Life, Death, and a Billboard in New York City

Life is precious.

That's my opinion. It's controversial - which might seem odd, at first.

'Life is Precious' - So What?

Again, I think life is precious. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it more strongly:

" 'Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being.'⁵⁶"
(Catechism, 2258)

Since the Catholic Church teaches that life is precious, even sacred, we're 'obviously:' bleeding-heart liberals (death penalty); uncaring conservatives (abortion); or, a perennial favorite, hypocrites.

I've written about this sort of thing before. Fairly often, I see. (March 29, 2010, June 7, 2009, May 8, 2009, November 3, 2008, October 2, 2008)

Out of Step With Contemporary Culture: For Two Millennia

The Catholic Church's insistence that human life is sacred has put us at odds with dominant cultures before, and the Church isn't playing along with America's self-described best and brightest today.

Back in the 20th century, important folks in America and elsewhere thought that eugenics was important. Separation of the races and eliminating the unfit were all the rage - then a German chancellor started cleaning out Europe's gene pool. I think places like Dachau gave eugenics a public relations problem that lasted until fairly recently.

The Catholic Church has - what else? - rules about killing innocent people. Even if it's 'for the good of the race.' Essentially, it's: don't. (2268, 2313)

Today, I doubt that 'for the good of the race' is used as a slogan very often. Too many folks know about the Tuskegee experiments. And like I said: Dachau was a huge PR problem for eugenics advocates.

Ersatz Compassion

The idea that it's okay to kill innocent people is still with us, though. Some of the slogans have been 'every child a wanted child,' and 'freedom of choice.' In a way, the 'wanted child' line is a step forward. Although seriously disordered, the argument that every child should be born healthy and loved - or be killed - is an appeal to compassion.

I think the unwanted and defective babies might want a chance at life, anyway: but I would. Good grief, yet another topic. (February 3, 2009)

Black Babies Killed: Somebody Finally Noticed

That photo, and the article that goes with it, are what got me started on this post. Here's an excerpt:

"A new billboard campaign has responded to the high abortion rate among black women in New York City by declaring 'the most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.'

"The billboard, which depicts a young black girl, is located in the Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo about half a mile from a Planned Parenthood abortion facility. The three Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in New York City altogether reported nearly 17,000 abortions in 2010.

"The pro-life group Life Always is sponsoring the billboard, its first in the state of New York, as part of a new national campaign which charges that Planned Parenthood targets minority neighborhoods...."
(CNA)

This isn't the first time I've run into someone pointing out that - perhaps by coincidence - folks who used to be regarded as an 'inferior race' just happen to have a whole lot of abortions these days.

That billboard will probably anger quite a few folks. And maybe, just maybe, get some to start thinking about whether it's nice to kill babies.

Even if they're not quite 'the right sort.'

Related posts:

• "Lychee Nuts, Litchi Nuts: Either Way, They're Edible"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (February 18, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Eugenics and a Ranting Lemming
• "Sudan, Darfur: My Take"
  (January 8, 2011)
• "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
  (May 6, 2010)
• "Inconvenient Classes of Persons and Health Care"
  (July 26, 2009)
• "'Hand of Hope' Spinal Bifida Case - Eugenics, Ersatz Compassion, and Life"
  (May 6, 2009)
• "Human Clones Possible: Don't Worry, They're Just for Parts and Research"
  (February 2, 2009)

In the news:

• "Billboard in Manhattan describes abortion as ‘number one killer’ of blacks"
  CNA (Catholic News Agency) (February 23, 2011)