"Convenience" this, asshole.

I hate the religious right. Hate them, period. I do not think that there has ever been an ideological movement that has been more broadly damaging to our country. Their leaders, such as the execrable James Dobson and Tony Perkins, are charlatans who have exploited people of genuine religious faith, encouraged and fostered ignornace, and pandered to the worst elements of human nature such as racism, xenophobia, and misogyny all while cloaking themselves with the phoniest and most thinly transparent sanctimony imaginable. I would, frankly, love to see a true spiritual Rennaissance occur in our country, with the Christian church being a leading agent, but as long as the religious right has as dominant a voice in our culture as they do, I don't see how it is possible. I believe they have done more to drive people away from the Church than the pedophile priest scandal did. It makes perfect sense that the criminal thugs who comprise the Cheney-led GOP, and who are now scrambling to get McCain elected (via Sarah Appalling), would make their bed with the religious right.

The two most prominent issues that bring the worst elements of the religious right into glaring view are, of course, abortion and gay rights. I know that a couple of my readers are aware that I recently engaged in a rather long exchange on the subject of abortion over at Donna's place, Happiness, Anyway, with a rightie named Mark who can usually be found trolling over at Mike's place - except when McCain's poll numbers are down, heh. I don't know that much of value was accomplished, and I'm not particularly proud of whatever neurosis it is that drives me to enter into these duels, but for some reason I find it impossible to refrain from responding to stupid, pernicious wingnut talking points on the subject of abortion so I was rather like a bull reacting to the waving red cape when I saw this today.

One of the most repugnant aspects of rightwing talking points on abortion is how blatantly dishonest they are. Of course they have to be, because they know perfectly well that they can't prevail honestly. Facts and basic human decency are not in their favor, so they lie. And what could be more illustrative of their overriding contempt for women than the despicable falsehood that the "majority" (???) of women who seek abortions do so for their "convenience"? As a woman, and as a mother, I simply can't imagine a more gut-wrenchingly painful dilemma than an unwanted pregnancy, a dilemma which can be made infinitely more painful by any number of all-too-common life factors and variables. What kind of moral and intellectual vacuity does it take to deride women who are in these situations?

There are two dimensions of the abortion debate, both of which can be approached with honesty, maturity, compassion and intellect. One is the religious or spiritual dimension that looks at the question of when life begins and whether or not it is ever moral to deliberately stop the life process prior to birth. The other is the civil dimension which considers questions of policy and government in a secular society. It's an important debate, with far reaching consequences for all of us, and it deserves more respect as an issue than the religious right has allowed so far.