It's Not All Black and White
The thing about blogging is that most bloggers are not very comfortable with ambiguity. I read the blogs of conservatives and liberals and most people will not even entertain the idea that their opinion may not encompass all of the parameters to a particular situation. This is very true with it comes to the hot button issues: abortion, gay marriage, torture, tax cuts and so on and so on.
Abortion: This past week was the something anniversary (I won’t even bother to get the exact number…look it up) of Roe v Wade and of course there was a little brouhaha from both sides. The question that no one ever answers is what would happen if we overturned RvW? “Let the states decides…” yeah I get that part but what happens if a state bans abortion? Would it become a criminal act? Who gets charged, the doctor, the woman or both? Would the charge be murder? Would the law apply even if the woman gets an abortion in a state where it is legal?
Gay Marriage: A gay couple can purchase a house together. They can draw up legal documents protecting joint assets. If fact of the 1600 laws that govern marriage, a gay couple is not banned from creating a legal binding contract that encompasses most of those laws… as long as they don’t call it marriage. That’s like saying I can use all of the ingredients needed for a salad as long as I don’t call the final a salad.
This is what our collective civil discourse has become. Polar stances, black and white with gray being treated as the red-headed stepchild. There are very few who are willing to quiver about their opinion for fear of not being seen as principled.
Well, the world is complicated and I think we should be wary of the simple suggestions to solve complicated situations. Because if the answers were so simple I think we would have resolved a lot of these issues a long time ago.
Abortion: This past week was the something anniversary (I won’t even bother to get the exact number…look it up) of Roe v Wade and of course there was a little brouhaha from both sides. The question that no one ever answers is what would happen if we overturned RvW? “Let the states decides…” yeah I get that part but what happens if a state bans abortion? Would it become a criminal act? Who gets charged, the doctor, the woman or both? Would the charge be murder? Would the law apply even if the woman gets an abortion in a state where it is legal?
Gay Marriage: A gay couple can purchase a house together. They can draw up legal documents protecting joint assets. If fact of the 1600 laws that govern marriage, a gay couple is not banned from creating a legal binding contract that encompasses most of those laws… as long as they don’t call it marriage. That’s like saying I can use all of the ingredients needed for a salad as long as I don’t call the final a salad.
This is what our collective civil discourse has become. Polar stances, black and white with gray being treated as the red-headed stepchild. There are very few who are willing to quiver about their opinion for fear of not being seen as principled.
Well, the world is complicated and I think we should be wary of the simple suggestions to solve complicated situations. Because if the answers were so simple I think we would have resolved a lot of these issues a long time ago.
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