Sometimes religions can be very dumb. It is the case of my religion – The Catholic Church. In Brazil, we had this case of a young girl who got pregnant and the priest said – no abortion. Why? Because the canons of the Church – without considering the circumstances – denies abortion. So, I would like to know from you when we need to break the rules. Also, if you could elaborate and give me a list of the times when you broke the rules, I would appreciate.
When do we need to break the rules?
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rule…….has more meenings….in our life we should break the rule when we feel everything is the same. My opinion
I spoke a little about rules in my previous posts.
Now I would like saying something specific on abortion, for that is the starting point of this precious discussion.
Well, I think that nobody but the woman (and the father, if he is there and is known) has the right to take a decision about keeping the child or not.
Because she is the one who will face the consequence of her decision, and the pain.
Society and religion can give guidelines… but we do have God inside ourselves, so it’s His voice that we have to listen to.
Nobody else really knows the reason of a single abortion but the woman. So how can they judge?
The crucial issue is the tendency to generalize everything: yes to abortion, or no to abortion. But we should not talk about “abortion”: every abortion is a unique event, coming from absolutely specific and peculiar circumstances, and affecting a person in an absolutely specific and peculiar way.
Saying yes or no to abortion is a nonsense, for doing so we make more than one mistake: 1) we pretend to consider every abortion is identical; 2) we pretend to know everything about abortion in general; 3) we pretend to know everything about one specific abortion and its reasons; 4) we pretend that, knowing everything, we are allowed to judge other people’s decision and to say whether they are right or wrong; 5) we judge, because most of us have never been through that.
Have you all an amazing day,
Rossana Curri
There Is A Paradox Here
rules seem to be flexible
adaptive is the Catholic Church
changes its law on occasion…
what worries me is that social and cultural laws
have been transgressed or ignored
and a 9 year old girl is pregnant
most probably by an older man
Laws can be viewed as transitional
of a general social use
yet by no means do they represent a universal Absolute
Where do the rules break down and what are the factors?
i would say doubt and difference
carelessness and fear all contribute
i think age plays a role in the choices we make
if we are very young
often decisions are made for us
if you are talking about the law of God
then you are meaning a specific discipline
…..a specific tradition
Breaking traditional laws carries enormous weight
and guilt and thereby control over your person
because you are not supposed to be free to decide
This to me is part of a restrictive ideology
many rules will be broken in the name of reality
that brings us back to the adaptive nature of rules
the world is constantly changing
An insidious aspect to rule breaking
is that it helps maintain subservience within the community
through secrets and guilt
thereby allowing the transgression
of rules/laws to be discretely overlooked
rule breaking is subsumed
when i was 10 i stole pencils
when i was 18 I took drugs and drank
and i had sex
i stole a spoon and had to go to court, where they forgave me
i left my husband of 1 year because
he as an alcoholic and a danger to my child.
so… i studied and studied and went real straight
now i am a poetess
to love and so loved everything
i think i grew stronger because i had control over my life
i had two terminations which were thought-out
in relation to my own survival and aspirations
it was never an easy choice
but carried out very early and without regret
as i am now older i do reflect
and cannot afford to regret
life is what it is
at the moment that it is
which brings me to believe
that choices are made within a context
Laws and rules are often violation of that context.
….. cheers
When rules are pure nonsense – you just break them – as simple as that.
Thank you, my neighbour friend, Sefer Jan.
Thank you Paul from Austria, your story made me smile.
Thank you Aditya, for reminding us for our … deep Sleep, inside the .. material world!
Have a nice day.
LOVE,
Thelma
I believe the rules must be broken when they are not suitable to the situation, and when they are not rational and logical.
Religions are to make peace and unity and … but they usually do it reversely.
I have seen dogs and cats in restaurants in France, in buses, tramways and trains.No one seems to mind.
What about men’s circumcisions?
Confession’s time must be really hilarious when the priests get together, they must have a few spicy stories to share. I can not think of anything more ridiculous than that. It must be abolish, I tell you what, we can swap and have a few sessions with the priests’ confession, see what they can come up with. Volunteers, please raise your hands.
I was always scratching my head on what to say to them…mind you it can open your “imagination” too.How inspiring!
My religion (Islam) when I found out what right it gives women I broke many of the rules.
One of the rule dictated that I can’t have any self expression being a woman and I broke that.
I believe I did everything right because no religion has the right to restrict self expression based on gender.
Hallo to all,
it is very sad to happen that in nowadays…because of the rules the church does not take care the specific circumstances of every situation…..
I think this is the biggest mistake of the church….to create some rules and do not see the reality….the real reason why it happen that….
Abortion is how you mention one of that rule…and they are also many more…..
I believe rules should change how we change as a human beings…..rules that was right yesterday it can be wrong today….
we can not based everything just in logic….and nothing more…..
i am against anyone, or any body of ‘men’
dictating what the individual circumstances require
children are precious, and must not be hurt or damaged
yet a pregnancy is long, and if love is taken away
then the welcoming environment may easily turn into one
which is harmful to the new being
one of lif’s great tormenting decisions
one that i have on various occassions had to deal with
i shal write again
ps just finished reading BRIDA….thanks
i am against anyone, or any body of ‘men’
dictating what the individual circumstances require
children are precious, and must not be hurt or damaged
if I respect those rules or just trust the person who put them then I don’t think there would be a reason for me to break them. I don’t trust any ony other than god so his rules are the only rules that I follow and not the stupid rules that people put to chain themselves, my only rule is to be happy, and I don’t intend to break it any time soon
Rule is certainly needed in this world full of people. BUT rule is just some guideline to keep our life together in harmony.
Though rule is needed, I don’t really obeyed all the rules. Depends on the circumstances, rules certainly are to be broken. :)
This is a story I read on the book from Anthony de Mello:
Nasrudin found a baby-fist-sized diamond on the road. As the rules goes, he is to announce his finding on the market on three consecutive days, if no one claim the ownership of his finding, the founder is to keep it. So, being a rule-follower Nasrudin announced his finding right in the middle of the market on three consecutive days IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
As NO ONE claimed the ownership of the diamond, Nasrudin was to keep it.
Under the story de Mello wrote that blindly and literally following the rule is equal with committing crime.
Following the rules is certainly okay as long the act of following the rules do not coincide the conscience.
For conscience comes from the heart and through the heart God (or whatever you call Him with) will speak to us.
We need to break the rules when we feel oppressed or too constrained by them. As human beings we aspire to feel “alive”. We are not automatons and when the rules some to constrain us too much we must break them to feel that free rush and joy of life one again. The question this leads me to, I suppose, is what rules do we need to break – but I’m afraid I’ll have to go think that one over for now! (added by Mobile using Mippin)
“I OBEY rules just because I want to have … peace!! I love order.
My decisions are always based on my free will, ethics and morality.
‘Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you’, is my motto, as Paulo Coelho has said already. It is a … safe CODE!!”
I agree with words of THELMA that are written above. Thanks for reminding the universal rule “Do not do others …”
Loves ;-)
Sefer JAN
Karen, I am truly blown away by your story. I wish you well.
There for the grace go i.I do not hoard food.I don’t practise my religion now, but I think I must have broken so many rules, drinking tea and coffee- marrying outside my faith, I don’t have 2 years supply of food.I don’t fast now, and birth control is my business. I think sometimes we have to break the rules.I try though to not break non religious rules, but it is hard to know where there are rules today, so many unspoken rules .I think we are all a little to blame for breaking rules on keeping good eccological practices.
There are only two real rules; neither of which should EVER be broken:
1)Love God
2)Treat others as you would be treated
However; if you accidentally break one of these rules I’ll forgive you!
Dear Paulo,
Well, before replying to you, I went on the internet to read more about this case, so that I can give an opinion.
You are absolutely right. What I read about this girl made me think that the Church is not taking the circumstances into account.
In England, there was a case recently, of a 13 year old child fathering a baby with a girl who was 15. The girl didn’t tell her mother she was pregnant, and the baby was born. But it makes you wonder: how can kids this young be good parents to other children? what does it say about our broken society? Here’s the an article about it:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/father-at-13-little-children-big-money-1622477.html
There was also the Pope’s case recently in Africa, who declared that condoms made AIDS worse in Africa. Why does he have to say that in such a place at such a moment in time?
I know that as a chief representative of the Catholic church, his role is to deliver a certain message, and obey a dogma. In THEORY, the philosophy of abstinence or a faithful marriage in monogamy is indeed what prevents a number of cases…but not all! Sadly, HIV is NOT just transmitted by sexual contact, but also by blood transfusion. So, let’s say if one of the married partner has an operation, gets contaminated by the blood, and is catholic to the core (not accepting the condom) she/he will in turn contaminate the spouse/husband.
It’s high time they look at reality and circumstances, because sticking to theories and dogma is not the answer to everything.
Take care
This is my life…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PId915Ooi0Q
My life is a game without boundaries/rules,
boring story with turning pages,
where nothing is written….
There are some interesting thoughts on the zygote which I appreciate and would like to share my thoughts as well.
Yes, the Zygote Is living, just like any and all Cells in our bodies.
But, they Are just Cells, and it’s like saying that we can never kill Bacteria. Image, not killing bacteria because we are KILLING life. huh…
The human, soul, is not just a cell. It cannot be Killed!
:D
When it enters and occupies the forming cells, or waits till the cells have completed the body formation, we don’t know.
Either way, it cannot be killed. This is, obviously, my opinion….
u can break rules for loving…
I agree that most of the “rules” (laws, social and religious rules) are made by men.
So why should another man decide for me?
And why shouldn’t I break those rules if I feel they are unfair, or dumb, or even crazy?
Well, with that being said, we must also consider that we are all social animals, and we often belong (or want to belong) to a certain community – and we must pay a price for that: observing community’s rules.
For example, if we belong to Catholicism, we are supposed to follow and respect the rules set by the Catholic Church – otherwise we are out.
It’s up to us: we have to ask ourselves what is more important – our personal believes, values, opinions and inclinations or the affiliation to a specific community?
Our answers may change, from time to time, depending on how strong our believes-values-opinions-inclinations are and how strict is the bound to a certain community. It also depends on how much we are concerned by the issue which is subject to the rule we are planning or not to break.
The whole thing changes when we talk about those “natural” or “basic” rules that many of us have mentioned: rules that come along with humanity, or at least with our here-and-now perspective.
We can recognize those rules because they are not related to a community, and breaking them results in sense of inner guilt and blame, more than in blaming by others.
Personally, I prefer not to belong to any community, unless I am so much into it that I can give up my free will to obey the community rules… and usually that’s not the case.
Furthermore, I think that even if we belong to a community, we are always free to break its rules and then, consequently, leave that community, unless we are ready to live with other members’ blame.
Free will… that’s God’s main gift.
Love and joy,
Rossana Curri
Acredito que as regras existam para dar um parâmetro em nossas vidas. Se não existissem, como conviveríamos, saberíamos a hora certa, etc.? Estas devem ser quebradas somente em última instância, quando não houver mais argumentos, mais tempo, mais nada a perder. O que falta às vezes, é a “experiência” para determinar este momento…
I studied all my life in catholic school, and hated the confession sacrament. It is nonsense and ridiculous, I remembered how I had to planned what I was gonna say to the priest, what “sins” to tell,like I had bad thoughts (Didn’t had the nerve or the face to said “masturbate”), lied, and said dirty words for example. The thought of telling to another man, a human being like me, who at that time smelled like cigarrets and alcohol, what “rules” I broke, made me mad.
They are not God, why do we have to confess to them???
And what happened recently with catholic priests??? They broke all the rules! God’s and man rules! How many kids they abuse?
What a shame!
There are values, moral, and common sense to follow. But not everything that’s call a “rule” means it’s good.
Well, I have always asked myself this question… there are rules that are not fair at certain situations….
the asnwer for this question was always : the world is not fair!!
yes.. the world is not fair… the winner and powerful can always get away with his actions… while the weak cannot!!!
if I’m ever going to break a rule… it will be if this rule is causing someone real harm, and I can help take this harm away!! without causing harm on other people!!
Rules are made by people… and people are not GODS… they put rules according to their own experiences and understanding of what’s right and wrong… and that’s why we shall always work on updating rules according to needs of the group not the individual…
Good Luck all!!
Karen
I loved your post. Very heartfelt and moving. I agree with you so much!
Rosie
Eu me lembrei de uma vez, quando eu era criança e toda a família passava o verão na praia. Eu era o menor dos 6 primos e tinha-mos uma tia que todos nós temiam.
Geralmente quando ela estava jogando baralho, e ela jogava muito bem, nós todos encostava-mos para assistir ela jogando. As vezes o meu primo dava uns palpites e ela enlouquecia.
- Saiam daqui seu rebanho de cachorro!!! (Ela gritava estridentemente)
E todos nós saia-mos correndo desesperadamente. Eu começei a me questionar sobre aquele automatismo. Eu tinha em torno de 5 anos de idade.
Uma certa vez essa cena se repetiu, e quando todos nós começamos a correr no meio da varanda eu parei e repliquei:
- Sua cachorra!
Então veio ela e as 2 filhas dela doidas para me agarrarem, e conseguiram. Ai ela me perguntou por que eu tinha falado aquilo e eu respondi que se nós somos cachorros ela é cachorra, por que ela é uma mulher.
Ela se desculpou e disse que era uma brincadeira e essa cena nunca mais voltou a se repetir.
Rules are created for many reasons: the survival of humanity, to maintain order, keep control, and how to play a game. A lot of rules and laws were created long before the knowledge we have today. Rules are created for a majority, but there is always a minority that don’t quite fit the picture.
Dogs aren’t allowed in restaurants, yet service dogs, such as guide dogs are. Yet it is still a dog. Children that have committed crimes are treated differently to adults committing the same crime. Yet the crime is the same. When a person unintentionally kills someone for instance when a pedestrian runs out infront of a car and the car driver hits and kills him. That killing is considered accidental. Yet he has still killed someone.
One of greatest rules is ‘thou shalt not kill.’ yet we have fought wars in which innocent people have died over and over again. We are killing people.
We watch as the AIDS epidemic kills masses of innocent people. Are we part of the crime, by doing nothing, knowing what the solutions are?
When a child unintentionally becomes pregnant through no fault of her own; through rape, not a marriage of love, (which is also part of the rules for having sex) and this pregnancy threatens not only her life but that of the fetus, what are the rules for allowing the continuation of the rapists crime, this pregnancy, to reach it’s criminal fruition, possibly resulting in the death of the child or the fetus or both?
We break rules all time. We bend them and we twist them, we fight them and we fight to keep them. They are relevant for the majority, but there is always an exception to the rule.
É muito difícil quebrar regras, pois somos ensinados que o caminho das regras é mais protegido, menos perigoso. E assim ensinamos aos nossos filhos quando eles nos desobedecem, dizendo: “Viu só, eu avisei. Se você fizer diferente do que a mamãe disser, vai dar errado. Você vai se machucar”.Etc, etc, etc….
Eu gostaria muito de ter mais coragem para quebrar mais regras. Minha mãe me ensinou que quando não temos dinheiro não podemos desafiar demais. E por mais que eu acredite no contrário. Fale aos outros palavras de incentivo… Na prática não desafio, não ouso, não mudo muito, ou como eu gostaria.
Mas acredito mesmo que quebrar regras é essencial ao crescimento, ao aprimoramento da alma. E se der errado, mesmo assim o aprendizado é certo!!!! Palvras são mais fáceis do que atitudes…(neste momento da confissão estou me sentindo uma covarde, frente a tantos bravos).
Em alguns momentos, porém, tenho certeza que quebraria regras:
- Pela segurança da vida de minha filha;
- Pelo exemplo que minha filha está se espelhando, mostrando que acreditar no coração é a escolha certa;
- Quando um sonho está prestes a ser concretizado e vem propostas de um futuro estável se eu não sair do lugar – nesse momento quebro o que todo mundo acha o que é melhor, pelo quê eu acho que é o melhor;
E assim vou aprendendo….
Beijos querido Mestre, com amor
PATRICIA
a lot to say about rules and breaking of rules, all of us, quite obviously.
but let’s pray for a day, a place where there are no rules, can one imagine a place with rules, where everyone is a buddha, a conscious buddha that is, otherwise all of us alreday are enlightned, we are just not awake to the fact. we are sleeping !
love
aditya
This very question is surely being debated within the international community at the moment with the treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. There treatment has been in breach of international law, human rights, and probably the domestic laws of the United States. Yet, it is argued, one can break the rules if it results in a terrorist attack being thwarted in the US. That justifies the use of torture!! The politicians, however, ignore the impact that their breaking of the rules have across the rest of the world.
The only time that I break the rules is to ensure justice is achieved. There are many occasions when the strict interpretation of the law results in an injustice, so one has to ignore the strict interpretation of the law for a just result.
As Bassanio said in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice
“ And, I beseech you,
Wrest once the law to your authority:
To do a great right, do a little wrong.”
It may appear difficult to some to distinguish between the two but it is vital that when we are aware of breaches of human rights that we speak out.
“ It is ever the fate of the indolent to find their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance”
T.P. Curran said in 1790.
Looks like our “Guru” is breaking all the rules, must be the “eccentric” mood shown in MySpace.
Did you sleep in to day?
Students are waiting.
It is a detention for sure.
Trish,
I do not agree with you, for me zygote (fertilized ovum) is NOT human being though it might become one, yes it might become, just might !
But deciding already now when you are student, that it is human being I think is wrong, it makes your decisions easier, you do not need to question ethics, moral, circumstances etc, etc,…behind girls or womans decision to abort, you already condemned them to murderers. I do hope and wish you with all my heart that during your life, fate or God, call it how you like, do not make you contepmlate and suffer completely different decision.
Life is strange it makes us do all what once we said we shall never do, I tell you from my experience.
Courage Philippines,
I am sure catholic church will not abolish abortion, they will not reconsider any of their dogmas, but it does not mean they are right or sinnless or omnipotent.
They are loosing grounds everywhere because they lost contact with reality, their humility is opposite to their (catholic church) richness, their teaching has nothing to do with Jesus Christ any more and that is why they are loosing, their words are empty as they do not give right example.
Rich preeching poverty, celibate, with no children ( legitimate ) preeching about families with as many children as possible…..
I could go on and on, fact is no Vatican men from Pope to last village priest can not and should not judge or make rules !
They who burned women on stakes, who comitted crimes of Inquisition, sow illegitimate children and finaly they who do not share the richness but for every new project and mission ask from fedels money,
they should renew and reinvent themselves and return to origins of the faith, and so come and meet with reality of nowdays.
I am CHRISTIAN catholic and I do not agree with abortion, but not as the rule. It is up to conscience and love of mother-to-be to decide, not to church or legislature.
“The first without sinn throw first rock…”
Love
Luce
¿cuando tenemos que romper las reglas? Yo creo que en el mismo momento en que nacemos, debenos romper las reglas para ser uno mismo, debemos hacer aquello que nos haga felices, pero sin dañar a las personas que tenemos cerca y ellas nos deberían dejar realizarnos como personas.
Yo ahora mismo me encuentro a punto de romper las reglas, llevo estidiando una carrera durante mas de seis años. Pero por seguir las reglas ahora estoy sufriendo una depresión, no tengo sueños y no hago nada más alla de lo que debo hacer. No me he permitido vivir mi vida, he vivida la vida de las normas. Y que he conseguido? Nada, sólo depresión y alejar de mi vida a las personas que quiero.
Ayer tome la decision de dejar mi carrera, pensar que he estudiado seis años y que no me queda nada para acabar, pero seguiria haciendo lo que marcan las normas sociales. Ahora voy a seguir mis normas, no tengo siete vidas como los gatos, solo tengo una y ya he desaprovechado 23 años.
Lo correcto es lo que te hace feliz a ti mismo, no lo que marca la sociedad.
GRACIAS
My sincere regards also for
Savita Vega
March 23, 2009 at 1:53 pm
You are brave too, like Karen (above your comment).
“When do we need to break the rule?” Just simply, when they are wrong. It also depends on who sets the rules. I believe the 10 Commandments are rules set by God and I respect them and attempt to always abide by them. I don’t presume to know better than God. I think its good to question and challenge sometimes but you can also step over the line and become like the fallen angel.
I don’t disagree with the Catholic stance on abortion – but this case needs a great deal of compassion as it is a Child who has been violated and who will die if she goes through with the birth. My heart breaks also to know that she has to go through the awful invasiveness of an abortion. Here is a link to a site where there is a kind of apology on the rash reaction. http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0901197.htm
My prayers for this precious angel.
Kathleen xx
My CONGRATULATIONS to the comment of
KAREN
March 23, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Congratulations. You are brave, you fight your fears in an open way. No shame but the breaking of your heart.
I do thank you for what you wrote here.
I would like to know more about you, Karen. Be in touch.
Please PAULO, let her know my message.
Thanks.
Maria
I had a relationship with my ex-girlfriend even though she was secretly but legally married to another man in Kuala Lumpur. She told me that she got pregnant with this man and had aborted the foetus. Her family didn’t know about this or her marriage.
The thing is that she told me that her husband was physically abusive and I wanted to save her by marrying her. For someone like me who was single, having a relationship with a married woman was madness. We were supposed to get married once she got her divorce. Unfortunately, we broke up because she couldn’t be faithful to me either. I misread her character and paid for it with a lot pain. Well, lesson learnt but the point here is that I dared to break the “adultery” law for what I thought was the right thing to do.
Anyway I’m pretty happily married to another with a 1 year old baby now.
Dear Serah,
It is exactly what lot of us in this discussion tell. It is not easy nor egoistic decision to abort, but in the final it is woman who should decide to keep the life within and bring child to the light or not. It can not be given to church, politics or community comeeties to decide, it is on consciousness of mother-to-be right to have the last word.
Trish,
I am christian catholic and I do not agree with you, for me zygote (fertilized ovum) is NOT human being, it can become one but at that stage it is not. It is too simple as you put it, it makes you untransigent and it makes your decision as OB/GYN easier to bring because you do not need to search your conscious as you already decided that from zygote it is murder to eliminate it.
I wish you with all my heart that life does not bring you in position to be forced to suffer and reconsider. Life has strange ways it puts under question lot of our convictions in its course.
Dear Courage Philippines,
If Catolic Church will or will not accept abortion does not change reality at all. I am also sure they will not change, they had gone far away from people they teach and preech in every possible way.
Their humility is direct oposite to their richness, they have no families or legitimate children and they pretend to teach us on that topic and ask to have as many children possible, they would not permit priest to have wife, like in Orthodox Church…..
I will not go further, but people like us, as you called some of us,
are not subverting Church’s teachings to suit our needs but more than that, we are voice that church won’t listen, we are making dialog not monolog as church does. Church does not teach it gives orders
and
who are they from top of Vatican to the simple village priest, where Catholic Church has gone from day Christ was born untill today ?
I repeat, I am CHRISTIAN catholic, I am against abortion but not as the rule, I am not judge and my only rule is LOVE !
Love to you all
Luce
I think it is very simple….
When your alive conscience did’nt agree with that rules, then rules have to break/ change.
Because Almighty ALLAH is always in our Heart, we just need to find him by his given Staright & simple Way.
Unstranger – thanks for your nice comment.
Paul de l’Autriche – bonjour.
:)
If you think that abortion is the “right solution” to unwanted pregnancy, I think you’re DUMB.
The Catholic Church will never ever justify abortion. It is people like you who tries to subvert the Church’s teachings to suit your needs are DUMB and getting DUMBER every hour.
Pardon me for the strong words but that’s how I think of you at the moment.
Estimado Don Paulo:
Este es el momento de cambiar las reglas!
Si escuchamos al Corazon, cada uno, de uno en uno, sabriamos, SIEMPRE, cuando y como cambiar las reglas…igualmente hay una ley no escrita, que dice…si cambia UNO, cambia TODO, por ende las reglas tambien…
Atentamente
Mauro
We all break rules – all the time. We drive over speed limits and lie when asked “does my bottom look big in this?” We use rules to justify someone else’s misbehaviour but never our own.
We can, however, break rules surrounding truth when by following them we would cause hurt out of all proportion to the lie we tell. We call them white lies but it means we break the moral code by which we live where we expect to do unto others as we would have others do unto us – in other words, tell us the truth.
But is it wrong to avoid telling someone such as a child with a terminal illness that they are soon to die? Or is it better to give them hope that despite everything happening to them, they are going to get better? Is that deceit in fact a caring and careful response to an impossible situation that could not be improved by telling the truth?
Naturally the truth is always preferable, but not always wise – as Paul the Apostle said – lawful but not expedient. It also depends on circumstances and individuals but I believe that there are times when we can, and it can be considered expedient for us to break rules.
I have three friends who were abandoned or given up at birth: one’s mother told him that she had wanted to abort him but had no money to do so, and so she gave him up for adoption-he is now studying to become a neurosurgeon. The second was found at the city’s dumpster- he is now the Chief Resident.The third, my best friend, was also given up for adoption, went through many foster homes but is now the head of my city’s children services unit and is helping an average of 400 children per year. A mayor in my country gave an interview on how he was almost aborted. His mother however changed her mind. She kept him and had many difficulties bringing him up. He suffered being a child from a rape incident. But his now our mayor and doing s pretty darn good job.
What I am trying to say is that I don’t think abortion is the only solution. Good things can come from the problems we make.
I agree with Thelma and Sefer Jan. Most rules have been put in place for the greater good. As a medical student studying to become a gynaecologist, I can (as well as all other OB/GYN) can verify that the foetus is a living being from the time of conception. And since the zygote (the fertilized ovum) will become a baby at the end of the nine months it is therefore a human being.
I am not a pro-life activist nor am I chastising anyone, I just wanted to bring this to light. And since we intrinsically know that it is wrong to kill,and the child forming in the womb a human being from conception until birth, isn’t induced abortion (abortion done deliberately and not due to medical reasons) akin to murder? Especially considering that the child is helpless, cannot defend him/herself and poses no danger to the life of the mother or others?
dear Paul from austria
i loved ur story— well i loved the moral!!!!!!!
take care
orly
I believe that rules are important to the extent that man has lost his way and occasionaly needs guidance, because power, greed, corruption and evil have prevented us from distinguishing the difference between what is moral and immoral. Rules are tricky, however, because they can easily lead a people into oppression. That is why it is wise to utilize prerogative – we should follow rules that are set in place in order to prevent a state of anarchy, but we cannot accept those rules that are careless, ridiculous or do not account for extenuating circumstances. In the end, human beings should have the right to do what they want with their body/life, as long as their decisions do not infringe upon the rights of their neighbor.
I am not for NO rules, but no senseless rules.
I am against abortion but not as the rule. I love life and therefore I am against abortion but not because I am catholic or because some politicians gain votes and make NO ABORTION rule.
I pray for mother-to-be but alone in my privacy not making scenes in front of hospitals, or ambushing young girls that already have burden of their consciousness and burden of uneasy and painfuly made choice.
They call themselves rightous and pro-life, sanctimonious but I do not see them that way.
Another bunch are politicians and clerics, first make us doubt in law, the second make us doubt religion.
What should be said to women in Bosnia that were during the war in 90ies violented continously and held captive until advanced pregnancy ?
What about woman circumcision ( or better to say young girls ) ?
Paulo,
I am happy you choose this topic and I do think that love should guide us and not rules, love for ourselves and love for others.
If I do not love and take care of myself how can I love and care for anybody else ?
And in the book of my life this is not egoism.
Love
Luce
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