There are a thousand reasons why I love my job.
Reason # 856:
I had my students write on a journal question today: what is something you believe in so strongly that you’d continue to believe in it even if it was unpopular?
Some students struggled to think of something. They asked me for an example. I gave them one from my life: “I’m pro-life. I have excellent reason to think that the unborn is a human being from conception, and human beings have rights. Therefore, even if all my friends became avidly pro-choice, I’d still be pro-life.”
One student immediately objected: “what about a child conceived by rape?”
Situations like this are an open invitation to get them to think and reason. I love it.
My answer: “you know, I agree that that is a horrible situation. I can’t even imagine the pain the woman in that situation would be going through. But, you know, why punish the child just because his father is a rapist?”
Some would consider that too much, but I reason: if the unborn are human beings (we have excellent reason scientifically and philosophically to think they are), then they have rights. Why wouldn’t we allow a mother to kill his three year old because she reminded her of a traumatic event? Answer: because she is a human being. Same in the case of abortion.
He balked, and continued to object. “Every time the woman would look at the kid, it would remind her of the rape. Would you want her to go through that?”
I assured him that his question was an emotionally powerful one (you always want to give props where you can to those that disagree with you); I can’t even begin to conceive of the pain, but I reiterated that the woman shouldn’t victimize the child because she herself was victimized. I also noted that having the abortion wouldn’t solve the emotional problem; it would only compound it with some hefty guilt.
He hung onto his beliefs tenaciously, which wasn’t surprising; people tend to dig in when their friends are watching.
Eventually, I called his bluff: “I disagree with your reasoning, but let me concede the point just for the sake of discussion. So abortion in the case of rape is permissable. Will you then join with pro-lifers in fighting for the rights of the unborn who stand to be aborted for elective reasons?”
His answer: NO.
This was very revealing. The “rape” question was a red herring. Many pro-choicers I’ve met go to that case immediately, not because it’s a really sticky question for them, but because they are using it as a way to justify abortion for any reason whatsoever.
That’s a hard leap of faith for them to make, though.
Carry on with the good work. The kids going through your class should at least be able to subject their own ideas to scrutiny as we are so wont to do to others ideas.
I can respect someone who opposes abortion…provided that they support policies that benefit the child once it’s born. Too often, the very people who are rabidly pro-life only seem to be pro-life while the fetus is in the womb. Once it pops out, they don’t seem to give much of a damn.