As you know the full meaning of pro-life in the social
political sense is respect of life from conception to natural death.
There are many people who say they are pro-life, but miss about
90% of the battles, hence the war is harder to win.
And as you regular readers know, articles in the news can
set me off. There were two incidents this week. One was well published and is
still making headlines and the other not so much. Both though are important in
truly understanding what it means to be pro-life.
The first is the arrest of the New England Patriots’ owner
Robert Kraft. First, I will clear up one fact, he isn’t part of a sex
trafficking ring himself. He is charged with soliciting prostitution or something
along those lines. And I am not out to attack him. I reference him to reference
the story, otherwise this story may have made one headline nationally and a few
locally. The real issue is human trafficking.
Some people make so much noise about fighting abortion they
forget there are other abuses of the dignity of life that are just as important.
Human trafficking is almost faceless in the news, unless someone like Mr. Kraft
makes a huge mistake and becomes a victim perpetrator. President Trump will use the term human trafficking
in a litany of reasons he wants to build a wall or have stronger border
security. And both the Democrat and Republican Party will have a blurb on it
whenever they release a national platform. Yet, no one really addresses the
issue. It is side stepped when it comes to the budget which shows how weak we
are on the subject. Everyone agrees human trafficking is “bad”, but no one
wants to get their hands dirty and do something about it.
How much money is dedicated to it each year in law
enforcement or for the FBI? It barely has a line item in the national budget
compared to other items. The Republican Party screams about giving money to
Planned Parenthood but does not counter with any amount for human trafficking,
nor do they breathe a whisper on the subject. Thousands upon thousands of
people are caught up in this disaster. They are faceless, forgotten, ignored,
hurt, killed, injured, sick, hungry, abused, and more. Do you hear their plight
make the news? Oh wait, they just did for half a second because someone famous
got “caught” as a customer at the end of the line for this human horror.
People will stand on street corners outside abortion clinics
to save one baby. They will march in annual parades. They give generously to
candidates who say they are pro-life to prevent abortions. They have no idea
how prevalent human trafficking is in their cities. And they could care less.
Fighting human trafficking admits we have problems. It is the kind of issue
that forces us to look in the mirror and lie to ourselves and say I am not that
type of person. I have no blemish. I fight evil by fighting abortionists and
communists. I can stick my head in the sand and be quite content. Human
trafficking doesn’t exist if I do not stand up on a soap box and rail against
it.
The Democrats think they have a pass. Pro-life isn’t their
issue so they try to avoid it in different ways. They hide behind we are better
than the other side, we want people to be good. We aren’t hypocrites, but their
silence is also deafening. Where are they when the woman must wait until her
masters let her eat after her work is done. Where is her sex education telling
her how bad her body is being abused? Where is her 40-hour work week, minimum
wage, health insurance?
Occasionally a Democrat will say we need to legalize prostitution
so we can regulate it. That doesn’t solve human trafficking. That only legitimizes
it in a small degree. Some people will choose to make a profession out of prostitution,
for most the career choice is made for them. Drug addiction, poverty, ignorance
is some of the tools of the trade that recruit people, yet these tools are
anathema to human dignity, to give a person the right to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness and most importantly self-respect.
Tell someone you want to run for office, and you are going
to fight the good fight against human trafficking as your main platform and see
how far you get. I hope you get far, yet I am not too optimistic for your
chances.
And the other issue is part of the definition of pro-life,
till natural death. We do not do well in this area either. There was an article
making the online news about a picture of an elderly woman face down in a pillow
on some counter. It wasn’t a pretty picture. And neither is the way we treat
the elderly in general. Now families take care of their own, but as an issue to
fight for in our society, the picture is much uglier than a snapshot on the
internet.
It starts with the basics of life. How can we care for
ourselves in old age if we do not have a decent living during our life? Or how
can a family take care of their elders if they are struggling to make ends meet?
People rail against socialism, saying we cannot have the government pay for
people. Well if we are unable to help and you won’t let the government help,
who cares for them, or who cares. Start at the beginning or start at the end,
but sooner or later if we believe in dignity of life till natural death, then
someone must fight for a natural death with dignity. Dumping our elders in a
crap shoot of nursing homes where some are great, some get by and then we spend
a fortune on elder care advocates for the homes that do not do so well.
So, issues such as health care throughout your life,
education, decent wages, if we pay into social security shouldn’t it be part of
our retirement along with Medicare? Is that socialism when we contributed? Or
what else is there? Is it socialism? Maybe, but it is better than ignoring the
reality we all will face. Yes, it is nice to be successful, but if we believe
in a competitive world, not everyone wins. It is okay in sports because there
is always next year. In life if we do not allow for a next year then why play
the game. I am for people who work hard, being successful and enjoying the fruits
of their labors. Their fruits should not be so excessive they ignore the
dignity of others. You can choose to allow people to thrive during their life
or you can help at the end of their life or you can tell the truth and say you
do not care about pro-life.
I am pro-life from conception to natural death and all of it
in between. This means treating others with dignity, with love, with respect, and
doing what you can for them to thrive in their life. Some can do more than others
yet do what you can because it all boils down to one rule: do unto others as
you would have them do unto you or love your neighbor as you love yourself. Anything
less is not pro-life.
Cheers
No comments:
Post a Comment