Pro-life, Pro-choice*
Many Catholics and other pro-lifers are well aware of The Apple Argument Against Abortion by Boston College Professor Peter Kreeft. The crux of the argument is that a true skeptic, who acknowledges that the fetus might be a person, could never argue in favor of abortion, as it might mean killing a person, a chance no moral person would take. Thus, a moral case for abortion can only be made from a dogmatic and absolutist position that the fetus is a nonperson. The irony lies in the fact that pro-choicers by and large, as relativists, refuse to admit they are dogmatic or absolutists.
Of course the Catholic, who is neither a skeptic nor a relativist, does not need Prof. Kreeft's argument to convince him that abortion is wrong. As Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta so famously put it, "If abortion is not wrong, nothing is wrong." Prof. Kreeft's argument is aimed at pro-choicers.
I sent the above link to fellow-expat-in-Korea Gordon Sellar, in response to a post on his blog entitled Peter Kreeft's Between Heaven & Hell. Mr. Sellar, writing on his second blog, has posted A Refutation of the Apple Argument Against Abortion. I won't color anyone's opinion of this piece by offering any commentary here, but encourage all to follow the link and give it a read.
* I find the terms "anti-abortion" and "pro-abortion" to be clearer and more direct, but use "pro-life" and "pro-choice" because those are the terms each group uses for itself. I am, of course, 100% anti-abortion.
Many Catholics and other pro-lifers are well aware of The Apple Argument Against Abortion by Boston College Professor Peter Kreeft. The crux of the argument is that a true skeptic, who acknowledges that the fetus might be a person, could never argue in favor of abortion, as it might mean killing a person, a chance no moral person would take. Thus, a moral case for abortion can only be made from a dogmatic and absolutist position that the fetus is a nonperson. The irony lies in the fact that pro-choicers by and large, as relativists, refuse to admit they are dogmatic or absolutists.
Of course the Catholic, who is neither a skeptic nor a relativist, does not need Prof. Kreeft's argument to convince him that abortion is wrong. As Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta so famously put it, "If abortion is not wrong, nothing is wrong." Prof. Kreeft's argument is aimed at pro-choicers.
I sent the above link to fellow-expat-in-Korea Gordon Sellar, in response to a post on his blog entitled Peter Kreeft's Between Heaven & Hell. Mr. Sellar, writing on his second blog, has posted A Refutation of the Apple Argument Against Abortion. I won't color anyone's opinion of this piece by offering any commentary here, but encourage all to follow the link and give it a read.
* I find the terms "anti-abortion" and "pro-abortion" to be clearer and more direct, but use "pro-life" and "pro-choice" because those are the terms each group uses for itself. I am, of course, 100% anti-abortion.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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