weeklythoughtexchange

Last week we discussed the rights declared for us in the Declaration of Independence, particularly the right to life. We then stepped out on the road to discussing what exactly it means to have the right to life, especially the right to what happens to our bodies. This path, of course, led directly into a discussion about a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body and caused us to wonder about unwanted pregnancies. Does a right to choose apply to terminating pregnancies that interfere with the woman’s plans for her life? It does…unless it can be determined that the fetus within her is actually a living person. We then considered the definition of personhood and pondered what makes someone a person: physical development, mental activity, will to live, and unique individuality. After reviewing the stages of fetal development we realized that all of the elements of personhood exist during the fetal stages.

Some might say that this is an open and shut case. If a fetus is, in fact, a person, abortion is no longer an option. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Many would still argue that if an unwanted fetus interferes with the woman’s health, convenience, or comfort, she has the right to end it. That argument forces us to ask this question: “Does an individual’s dependence on me give me the right to end that individual’s life when his dependency becomes an inconvenience to me?”  For example, a cancer patient is dependent on the doctor’s care and knowledge in order to battle the disease.  What if the doctor gets tired of a particularly draining case? Does he have the right to end treatment or do something to end the patient’s life?   What about wounded warriors? They are dependent on their family for care and provision as they recover and rehabilitate? What if that becomes too bothersome to their caregivers? Do they have the right to end their lives? These examples could go on and on, even including citizens dependent on the government. If we are depending on the government for all that we need in life, they have complete control over us and who knows when they may choose to pull the plug.   Common sense would say that none of the caregivers in my aforestated examples have the right to end the lives of those depending on them. So why is it different for the unborn child?

The difference is between whether or not the child is wanted.  Here are two stories that testify to the difference: Unwanted child  vs. Wanted Children. Ultimately it comes down to this: we justify the ending of tiny, unborn lives because they are small or imperfect or unable to survive on their own, so that their existence will not interfere with our comfort and convenience. This argument, under any other circumstance would not stand in court as reasonable justification for murder, or even animal abuse! So why is it allowed for the 4,000 abortions that happen every day in America? 

Their hearts beat. Their brains are active. Their nerves feel pain. They have fingerprints and footprints. They try to flee danger. If they are not human beings, what are they? They are Americans with the RIGHT TO LIFE. It’s their life. Let them live it.

You’re too big. Too small. Too young. Too old. Too rich. Too poor. Too dumb. Too smart…How often do you hear why you can’t do what you want to do? Everybody wants to stand up for themselves and live out their lives in the way they want to, but I think Americans are especially ready to fight for their rights. After all, it’s written in our Declaration of Independence: “LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Perhaps the right that we value most is the one about our life. It’s something that belongs to us.

In that vein, we want to choose what we want to do with our life. Whether it is education, career, marriage, living arrangements, and religious beliefs,we want to make the final decision on what we do with and to ourselves.  But perhaps the most debated choice is what we purpose to do with our bodies, even if that choice is destructive. The arena of a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body is where it gets especially heated. For some reason we all agree that people should have control over their own bodies, as long as it doesn’t harm another individual. You can drink all you want as long as you don’t get into a car and run someone over. You can smoke all you want as long as you don’t do it where I have to inhale your second-hand smoke. You can skydive all you want as long as you don’t take me with you, or expect me to care for you when you are paralyzed.  Thus, when a woman’s decision about her body affects another person it becomes a matter of legal, and moral, significance.

Perhaps we need to preface our discussion with the definition of personhood. According to the American Heritage Medical Dictionary,

per·son (pûrsn) n. 1. A living human. 2. The composite of characteristics that make up an individual personality; the self. 3. The living body of a human. 4. Physique and general appearance.

There’s a retired naval air station located in my community. It consists of acres of unused land, as well as abandoned neighborhoods and a few crumbling warehouses. When I walk through it I can almost hear the whispers of faded memories asking to be remembered and in my mind I see a community coming together to put a portion of the base back into service.

In my community there is an overwhelming number of invisible souls, animal and youth. I think we have gotten used to dismissing them to the “professionals,” whether the Humane Society or DHS, and they have gotten lost in the shuffle.  Whenever we see a need it is easier on us to call a number and feel we’ve done our part, than to actually do our part.

So if my dream came true, this is what it would look like:

– The military would donate 5 acres of land for the express purpose of animal rescue.

– Each class at the local elementary schools would adopt an animal by collecting food, toys, old blankets, and other pet supplies to donate each month, since the kids are too small to actually work with the animals.

-The local middle and high school would partner with the center to encourage their students in citizenship and would create a system so that their students would come and work with the animals each week.

-Homeschooling families would come in the mornings to help out.

-The neighboring Youth Challenge facility would arrange to send their youth over a few mornings a week to take the dogs running during their PT time.

-A portion of the land would be set up for agriculture. Members of the community who are good with the land, and students from the university, would come and teach the volunteering teens how to turn a desert into an oasis.  The process would remind the teens that we are all connected to nature and the blossoming land would create a peaceful place for training the dogs and encouraging potential adopters to spend time with them.

-The local churches would also sponsor the center and send volunteers to help with maintenance, as well as tutoring the volunteering youth who have an empty home to return to each afternoon.

-The community veterinarians would be willing to provide a few hours of pro bono services each week, and medical supplies at a discounted rate.

-The local businesses would help to financially support the center on an annual basis because they recognize that the best way to handle a problem (such as stray animals) is to turn it into a solution (preventing/reversing juvenile delinquency).

Many of you who are reading this are probably thinking, “It’s a great dream! But it would never work.” And a laundry list of legal, financial, logisitical reasons has probably popped into your head to justify your realism.  And you’re probably right. But a preacher once said, “Between the great things we cannot do and the little things we will not do, lies the danger of doing nothing.”

If everyone did a little there would be no great thing we could not do.

I am looking for scholarships to help fund my doctoral pursuits. I am an educator with a Master’s degree, but teachers in Hawaii don’t usually have salaries that reflect their signficant role in molding and preparing the next generation of leaders. Anyway, I digress.  The point is simply that I could use a few extra dollars to help fund my endeavors…So I do what every student in higher education usually does…I look for scholarships.

I figured that since I am a teacher I am

entitled.

I am pursuing a doctorate which makes me more marketable in today’s economy, so I must be

entitled.

I am advancing in the field of education which will benefit the society so I should be

entitled. 

I want to pay my own way as much as possible and live as debt-free as possible; in other words, I am not seeking handouts, just money that’s already designated for scholarships. Doesn’t that qualify me to be

entitled?

I am just above the poverty line, if not walking it, as a teacher in Hawaii, so I’m certainly

entitled.

Right? Wrong! 

I am not Black, Hispanic, Latino, Native American, Polynesian, I am White-European.

I am not gay, lesbian, bi-or transsexual.  I’m as straight as they come.

I am not a single parent. I’m simply single.

I am not on welfare because I have a supportive family.

I am not first generation college since my father worked hard to get his education.

I don’t belong to a million different prestigious organizations and clubs, since I prefer to volunteer at church and work at a local vet clinic.

The only thing I am entitled to is feeling like I should be entitled.