We are Becoming Barbarians! Let’s Celebrate!

The word “progress” is a strange one. I always thought it meant things were getting better. Progress is what happens when someone makes a discovery that benefits humanity. Progress means we are moving toward being better people, with a vision of a better world.

I understand, some people view progress as the freedom to make choices they believe will lead to their personal happiness. I concede we are unique in our being, and what makes one of us happy doesn’t necessarily please everyone. One person is content living on a farm, taking a weekly bath and tilling the soil (I don’t mean to suggest all farmers only take one bath a week – stick with me). Another prefers city lights, crowded events and high fashion.

But it is this last point that makes what happened in New York with the passing of the Reproductive Health Act so troubling. One sign of progress, in any culture, is the ability to ensure a child’s health and safety as he prepares to enter the world. Developing countries look for ways to reduce risks to unborn children and educate mothers in practices that will increase the possibility of a healthy birth. Regardless of the culture one lives in, or the goals one wishes to pursue in the name of happiness, the assumption is that everyone should have an opportunity at life.

For this reason, I consider the Reproductive Health Act to be fundamentally barbaric. It is practically barbaric as a child in the third trimester of life can be killed for most any reason one can justify (due to the loose language in the RHA). It is philosophically barbaric as children are denied the opportunity of life we were afforded, and are also stripped of their status as “persons.” Were all of us wanted at the time of conception? Were all of us born without health complications?

No.

To my progressive friends: this is not progress. It is another step in the disintegration of all that is good and decent in a society that has been endowed with so many blessings.

Am I exaggerating?

Then, why did they light up the tower of the One World Trade Center to celebrate the passage of the law, but allow the 11 memorials to the unborn children who died in the 9/11 attack to remain? If a law was created with the intent of protecting the life of a mother while honoring the life of the child, would we throw a party to proclaim victory? Would we not still sorrow over any situation that might lead to the heartbreaking choice between a mother or her child?

For me, the celebratory tone in New York says it all.

We are becoming barbarians. Not only are we losing our sense of what is important, but we are celebrating our own evil intentions.

From what I know of history, I must tell you I am not surprised. The pattern of self-destruction is well documented.

Instead, I am very burdened and sad.

I had hoped for progress.