Dear Editor:
Mother’s Day. I read a lot of science fiction. It has come a long way from space monsters to political commentary.
Human beings are diverse. We have an odd sex life, compared to other species of mammals. We can get pregnant any month in the three decades we are fecund. It used to be shameful for a woman to not be pregnant after her first menses.
That may seem like ancient history, but the nagging from would-be grandparents shows it is not.
When I was raised, and schooled, in the Catholic faith, I remember Pope John XXIII, who was in office when I had First Holy Communion.
In the Army, I met Seventh Day Adventists, and some other faiths. The priests I had were military, but I did not see the point in some Catholic rules.
In the news, a child facing life-threatening surgery was advocated for baptism by her father, a “lapsed” Catholic. The priest in his parish refused, as he was “not likely to raise her in the faith.” To me, this was a form of blackmail, and a threat to her soul’s fate, her chance at heaven. I could not see Jesus saying such things.
Most faiths, not just Christian, hold that theirs is the only way to heaven. I cannot see that, either. I rather agree with Will Rogers famous quote, “If dogs don’t go to heaven, I want to go where they go when I die.”
In a logical argument, if God is the all-knowing, eternal Being claimed, He/She/It, being a Great Spirit, would understand my mind. If there is no God, then I cease to exist; my matter, or body, would simply return to the earth. My spiritual essence, fueled by chemical-electrical energy, would dissipate.
I agree with donating body organs. I have lived long enough to see the compassion and humanity of it. I never believed God would deny heaven to those whose body was not complete. That belief is as old as Ancient Egypt.
My grandfather’s leg had to be embalmed and held for his own grave. His priest talked him into having it removed, back when it was the only treatment for a blood clot, by calling his refusal suicide, which would deny him heaven. His personal choice to ignore it, which is now a right to deny medical care, was not an option for a good, practicing Catholic.
I feel that a woman’s choice to not become a parent, for any reason, is her right. Her faith is her own business, between her and her God. Government has no right to tell her to take that risk to her life, her sanity—as she will be concerned for her child—or her child’s welfare is greater than her own, and her willingness to become a parent.
If the gain to the population is worth the possibilities of a child that is severely handicapped, will die no matter what is done, or is simply disabled, then the government should be willing to pay for the mother’s medical care and the child’s, for life. The governments of other countries do so. Yet, they have abortion available to women. It remains the choice of the woman and her doctor. These, to me, are true democratic societies. Women are held as responsible for themselves as men are, and respected as such.
The Catholic Church, as many Christian faiths, not all, is still in the feudal age. Women and children are not property of the husband, the Church, or government. We abolished slavery for African Americans, yet they still face persecution, as other former nationalities in our country, and in other parts of the world, because of this attitude. Women are still killed by their lovers because—they—do not want to become parents. Many of the female homicides throughout the world, not just in the U.S.A., are also caused by this—as the “it’s just rape,” dismissal of the continuing terrorization of women.
Women are not “lesser” than men. They are fellow human-beings. When will we recognize all humans as the people they are?
Diane M. Starkey
Rochester, N.H.
Diane:
It’s good to hear from you again. It’s funny—although we can easily imagine a priest or a pope arguing with you, we can’t imagine you in an argument with Jesus.
The Editor