Pro-life, obscenity and self-censoring...

Over the last day a few stories have caught my eye and caused me to spend a lot of time contemplating the conflicting thoughts in the minds of those that are pro-choice and questioning if there is a bit of hypocrisy in my own mind or the minds of some pro-life missionaries.  It's some complex thinking so, this is a rather lengthy post, but I think it is well worth discussing...

What a mess...

This morning I came across this article "Surrogate offered $10,000 to abort baby" on CNN.com.  As I read it, I certainly was encouraged by the surrogate's desire to do good, to protect life, and to bring this child into the world and give it a chance despite the challenges.  But, at the same time I could not help but think that this whole mess, the reaction of the genetic father and his wife, the fleeing to another state, the enticement to murder with cash, and the legal battles are all simply the product of the horribly wrong practice of in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, man trying to play God and separate marriage from sex and sex from reproduction.

Reflection on society

I'm so saddened by the loss of life in Connecticut last Friday.  It's a tragedy, committed by a sick and/or evil man.  I pray for the victims, the living, the dead, the emotionally wounded, the physically traumatized.  But, not just those in that small New England town.  But those victimized by violence rooted in what seems to me to be an ever increasing lack of respect for human life.

It is a tragedy.  It was an awful, hateful, cowardly act.  It breaks my heart.  But the response troubles me.

HHS Mandate and Employment Law

I was reading a completely not related article on sexual harassment in the workplace and was suddenly struck by a thought...

The President has crafted an exemption to the HHS mandate that allows institutions that involves criteria of serving or employing people of a single faith.  Does this mean that if an employer has exempted their health insurance coverage, or in an effort to exempt their coverage, they will be permitted to ask about the religion of potential employees and base their hiring on the religious beliefs of the applicant?

I'm certainly not in favor of that.  However, the contrary of saying you can only be exempt if you discriminate but you are not permitted to discriminate so you must violate your religious beliefs is even more intolerable.