May 18, 2009
The Obama abortion fallacy
Pres. Obama's recent speech to graduating seniors at Notre Dame -- the used-to-be Catholic University -- featured this passage on abortion:
[W]hen we open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe -- that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.
[...]
[N]o matter how much we may want to fudge it -- indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory -- the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.
The rhetorical gambit by the president -- that those on opposite sides of the abortion debate can agree to disagree -- is weak, and insulting to those who believe passionately about the issue, no matter which side they take.
What "common ground" can there be between those who believe that abortion is murder, and those who liken it to removing an unwanted clump of undifferentiated cells?
Allahpundit calls it a "heaping scoopful of pap about tolerance and dialogue" and an attempt at removing abortion as an issue from Obama's 2012 reelection campaign:
Realistically, this was the only rhetorical move he could have made, but it’s rich to find him urging both sides to continue trying to persuade each other when he didn’t have the stones to use this as an opportunity to make the case for choice.
I admit, this isn’t my issue — I’d accept legal abortion in the very, very early stages of pregnancy, before the embryo can feel pain — but I sympathize enough with true-believing pro-lifers to see how insulting the “agree to disagree” approach must be to the depth of their conviction.
Huckabee, provocatively, has framed the enormity of abortion as similar to that of slavery; just as slavery had to be expunged nationally via constitutional amendment, so does abortion in his opinion. Once you’ve come to see it that way, how “open-minded” can you really be in disagreement? To borrow The One’s phrase, what “fair-minded words” would be regarded as fair in defense of slavery?
Allahpundit then posted the video above -- featuring a sermon by theologian John Piper paired with some truly dynamic animation and graphic design -- to make the point that the deeply-held pro-life viewpoint cannot amicably coexist with its pro-abortion counterpart.
Agree or disagree with the content of the video, you cannot deny the the depth of feeling on the part of the speaker, and if we take the president at his word that we ought to respect those with whom we disagree, then pro-abortion advocates must realize that there is no common ground to be found with the pro-life movement, rendering the president's speech hollow, an empty exercise in meaningless rhetoric.
That the president chose not to make the case for his position at Notre Dame reveals an unseemly unwillingness to be forthright, to actually have the debate he claims to want, because, I suspect, he knows what the latest Gallup Poll revealed: Americans are turning against the idea that abortion is merely an elective procedure with no deeper meaning.
And that's not a debate the president thinks will be advantageous to him, or his reelection plans. It's in his interest, therefore, to table the discussion; "open minds" and "agreeing to disagree" is nothing more than thinly disguised code for "can we talk about something else? Anything else? Please?"
Posted by Mike Lief at May 18, 2009 09:55 PM
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Comments
The video is brutal in its appeal, and its logic is inescapable. There can never be a meeting of minds on this issue.
Posted by: The Little Coach at May 19, 2009 12:23 PM
I seldom forward stuff to my family . . . they are adequately burdened by having to listen to me at home. This video was so powerful that I sent it to them and asked them to watch it, as a favor to me. Thank you for posting it.
Posted by: The Little Coach at May 19, 2009 02:11 PM