(no subject)

[novapsyche]

I sat next to him during the second leg of our journey.

Heh. I don't know what I was so worried about.

Today's conversation made up for yesterday's. There were a lot more news stories to cover. And nothing beats coming off a long day at work than having a stimulating conversation about politics and religion for a half an hour. (Today I revealed how staunchly I am anti-death penalty. And we both agreed that being anti-abortion and pro-death penalty is highly hypocritical, particularly from a religious standpoint.)

Comments

[badsede.livejournal.com]

I think it is possible to be anti-abortion and pro-"there could be some circumstance where we have no other option to execute someone but that's not very often if at all." But simply anti-abortion and pro-capital punishment, no, not consistant.

It's like the group of vegans I knew in college who considered eating meat to be murder beccause all forms of life have inherent rights, but at the same time were pro-choice.

[inhumandecency.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on that. I don't even see why it has to be a problem. One option is to say "life is sacred, and we should take it only with great discomfort and in the most extreme circumstances," but another option is to say "life is potentially sacred, but it ceases to be sacred when used to harm others. It's abominable to kill a person who has never chosen to do anything wrong, but it's moral to kill someone who knowingly and volitionally kills innocents." Or, just "everyone deserves a shot at life, but once you're over 18 then you're fair game and you'd better not step out of line."

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Well, my position (which I consider to be more consistent) is pro-choice and anti-death penalty. As I was saying to Paul, in my ethical system I value actual life over potential life.

At the same time, I also value the right people have over their own bodies. Thus I support euthanasia rights for those who've elected it for themselves.

I don't support the state having the right to tell others what they can or cannot do with their own bodies. The state should not trump the inherent rights of the individual.

I've thought about these issues for some time. I can only hope that the system of ethics I've laid out is a logical one.

[inhumandecency.livejournal.com]

Your position certainly makes sense. I'm just saying that the others can as well, depending on the (often unarticulated) moral assumptions of their holders.