Abortion. A personal choice.

This was a topic on the front page of the newspaper today. It is a hot button with many people, especially those from the Roman Catholic church. It, like any topic of such seriousness, gets people's blood pressure up. It gets mine up, but not because I see abortion as a terrible thing, but I see the local diocese wasting tens of thousands of dollars trying to tell other people what to do based on a religion that they may not even belong to.

Like most large life issues, abortion isn't black or white, good or evil. It is grey. There are times when it is even a medical necessity. The Catholic church will have you believe it is a sin, always, and you are a very bad , evil person if you have or perform an abortion. Apparently however it is OK according to the actions of the RC Church , and actions always speak louder than words, that we can kill, maim, torture, in the name of Catholicism. Have wars in the name of it.Force people off of their land and into religious schools and churches, separating families, and destroying cultures that were a million times more spiritual that the people beating them when they refused to recite catechisms. Turn away people who need help because they aren't Catholic, or better yet, prosecute them for being Pagans.  Deny help to the Jews and others, because after all the Holocaust apparently never happened( according to the RC Church). It's also apparently OK to allow people to get away with rape and molestation of children. So far, I wouldn't allow the Church to decide what day to celebrate Christmas on.

I find it hard to think that God looks at these actions as doing his good works. I really don't think God believes the RC Church has a track record of good decisions and behavior.

Whether you  believe that abortion is a good idea or not, a sin or not, is up to you and something that you need to hold sacred in your life. It is NOT however something a religious institution should be deciding for the whole country. We have Catholics here and we are all more than happy to not bomb your homes or kill your OBGYNs so that you can have all the babies you want. Please return the favor. There are Muslims, Protestants, Baptists, Taoists, Jews, Buddhists, Atheists, Shintoists, Native Americans, and every other belief system and religion on this planet living in this country. Know why? Because we founded this country on separation of church and state.  Whether you are for it or against it, I really don't care. I care that people are able to practice their beliefs in peace, but the Catholic Church always has that "Holier than Thou" attitude which attempts to not allow others to practice their beliefs in peace.

The Church needs to keep its' nose out of politics because everyone in this country is not Catholic. People have their own accord with their Supreme Being.

I know two people in my life who had abortions. I totally agree with their decisions. One was totally unable to healthfully have the child, basically it most likely would have killed her. The other had a pregnancy where the child had many physical and mental defects which would have prevented a quality of life. The child was better off on the other side with God where it would be healthy, and the woman, thank God she is still with us. She runs a battered woman's shelter in another state.

To me it isn't about pro or anti abortion, to me it is about a religious institution shoving its beliefs down other people's throats. It is about taking away the very platform this country was built on, and it is about an institution who's track record sucks, trying to tell the rest of us how to live.  They talk about saving babies lives, is that to make up for the 125,000 tortured, many to death, during the Spanish Inquisition, or maybe the 11 to 17 MILLION killed during the Holocaust (who were not just Jews by the way) that the Church refused to recognize was happening. Maybe it is to make up for the 60,000 children of "savages" that they felt needed to be removed from their Native American families,and "educated" . That doesn't include missionary work all over the world, or the fact that just about every war fought on this globe was based in religion. Now, not every was a Catholic war, but many were. Is it about making up for the 4,392 priests and other church members that molested children (and each molested multiple children, multiple times, so that number doesn't represent the number of molestations, it is much higher)?

The point is that the Catholic Church is the last institution that should be in charge of anything, or making decisions for large groups of people. The point is the Catholic Church has a bad habit of sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong, and then if you don't go along with their bad decision they will torture, kill, remove, or rape you.

Now please, all you Catholics out there, don't waste time telling me that you will pray for me, or that your religion is wonderful. I am sure that you think so, or you wouldn't be part of it. But please allow the rest of the world the same courtesy.  Keep your nose out of people's private lives, as long as they are not storming your churches, burning your altars, bombing your diocese, or any other things that you have done to abortion clinics, (see the world gives you the respect you don't give them!), then leave them alone. Practice banning abortion in the Catholic Church, but leave the rest of the world out of it. God will straighten the rest of us out.

There are a lot of wise and good people on this planet who are put in very difficult situations on a daily basis. People don't have abortions because it seems like fun. People have abortions because they are put in situations that don't leave other options for them, and before you go off on adoption as an option, there are already 129,000 children in the US alone awaiting adoption. Feel free to fill out an application and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

Let people make decisions about their bodies based on their relationship to the world and to their belief system, not yours.

Always stand up for your rights, but never to shove them down another person's throat.



Peshaui Wequashimese



(C)2012 Dr. R M Wolf. May not be used, copied or reproduced without prior written permission