Kenny's Head • brotherdarkness: “I know in your mind you can...

brotherdarkness:

“I know in your mind you can think of times when America was attacked. One is December 7th, that’s Pearl Harbor day. The other is September 11th, and that’s the day of the terrorist attack. I want you to remember August the 1st, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a day that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”

—

Congressman Mike Kelly, on why mandatory coverage of birth control is similar to tragedies that killed thousands of Americans. (via theatlantic)

I’m going to do something crazy here. I’m going to say that I understand what Mike Kelly means.

In his mind, as well as the minds of many others, any time there is a chance for a baby to be born and it is not born, through the choice of one or more of the participants, it equals murder.

Used a condom? Wow, you just killed a baby, good job.
Birth control pill? More like baby killing pill.
Morning after pill? Who are you, Hitler? The baby was halfway finished solving world hunger by the time you murdered it.
Said no to the guy at the bar who wanted to take you home? Call it what it is: a preemptive abortion.

I’m not saying he’s right. He’s not. He’s utterly full of shit. I’m just explaining the logic of what he says, because there’s a scary number of people who agree with him that every sperm is sacred and should become a baby.

So to him, millions of babies are slaughtered every year by virtue of the fact that they were never made in the first place. So to him, the analogy makes total sense.

What I really don’t understand is calling it an “attack on religious freedom.” He acts like birth control is being forced on people who don’t believe in it. Nobody’s slipping birth control into your drink, Mike. You can still live your life of piety…nobody is taking anyone’s freedom away.

I think Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii said it well:

“I witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor and had the privilege of serving in the United States Army during World War II and I find the comments made by the Congressman from Pennsylvania to be misguided and insulting. It is complete nonsense to suggest that a matter discussed, debated, and approved by the Congress and the President is akin to a surprise attack that killed nearly 2,500 people and launched our nation into the second World War or a terrorist attack that left nearly 3,000 dead and led to fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq. Having fought for this nation in Europe, I find that I have a special kinship with those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and I routinely visit with the most severely wounded veterans of those conflicts. Just yesterday I met with a brave young man who lost all four of his limbs in Afghanistan. I hope the Congressman from Pennsylvania has the courage to share his comparison with them.”

(via butchrosser)

Source: theatlanticwire.com