Mollie Hemingway on the uproar over the Susan G. Komen foundation (which is devoted to fighting breast cancer) and its short-lived decision to stop giving money to Planned Parenthood.
If you thought that the media were irreligious, you were proved wrong. They couldn’t be more religious. It’s just that their church is Planned Parenthood. Their sacrament is abortion. Any attack against their church, such as Susan G. Komen’s decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood, has been met with the most fervent defense of the faith I’ve ever seen. Never mind that Planned Parenthood doesn’t even do mammograms. Never mind that the money in question is a small fraction of either organization’s budget.
Over at GetReligion, I look at some of the more egregious examples. But even these are only a small fraction of what’s coming down the pike in an unrelenting barrage in defense of Planned Parenthood.
And the Church of Planned Parenthood reigns supreme. They have vanquished their enemies and accomplished what they wanted. Komen funds will once again be funneled to a $1 billion organization that terminates 330,000 pregnancies a year.
via The Church of Planned Parenthood – Ricochet.com.
I offer this just as a brief introduction to Mollie’s in depth analysis of the story and its media coverage at the said Get Religion site here.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
This is an extremely loose definition of religion, which is better defined as a set of beliefs involving a conscious superhuman entity and how to appease that entity.
Having said that, I do consider reproductive rights practically sacred. The state should not be able to compel a woman to stay pregnant when she doesn’t want to be. A simple question: What’s so demeaning about marriage against your will or sex against your will, that isn’t demeaning about gestation against your will?
Michael B.
Simple question. What about the baby? If an unborn child is a human being, then abortion is the taking of a human life.
I am a parent of 3 boys. There is some days when I don’t want to be a parent. It is hard work, expensive, inconvenient and at times heart-rending. So can I kill my children?
BTW, your statement about reproductive rights as practically sacred makes the point of the post quite nicely.
And PP’s devil is the poor and the black: Get Rid of Them.
Michael B,
First, your definition of religion is extremely poor since it leaves out Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Confucianism, etc.
Second, even if the answer to your question is “nothing” (which I don’t think it is), it doesn’t follow that one should be free to murder simply to avoid being demeaned. If someone demeans me by calling me an offensive name, I don’t get to dismember him and throw him in a dumpster.
Gestation against her will? How about a third person–you know, the right of another human being inside her to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
Woe to this generation that worships the sex act instead of the God who gave that gift to us to be used in marriage to grow His Church family.
She makes a good point. Such ire over an issue that is so minor in practical terms is more consistent with the human reaction to blasphemy than anything else.
Yes, the fury of media attention on what is, in the scheme of things, a very minor story, was the most telling thing of all.
Michael B, @1 said:
“This is an extremely loose definition of religion, which is better defined as a set of beliefs involving a conscious superhuman entity and how to appease that entity.”
Speaking of loose definition of religion. I think adherents of Jainism, certain sects of Buddhism, and other non-theistic religions would disagree with you. Your definition of religion seems to be formed by what you have against religion.
Michael B @1
This isn’t about your making your girlfriend pregnant and requiring her to get rid of the inconvenient evidence.
It’s about forcing your secular opinions of morality on religious organizations who don’t agree with you, and making them pay for your practices! The law unfortunately allows you to commit murder (if the child is young enough). Do it on your own dime, at least!
Abortions increase risk of breast cancer dramatically. So its ironic they ever gave money to PP to begin with…unless they were being forced by some invisible hand.
{ 1 trackback }