22 January 2019
Day of Prayer for legal protection of unborn Children
For centuries Jesuit institutions held philosophy as one of the foundational pillars of their educational system. Among the chatter of nineteenth century atheism and materialism, philosophy allowed students to think about life and the world in which life lives in other terms than just what can be summarized as “what you see is what you get.” It is no surprise that this cauldron of materialist thinking produced the stew which fed eugenics and Nazi social theory. Jesuits, in response to this confused thought argued that a small banana and long banana is still a banana and a white horse in Forest Park is the same as a black horse galloping down west Pine. Likewise, a man in room 312 is no different if moves to room 311. In the same vein, the great civil rights advocate Fr. John Markoe, S.J., argued that if you can figure out that a short banana and long banana are still a banana, it should not be to unreasonable to see that color doesn’t change human status. Thinking logically should not be too much to ask, especially of a population encompassed by the United States in which so many consider themselves educated. If we consider humanity not by its color, or by its social class, it seems odd that we are questioning humanity because of its position either in or outside of the womb. One question may help those confused on this issue of the dignity of life. Ask someone who is pro-abortion what they think of sex selected abortion in which a clear majority of cases falls upon unborn women. The United Nations has identified gender selected abortions as an extreme form and manifestation of gender discrimination and inequality against women. Well, as the great religious traditions of the “book” (the Bible), Judaism, Christianity, and Islam hold, men and women are created in God’s image and likeness and therefore these believers hold in faith what reason supports—color, position, rank, clothing, ethnicity, and any other adjective does not change the fundamental character of the noun we all understand to be the person. We pray today that people will see that the fundamental truth known by reason and elevated by faith will soon pervade in our nation which we hold was established on the dictates of reason. The alternative is not pleasant since any argument which supports abortion can be used to support racism, class distinction, gender directed abortion, and killing of the elderly.