Thursday, April 27, 2006

Slouching towards Gomorrah

We should decriminalize rape. It has become clear that, despite the best efforts of the justice system and law enforcement, that we cannot stop it from happening. Instead, we should work to make the act of rape safe. A woman who is to be raped would be restrained in a humane manner in a rape clinic, where a man who cannot control his urges will violate her under supervision and strict regulations. While such a policy change could be described as "immoral" it would actually be the lesser of two evils considering the brutality of many rapes.

No, I have not completely lost my mind. I am making a point about absurdity by posting an absurd argument. Carlo Maria Martini, a cardinal in the Catholic church, argued that "legalisation of abortion was a 'positive' development in the sense that it had 'contributed to reducing and eliminating illegal abortions'."

The idea that we might as well have abortion be legal because we cannot stop it anyway is both silly and false. Ann Coulter made the point in her speech here a couple months ago that diseases brought about by alcoholism were less common during prohibition because of the legal consequences of drinking alcohol. While Prohibition certainly didn't end the use of alcohol, it did reduce it.

Those who advocate for the right to murder unborn children often argue that making abortion illegal would actually be harmful because it would lead to more "back alley" abortions. However, government should never allow the murder of the innocent to take place under the protection of the law. Abortion is not a public policy issue where you search for the most utilitarian solution. Abortion is a matter of basic human rights.

Martini also said "it is acceptable for Catholics to use condoms to prevent AIDS", according to the Associated Press. While it is true that a condom can prevent the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, condoms are not 100% effective in blocking the virus.

Martini and others who advocate the use of condoms to prevent AIDS miss the point. For the most part, AIDS is a behaviorally spread disease. It is possible to completely eradicate AIDS within a generation. The answer is for people to not have sex before marriage and then remain committed to that marriage, and also to not use illegal drugs that are injected by hypodermic needle.

Encouraging people to find ways to make sinful behavior less dangerous are not acting in love. That are acting out of hatred. Real love points out sin and the consequences of sin, and encourages people to turn their life over to Jesus Christ. this way they can be free from the bondage of sin. It is shameful that a so-called "man of God" would engage in such hateful rhetoric. The Word of God makes the point far better than I can, though.

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. I Corinthians 6:18