Controversies and Paradoxes

By definition, a controversy is simply a “prolonged public dispute.”

A paradox, by definition, is something that “seems self contradictory.”

Here, I would like to discuss one topic from column A: Controversy, and one topic from column B: Paradox.

Let’s start with the paradox.  We all know that our world is becoming increasingly populated, so much so that the word “overpopulation” has been floating around for years now in regards to our own human race.  It makes me think of how every once in a while a certain species of animal is considered to have gone into a state of overpopulation.  When this happens, hunters are given what is called “open season” to hunt as many of this species of animal as the desire.  This is not done to wipe out the species entirely, but to reduce the numbers enough to maintain a balance within nature as a whole.  Here is where things get messy: have you ever stopped to think of our own species in this sense?  Human beings have vastly over populated this planet in comparison to other large mammals.  It is scary to think about, but what would happen if human beings just kept on procreating until we ran out of resources?  Perhaps what is currently going on in Africa is an example of what will happen in the rest of the world years into the future.  Famine and starvation will end up taking over because the land which we use to grow our food will be needed to house our species.  Not only that, but the animals that we depend on for food will have less and less land to live on (and less food to eat) so we will eventually run out of “natural” sources of meat.  Perhaps cannibalism will take a rise.  Maybe it will all end in extreme malnutrition and starvation.

As much as I know I sound like a crazy person talking about such things as cannibalism, mass starvation and death, it is where the world WILL end up eventually if we keep growing in numbers as we are now.  With the influx of cures to diseases, and the exponential increase of births, our worldwide birthrate is far outweighing our death rate.  Perhaps this sounds morbid, I don’t really care.  Here’s where things get paradoxical:  In order for humanity to survive as a species, people have to keep on dying.  Diseases can’t all be cured.  People have to actually die of natural causes, otherwise we will all end up dying of unnatural and unnecessary causes like starvation.  Our culture seems to have this mentality that we deserve to live forever.  Honestly, what makes us any different from other generations?  Why was it okay for so many people to die of plagues and famine decades ago, but now it is an abomination?  Death is a natural part of the circle of life, and in order for life as a whole to continue, lives must come to an end.  We all have a natural instinct to survive, but are we in a culture that is so incredibly self centered that we would put the immediate survival of self before the long term  survival of humanity? 

Now, I must apologize if this has offended anyone.  It is not my purpose to make people angry, or to belittle the loss of human life.  Human life is very valuable, and I have lost many people who are still very near and dear to my heart.  However, I know that life is fleeting.  We are each but a vapour that is here today and gone tomorrow.  We are NOT meant to live forever on this Earth.  I know how selfish I am.  I know that it is in my nature to want to survive and to think that I deserve to live.  The truth is, I will die some day, just like everyone else.  I don’t deserve to live forever.  I have done nothing to deserve such.  Even the greats of this world do not deserve to live forever, as is evidenced by their very deaths.  We are all but small parts of an exceedingly large web of life.  There needs to be balance.  What bothers me is that I know that I am not able to do anything about it on my own.  All I can do is call others to be more aware of the LIFE that surrounds them.  Not just their own life, but the lives of other species that inhabit this planet.  Humans are not the only creatures of value.  All life has value, and all life is needed in order to achieve balance.

Alright, that was a bit heavy.  (Not that this next topic is any lighter.)  On the topic of life, I would like to take this time to delve into a topic that is considered to be highly controversial.  It has been controversial for a very long time in our culture, and it remains a controversy even in my own mind.

As a disclaimer, I must say now that I DO value all life, human and otherwise. 

Having been raised in a Christian home with typical Christian morals, I have been brought up around the idea that abortion is wrong. Period.  End of story.  In the last ten or so years I have really been grappling with this.  In high school, I did an essay supporting the cause against abortion.  Now that I look back on it, all I really said was that all human life has value and that we should not be the ones who have the right to take it away.  For all intensive purposes, let us just assume that from the moment of conception, a human life has started.  Whether that is true or not is highly debatable and no actual proof can be given to support either side.  So, let’s not argue that.  What I want to talk about today is the difference between being “Pro Life” and “Pro Choice”. 

When I think about it, I really must be Pro Choice, because if I were put in certain situations, I would opt to have an abortion.  Here is where you can all drop your jaws in disgust.  Here is where you can continue reading.  As I said, I put an extreme amount of value on human life, so please for the love of God and all things Holy, don’t try to call me a heretic.  If I were to find myself in a situation of an unwanted pregnancy, I would go through with the birth, and then give the child up for adoption, UNLESS I was in one of the following situations: Sickness, Rape.  These are two situations where I would opt to have an abortion.

First off is the issue of sickness.  If I was to be pregnant and my doctor told me that I was too sick to carry a child full term, I would have to abort.  It is very important for a child to be carried as close to full term as possible so that it can reach full stages of development.  I would not want to go through with a pregnancy that would result in an underdeveloped child.  This is not to say that I would not love that child, but it is to say that if the child would be in extreme amounts of pain and only live a very short time, I would rather put it out of its misery sooner than later.  Another thing that a doctor could say is, “If you carry this child full term, your body will not be able to handle it and you will die.”  This is where I would have to put my own life first.  Not only that, but how incredibly horrible would it be to bring a child into the world only for it to have no mother? I would also end up leaving the child’s father (likely to be a man with whom I am love) in mourning over the loss of my life, and left to raise a child on his own.  I could never bring myself to do that.

Second is the issue of rape.  There are two reasons why I would get an abortion of I was raped.  First off, if I was pregnant for any other reason, it would have been because of a choice that I made myself.  If I were to become pregnant after being raped, it would be only fair for me to make a choice to have an abortion after I had my choice to NOT get pregnant taken from me.  Secondly, if I were to become pregnant from being raped, the absolute last thing I would want to do is raise that man’s child.  I am sorry if that makes me a horrible person, but there is just NO way that I could do it.  I think it makes sense that if a rapist fathers a child that his predatory ways will be ingrained on his child’s DNA.  Of course, it is possible that my genes would win out, but how would I ever know?  I would be living in constant fear that my own child would take after its rapist father.  Like I said, I would not be able to handle that.  You may be thinking that I could always give the child up for adoption.  My thought on that is, if a couple is seeking to adopt a child, would it really be fair for them to have to raise the child of a rapist?  I know this sounds absolutely horrible because it is only a child after all.  But that rapist was “only a child” at one point, and then he turned into a monster.  Even if I didn’t have to raise it myself, why would I willingly bring another monster into the world?  I can't expect anyone else to do something that I am not willing to do myself.

On that note, I need to mention one more time how much I value life.  I love animals and all of creation so very much.  Beyond that, I love PEOPLE more than anything.  I may be an introvert, but I sincerely love people so much it hurts sometimes, especially the little ones.  There is not a child in the world that I would not love if it needed to be cared for.  Given all the information that I have on the topic, abortion would be an absolute last resort for me, and only if it was in one of those two situations.  Even though I have lost a lot of people in my life, and I can barely stand the thought of losing anyone else, I know that eventually, everyone is going to die.  We can't all live forever.  If we did, it would essentially kill us all simply due to a lack of resources.  

Even though I have some mixed feelings about some things, I still love life very much.  I know I sound like a broken record, and I am sorry!  I just feel frustrated sometimes with our culture and how people seem to not recognize how their actions affect the world and the people around them.  There are things that we can all do to counteract the “wrongs” that society has done.  Instead of being wasteful we can conserve as much as possible, and as we were all taught in school, “reduce, reuse and recycle.”   It really doesn’t take that much effort at all to be mindful of the world around us, and when we do so, we effect not only ourselves now, but the future generations of people and animals that will live on this Earth.  The other major thing that society does wrong is being so selfish.  People think that they can just go out and take things that are not theirs to take.  Rape is a prime, (although, extreme) example of this.  I strongly believe that if we were to raise our children in a manner that teaches them to respect the rights of others, and to be giving and respectful rather than selfish, there would be a LOT less rape and abuse in the world.

I know this has been paradoxical and controversial, so please feel free to leave your comments.  I am open to criticism on this one; just don’t call me names, please.  The only reason I wrote about this at all is because it has been on my mind for a long time, and I just had to get it out.  This blog is called Day today musings of a restless mind.  Now you know how restless my mind can really get.  It’s not just all random thoughts on what I see from day to day.  It goes much deeper.  I do try to spread these “rough” topics out a bit, so as to not overwhelm anyone, or come across as overly intense.

Sincerely

Thanks for "listening."