack of a better term, pro-life. I firmly believe that regardless of the stage of development a human is still a human, fetus or otherwise. I can not understand how one can believe that being out of the mother's womb automatically makes a child more of a human. If you are to believe a child is not a child until it's fetus is well formed, i ask you this, what of premature births, is an infant born three months early any less deserving of life than one born "on time"? I should say not. As for those who claim a fetus does not hold rights as a human until it is able to survive outside the mother's womb i ask this: what if technology eventually makes it possible for a fetus to survive outside the mother's womb from conception, then we are back at the premature birth point. And if you agree that should technology be able to accomplish this these very premature babies should be given full rights, you cannot possibly say that since the technology does not yet exist then early stage fetuses do not have human rights, because you'd have already agreed on principle that an early fetus could be granted human rights.

I firmly respect a woman's right to choose with respect to there bodies. Yet I must point out that a fetus is not part of a woman's body, it is a separate being that happens to reside there for approximately nine months, and as a separate being the mother's rights over her own body do not apply to it.

You will notice that I did not have to resort to saying the mother should know the risks of sexual activity and be prepared for the consequences. I merely demonstrated an argument based upon the interlinking of many moral feelings and generally accepted conventions of what constitutes a human being. I would , however, like to express that my main problem with abortion is when it is used as a last effort birth control. I do however acknowledge the right to abortion should the child pose a significant threat to the physical welfare of the mother, as it does involve the woman's body, and is her right to choose to save her own life.

In short, I believe that a fetus has the right to life, and I dispute abortion not for a lack of respect for choice, but for the acknowledgment that life surpasses choice in the spectrum of human rights. First life, then liberty, then the pursuit of happiness, to paraphrase a favorite document of mine.

******Addition
A good friend of mine has brought up a point that I did not explicitly elaborate upon in this issue. They wanted to know how I felt if a girl was raped, and if she should be allowed to have an abortion then. Well this is a very touchy topic, and that's the main reason I didn't comment on it before. However, we're here to break down barriers so here's what I think. Rape is a terrible evil and I believe that it should be punishable to the highest extent of the law. I do however, believe that in order to be true to the principles I've established above, I must say that a life is a life no matter how it is conceived. A child conceived by rape is no less of a human than any other. It is a terribly complicated circumstance but I would be a hypocrite if I said anything different. HOWEVER, should it ever come down to it, this is the one issue that I would be willing to compromise if it meant passing an anti-abortion law. As I stated before, although my goal is to defend to innocent, my main problem is the use of abortion as a late birth control.

Should you have any questions about my argument or rebuttals i would be more than happy to meet them. Please either send them in a message or an email, or talk with me one-on-one.

__________________________

____________________________________


GAY MARRIAGE:
Now to be perfectly honest I don't desire to spend much time on this subject as I don't believe I can change people's view here, but in the interest of enlightenment, here's my take. I believe homosexual couples should have the right to have civil unions with equal rights as a married heterosexual couple. I do not, however, believe it should be called marriage. To be fair to the Christians, marriage is a religious term and although I may not agree with their choices on same-sex unions, I think we should respect their right to that term. I think it's a fair compromise.

However, I am well aware that for many it is an issue of whether it constitutes a n actual union as they believe it to be unnatural and not accordant with the letter of the law. Still other's would say that the practice is simply immoral and that the government shouldn't support it for that reason. People have even gone so far as to say that if we allow same-sex unions we may as well allow inbreeding, bestiality, and marriage to lawn furniture. To set the record straight on all of this, here is my take once more. Gay unions are still between two humans, I don't think that anyone would argue that our cattle and ottomans should be given equal status to humans. As for inbreeding there is scientific proof that it can lead to serious birth defects, with no such chance with gay unions. As for those who wouldn't see the government become "immoral" I must remind them of separation of church and state. The governments morals should be determined by that which best protects it's citizens. As gay marriage poses no direct threat to the citizenry, by its own laws it has no right to ban it.

In summary, I believe gay unions to be within the measure of the law, and I support civil unions as long as they are not called marriage.

Again, should you have any questions about my argument or rebuttals i would be more than happy to meet them. Please either send them in a message or an email, or talk with me one-on-one.

______________________________________________________________

Premarital sex:
This is a complicated subject, but I think I have finally figured out my views upon this subject. Let me first say that I strongly believe the the government should have no involvement in this issue. We must be careful with how much power we give our government, but that is for another article. As for my personal views on the subject, I believe that society is different now from the stigma of the past. With the advent of birth control it is no longer a matter of care for a child as long as proper precaution is taken. Although I do not believe sexual activities should be flippant or on a whim, I believe that we can be, as a friend of mine put it, lenient. Without the responsibility inherent in pregnancy it becomes an expression of love which I believe is acceptable when truly felt.

Sorry this wasn't longer, but it's all I've really got to say on the subject.

_______________________________________________________________
WAR:
Well I must admit that this is quite a weighty subject and although I can not completely give it justice here I will attempt to give you the gist of my beliefs.

I believe the main sticking point of this argument is going to be centered around the idea of "nesessary evil". In a perfect world those two words would never be paired, frankly even in this world I hesitate to say it. The idea of "nesessary evil" when applied to war is that sometimes war is needed to protect the innocent when they are threatened.

I believe that war is a terrible action, it is one of the most obscene atrocities that humanity can create. It has caused the deaths of countless millions since the dawn of civilization. What's worse is that with the advent of each new war, the tactics get smarter and the technology becomes more deadly. From stone to sword, musket to machine gun, explosives to nuclear warheads, every war seems to take a more horrifying turn than the last. Now we have begun to enter a whole new type of warfare, where ordinary citizens become the soldiers and the innocent are the most treasured target.

With this terrible history and new, sickening era of Terrorism, it seems nearly impossible that anyone could even consider attempting to justify war. However, despite my previous sentiments I believe war is occasionally nesessary for one reason, war is often not a mutual decision. It is most often one country or group attacking another for power, money, land, or just out of a deeply rooted hatred. In this case I believe the attacked peoples have the right, and the duty to defend themselves. To not protect the citizens of ones country can be just as grievious of a crime as the act of starting the war. In my mind, this blatant kind of apathy for human suffering is more despicable than the actions of the aggressors. At least most of the time when a country declares war they believe themselves to be in the right, for apathy, there is no excuse.

An Old Short story (Passing Strangers)

I'll start this blog off by importing some of my facebook notes to get me started. This is a short short story i wrote several months ago. Enjoy.

Passing Strangers (Copyright 2008)

By Benjamin C. Atwell


Glazed eyes and blank faces weave seamlessly into the background of mundane living down the corridors of a modern city. Men and woman intent upon nothing but not being where they were. Swirling and swerving, their multifarious jackets, skirts, and suits blur to a muddy rainbow in pale morning sun.
Among the crowd a lone face turns toward the sun, taking some small comfort from its mottled rays. Others look up dumbly, wondering briefly if a faster path has been spotted above them. Claire turns back from that fleeting warmth, straightens on a blank stare, and allows her self to be herded by the indifferent throng. Losing interest, the others grumble and continue on their way.
Everyday she must pass thousands of people. With neither a nod nor a spark of life glinting from the lidless eyes of a modern world, she is daily swept up in the meaningless meanderings of a busy life. The towering indifference of the city plods slowly past, its silvered eyes gazing blankly within, shoving the world starkly back upon itself.
Claire weaves among the throbbing masses with the grace of a dancer, the first of many deferrals in her short life. She heads down Cypress Boulevard, mechanical in her precisely timed turning. Keeping perfectly poised she powers down the weathered walk, oblivious to the gnarled hand of a beggar reaching upward toward her, clambering skyward for aid. As she passes the hand slowly retracts, once again bereft of charity.
Her blank gaze is caught by a long, jagged crack in the pavement beneath her travel worn heels. She follows its crooked contours down the length of the sidewalk. Pursing with heightened interest this abstract aspect of an otherwise inane vessel, she becomes less sure of her position, clipping several passing suits. The ostentatious aperture in the pavement slowly grows as it is shadowed.
Leaping back with fright Claire finds her self upon the brink of a gaping maw in the earth. It seems to sigh, as if relieved it was not forced to stomach an unwelcome morsel. Flanked by construction crews and encircled by caution tape, she seemed to have managed to stumble upon the sole opening. Reaching down toward some unknown destination, the pit swirled downward into fading darkness. It's purpose was not clear to Claire, but she shrugged it off as a mark of progress. Just another hole to plant next years office in.
Taking a moment to compose herself, she takes a couple more cautionary steps backward, bumping into a construction worker. The man grunts, glares at her, and continues on his way. As he walks away her eyes follow his steady, determined gait. He readjusts his reflective vest and fades indignantly from sight behind a plume of dust, thrown up by the yellow earth movers.
An angry driver jolts her back to reality as he blares his horn at a passing car. It's polished metal reflects briefly the blurred image of a woman in a black overcoat, with just a hint of gray skirt showing from below its encompassing warmth. Shimmering slightly, the reflection traces the length of the vehicle's chrome trim, and vanishes. Glancing at her watch, Claire springs once more into motion, skirting the fissure, and she reclaims her place on the path.
She blends back into the forward minded masses, carving a swath between executives, secretaries, even a harassed-looking mailman. Rounding a corner, she emerges on 12th street, once more confident in her purpose. The cracks and pits in the sidewalk sink back into their common gray blur, smoothed by a million heavy and hurried steps.
Powering swiftly down the street, Claire brushes rebellious strands of sandy brown hair from her face. The wind has started to pick up, giving flight to unwary bits of litter, and discarded papers. The abandoned newsprint drifts lazily about the traffic, occasionally jostled by an eddy created by a passing car. Pigeons, startled by the sudden breeze takeoff, stumbling nosily through the air. Claire once again checks her watch, time was short, as always.
In her haste she steps into a lone puddle, still clinging to the memory of a passed storm. She pauses, assessing the damage. Shimmering slightly, her eyes show brightly in the reflection, brown flecked with green, full of scrutiny and concern. From the pool, they gaze once more toward the sky. Claire groans and shakes her heel clad foot, attempting to free it from the unwelcome water. The shimmering surface shatters into a cascade of ripples as droplets free themselves from the unwelcome intruder. There mutual indignation is wasted however, as Claire is already back on her way, staining the side walk with her sodden steps. As her shoes dry the marks fade, silently disappearing in her wake.
Claire can see her building now, sparkling dully in the morning sunlight. It stands between smaller structures, it is flanked by a neat hedgerow, a path leading directly to the perfect glass doors, polished so wonderfully they were opaque with reflection. Towering forty-eight stories of smooth tan stone, its black mirrored windows blazing with the brilliant flame of a cold dawn, the building inspires a sense of purposeful determination and steadfast work ethic.
Claire gazes at it from across the street, taking in the familiar and comforting contours of its facade. Stolid executives make there way past hurried businessmen, filing in an orderly rush through gates, diligently prepared for the practiced routine of this new day. She sighs, and steps out onto the street.
A lone sparrow atop a lamp post watches her movements with curiosity. Claire has remember the time and hastens across the street. The brown speckled bird tilts its head to one side, shifting restlessly on its perch. Claire is running across the lanes now. The tiny sparrow withdraws its gaze and returns it to the sky, tracing the memories of clouds and their blue wake. It blinks, and leaps from the lamppost, startled, despite the absence of wind. Claire slips.
The world inverts as she finds herself once more facing the comforting warmth of the mottled sunlight. Squinting painfully into the harsh light, she watches a small bird reclaim the blue pathway, oblivious to the world below. Morning traffic is on its way, focused in its routine. Black tires roll incessantly onward across the slick, gray pavement. Claire raises her hand, clambering skyward for aid.
A shadow paints her figure in fleeting warmth. Grasping her hand, its origin lifts Claire to her feet and pushes her to the safety of the opposite sidewalk. Claire stumbles, shivers, and glances over her shoulder. The shadow fades back into the interminable brown of the hurried masses.
Claire gazes at her hand, once again empty. She turns once more toward the sky, and smiles.