I chanced upon this post at “Truth, Justice and the American Way”. Go read the post. Then read the comments. Then read this quote
I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people.
—Mother Teresa
Does it make sense?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Abortion, Down's syndrome, Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, Pro-choice, Pro-life, Religion, Suffering, Worship |
Applying philosophy to life 
The comments make my blood boil. What does writing about the immorality of “choosing” to give birth to a damaged baby have anything to do with the fact of D being Ukrainian. Seems most of the commentators are racists. Like this comment points out-
And they speak about Nazism and “loving” humanity. This is one reason why I hate religion. Jerks.
The comments make my blood boil.
Yes. But the thing that struck me most was the fact that most of them consider having a disabled child an honor bestowed by God. I wonder, if someone invented a cure for the disability, would they avail of it?
> “Does it make sense?”
Yes, in one way. It is consistent with their conservative values — in this case, God and Family. (The two other highest conservative values are Tradition and Nation.)
It also makes sense in that it is consistent with another point I have heard, particularly from Catholics: suffering cleanses the soul and thus prepares us to meet God (in the next world, of course).
I most recently heard that from a Catholic arguing against voluntary, physician-assisted suicide (which is now legal where I live, in Oregon, USA).
Of course, if “makes sense” means it is “tied logically to reality,” then no, it is nonsense!
# “I wonder, if someone invented a cure for the disability, would they avail of it?”
There are some people who don’t visit the doctor at all regardless of how critical they (or their children) are. They “pray,” instead. I don’t know what kind of sect that is, a Jehovah’s Witness-like one. Otherwise they would accept that cure. Evasion only goes so far.
Burgess,
Your identification that Conservatives hold God, Tradition, Family, and Nation as their highest values is an excellent one. You made it once before in some other comments section but you also identified the core Liberal values. I think you named Community as one of them. Do you remember what you named as the others?
Regarding the worship of suffering, I would name that as one of the two legacies of Christianity. The other is the worship of sacrifice. Both of these are enshrined in the mythology of the Christian prophet. He suffered terribly and sacrificed his life for the redemption of an innately flawed and wicked people. The *essence* of Christianity therefore revolves around suffering. If there were no suffering of what use would Christianity be? I am not an expert in comparative religion. So I don’t know other religions as well as Christianity. But I would say that Christianity elevated suffering and sacrifice more than any other religion. New Testament Christianity is a purely otherworldly creed.
“They “pray,” instead. I don’t know what kind of sect that is, a Jehovah’s Witness-like one. ”
I think the one you’re thinking of is Christian Science, which according to wikipedia:
“Christian Scientists believe that sickness is the result of fear, ignorance, or sin, and that when the erroneous belief is corrected, the sickness will disappear.”
There have been multiple occasions where followers have had criminal charges brought against them for failing to provide medical care to their children because of such beliefs.