Monday, December 15, 2008

Yeah, I'm Gonna Go There

I'm not going to go all political or super controversial on y'all, but yesterday I saw something that really bothered me. Bad.

Okay, so I probably am going to get a little controversial. I hope you'll still read the blog. I'm just giving my opinion.

It was a bumper sticker that said, "6 Billion Miracles Is Enough." Right next to a stork delivering a baby, lest you not get the message.

I am—unapologetically—pro-life. I do not believe abortion is a women's rights issue. Okay? I said it. I believe it's a moral issue, a baby issue, a human being issue. And that is my opinion. But. Even if you disagree with me—and I know I have friends and probably other readers who will—I think, perhaps, that we can all agree this bumper sticker was outrageous. It represents a flippant and disgusting attitude toward something that is so serious.

The underlying message, to me, that "6 billion" babies is enough is that it's okay to use abortion as a means of population control. We have enough children in this country, so knocking off a few won't hurt anything. And everything else aside, that is an incredibly weak—and crass—argument, no matter your stance on the issue. I just can't get past the sarcasm and casualness of it all.

And I'll go on ahead right now and go on record as saying that I don't care how many babies you want to have. I believe you should be able to have them. You want none? Fine. Just one or two? Cool. And if you, like me, would like enough to have your own soccer team, that is perfectly okay too. And, despite the fact that I spent 12 years traveling to my brother's soccer games, I'm not even sure how many children that would be *exactly*. But I'm okay with that, I just know I want a bunch. I actually had someone say to me once that, with the population growing at an "alarming" rate, that it was "irresponsible" of people to have more than one or two children. And as I researched this bumper sticker, I came across a message board where someone said that "in this day and time of global warming, having kids is one of the most selfish things a person can do." Excuse me? No.

So, that's my soapbox, my rant. I'm done. No need to have any kind of throwdown in the comments section. I know this is touchy. I know people have very. strong. feelings. about this. I just couldn't not say something. And I think my biggest problem of all is that in one breath people are demanding that their right to choose not be compromised, and in the next breath these same folks are trying to tell others how many babies they should be allowed to have. Sorry, doesn't work for me.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are far better birth control methods, including proper education, something that person clearly lacks.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, that might have been me that made that comment. I know I've stated publicly that, in my opinion, people should limit themselves to four or less... To each according to their ability, though!

Stephanie said...

It wasn't. This was a dude and he doesn't read the blog!

Stephanie said...

And he thought people should just have one!

Anonymous said...

Maybe we should limit ourselves to just one bumper sticker--a tasteful one, preferably. I agree that the one you saw sounds offensive. I'm sure it was meant to be sarcastic, but it's a sensitive subject. Education and birth control are extremely important to a healthy society. Okay, that's all.

Anonymous said...

Wait. Soccer? Your babies better be football players. Soccer. Isn't that something they do over in England?

-Live Traffic Feed: Nashville, Tennessee arrived from google.com on "That's Just My Opinion: Yeah, I'm Gonna Go There"

Stephanie said...

I'm afraid to wish that on my kids. I mean, what if they want to play for Georgia and they—gasp!—suck?!

Anonymous said...

This live traffic feed - are you watching for terrorists? What if I go to a Krystal's in Hamtramck, Michigan to spew my blog terror while enjoying a delicious chili cheese pup? How then will you know?

Stephanie said...

I'll find you. I'm resourceful. And I recognize your writing patterns.

Missy said...

I have to agree with you!! Children are very special and there is no reason to terminate a baby!!! As you know I have a son that is my world!! There is a huge chance that I might not be able to have another (just found this out a couple of weeks ago.) For people like me who wanted a whole baseball team of kids this is very hard. You might end up pregnant not wanting to be but you should give that baby a chance. There are so many wonderful people who want kids and can't. They would love to adopt these wonderful children. I feel like God has it all in control and its not up to us how many kids people should have or not have. He handles it all!! It is not up to us to terminate babies either. He gives them life for a reason and they should get to live that life. I could argue this for hours!!