One doesn't have to choose to be sexist, to be sexist. In some ways, sexism by ignorance is even harder to combat than sexism by malevolence, because--as you have demonstrated--such people will swear to the high heavens that they're loving and caring and blah, blah, blah, whereas at least the outright bigots are straightforward enough to take at face value.
And yet your ignorance of my position of magnitudes beyond any ignorance I carry in this discussion. Careful who you judge, Lord J.
I can’t help but wonder why you don’t at least attempt to refute any of my secular arguments against abortion, but instead proclaim to the masses what a sexist figure I am by setting up a straw man of someone who opposes abortion. Please get off your digital soapbox and let’s discuss this like scholars.
My second thought, upon reading your words of wisdom, is that, in one sentence, you have both discounted a woman's ability to raise a child on her own and you have implied that men are the sole determining factor in whether somebody gets pregnant. Look at your language: "get a woman pregnant"; "throw their responsibility out"; "their actions have eliminated the (woman's) choice." By focusing so exclusively on males in your righteous indignation, you demean and patronize females. Sexism, check.
Okay. Fair enough. Next time I see a woman on the street who advocates abortion, I’ll ask her who has the most blame for such a social issue in the first place. I’ll eat one of my shoes if she said that women are to blame and not men.
Would you rather that I paint a quixotic picture of strong-willed women who can take care of children all by themselves without a father figure? I wish I could, but this isn’t “Murphy Brown”; this is reality. The ones that do get by in such a manner and the few and far between. If you do find such a mother, ask her if raising children by herself and keeping a steady income job has been cakewalk. I’ll eat my other shoe if she says yes.
Strike one.
My third thought is that your entire paragraph here is a case-in-point: Dripping with self-indulgence. Dripping with condescension. Dripping with manipulative intent. I'd better get the mop!
While you’re at it, you could pick up the coals you keep hauling over me.
See, here you're saying that, because you claim to be willing to raise a kid, nobody else should ever get to decide for themselves what to do. You've made up everybody's mind for them: Women have no choice but to bring the kid to term, and men have no choice but to own up to fatherhood or face your Devout Disapprobation. Essentially, you're telling every woman on Earth that you know better than them. You're doing the same for men, actually. Sexism, check--this time from both the misogynistic and misandristic sides.
I never said I hated men or women. On the contrary, I said I care about women, and I said that I “personally” find men responsible. It’s like you’re deliberately taking everything I say, even opinions, at face value, which is so far removed from what a debate should be about; defending your own beliefs instead of offending someone else’s.
If she still wants the abortion and doesn’t want me around, then that’s fine by me. I won’t tread upon her personal beliefs just to get a point across. No, they wouldn’t suffer under any Devout (religious term, something I thought you’d at least try to avoid since I agreed that I would) Disapprobation. I’ll just tell them that they’ll just have to live with the consequences of their actions, just like the man who gets her pregnant in the first place. However, that’s just my opinion, and that of every other adult on this planet.
Zero for two, Lord J. I’d stay out of Vegas if I were you.
There. I've thought about it twice and thrice. You're a sexist. You're also ignorant and selfish about this topic. My advice is that you limit your decision-making powers to your own self.
Wow. Such a resolute answer, and yet somehow, I don’t buy it for one minute because you have yet to factually refute any of my secular arguments against abortion. My advice to you is to do some research instead of accusing me of being ignorant in the hopes that you might “call my bluff” or something along those lines.
What's offensive is that you and others think so little of women that you're prepared to take away one of their most fundamental forms of self-determination in the name of unborn children who don't even possess personhood. The concept of reproductive rights is so beyond your dogmatic mind that it truly doesn't occur to you that opposing those rights is like supporting the restoration of slavery.
Again, who has the final authority to determine personhood? The mother? A doctor? A Superior Court judge? I can’t rely on such a rubber yardstick to validate your argument. Again, you have shown how you believe civil rights are much higher in priority than personal responsibility, which doesn’t take a “dogmatic mind” to figure out. Sounds to me like you don’t like the concept of personal responsibility, be it man or woman.
Consider this. Everyone who supported slavery was free. Everyone who supports abortion was born. This is how oppression works.
What has the outlawing of abortion accomplished to date? Sickness, misery, poverty, disinheritance, and subjugation. Not just for the mothers, but often for the children too, and sometimes the fathers, and even others! I find your ignorance beyond disgusting, because in this case the ramifications of your desire are beyond the pale.
Have you been reading anything I’ve written down? I just got through saying how women and children are the ones who suffer the most over the issue of abortion. On the other hand, what has abortion accomplished to date? Inconsistent laws, death in the millions, and sadness, just to name a few. “Safe, legal, and rare” is a motto for those who support abortion, except 30% of pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion. I kid you not.
If abortion were a good thing, why should it be rare? Even our pro-choice President Obama has said “Let's work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoption more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term.”
If you’re gonna accuse me of being sexist, then you better aim at the President as well.
This is the part where I clap sarcastically for your moral rectitude. I've heard that line a million times, buster. Ad hominem. Ad hominem! You know, what is a piece of shit but a piece of shit? Is it ad hominem to call it by its own name? Sometimes the truth hurts. I would be sympathetic for you, were my sympathies not already stretched so far and wide on behalf of the millions of victims of your philosophy and its spectacularly foolish practitioners. So, as it is, you'll have to live with it. Nobody's tethering you to this thread either. If you're not prepared to get burned, you shouldn't play with fire.
And this is the part where I do nothing except reflect on your feelings towards people like me. What’s with the holier-than-thou attitude, Lord J?
Yours are the same old out-dated arguments for abortion rights. I don’t blame you for feeling the way you feel. I once stood for abortion rights, until I did the research and found out the awful truth behind it. You can keep pretending that the ball’s in your court when it comes to abortion rights. I won’t hinder you if that’s what you honestly believe.
* * * * * *
Consider this last bit before you fire back at me with whatever candlestick of a flame you possess.
If you possessed undeniable proof that a certain social practice (think of something besides “abortion”, if you can) was wrong in almost every conceivable way, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to get that information to the people who applied that social practice without taking into the account the irreversible harm they’re doing?
Let me put it this way: for anyone who willingly withholds information that could potentially reduce the harm or hurt that comes from a destructive social practice or event, I couldn’t find a better textbook definition for the word “evil.”
Don't screw with me on this issue. I know my facts.