Teenagers are often accused of thinking that the world revolves around them. This phase usually passes especially after heading out into the ‘real world’ and discovering that they are but a ‘cog’ in the enormous kaleidoscope of life.
We observe that the unspoken catch-phrase “It’s about me” is anything but limited to teens. Indeed, many adults proclaim this mantra or similar, particularly in the sexual sphere.
It never ceases to amaze at the incessant trumpeting “It’s my right” and directly linked to this, “It’s my body, my choice”, slogans which have been internalised and are hardly ever questioned today. These slogans are certainly reflective of a culture that has embraced individualism, where the ‘right’ of the individual is said to be paramount.
As part of our human condition, it is self-evident that selfishness occupies a central aspect. That is why as parents, we teach our kids to think of others, to give or simply to let go. In other words, to share. Many of us recall quite vividly, our parents repeating the phrases, “there are others worse off than you in the world” or the old favourite which invariably brings a smile to your face; “finish your food, there are people starving in Africa”. When we observe our kids or others in society giving or simply thinking of others, we feel a degree of satisfaction, a sense of warmth. We feel good. So as selfishness is looked upon negatively, giving and thoughtfulness has the opposite effect.
How is it then that many societies have retreated into an introspective mentality? One that exalts selfishness and worse, proclaims it a right!
This “rights revolution” according to Marguerite Peeters has been and still is the “main weapon used in the west to deconstruct human, cultural and religious tradition”. Under the guise of this self-proclaimed “rights”, societies have been transformed by contraception, abortion and pornography, and other practices which were once illegal, and sometimes subject to imprisonment. These practices are inward looking with the focus largely on the individual and their self-satisfaction. Hence the expression, “It’s my right”, which is in essence, a sub-category within the broader, ‘right to choose’.
But what about the right to life? Many are opposed to capital punishment on the basis that it is inhumane, cruel or simply barbaric. Why then does this acknowledged right not extend to the un-deniability of life within the womb? How has the mothers legalized ‘right’ to abortion taken precedence over the child’s right to life?After all, it was unthinkable following World War II.
Today, a wedge has been solidly driven between a mother and her unborn child, so much so that the child is viewed as a threat. And this wedge has a name. It is called a right. But this right is wrong and we know it. We know it because instinctively, we understand that human rights are meant to uphold life and the dignity of the individual. The UN thinks so too, categorically stipulating “appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth”. Thus, any ‘right’ that leads to the taking of a child’s life, can never be right. In fact, it is wrong.
I would suggest then, that ideology, rather than care about women or children, as being the key driver behind the abortion industry. The “rights revolution” has made inroads to normalising what was unthinkable in the not too distant past.
Money is the primary motive.