Abortion / Addictions
Child_Abuse,_Neglect,_&_Exploitation / Contraception / Capital Punishment
Deadly_Cults / Depression_and_Suicide / Domestic_Violence
Elder_Abuse_&_Neglect / Euthanasia
Genocide / Government-Sponsered_Killing
Killers_At_Large / Poverty / Terrorism
The_Rat_Race / War / Zero_Population_Growth

The Culture of Life and What Pro-Life Really Means

My thoughts on this matter began a long time ago with something as trivial as a hand-me-down T-shirt.
It just said "CHOOSE LIFE" in big letters on the front, and I liked it. The funny thing was that every time I wore that T-shirt, someone would ask me about it.
They asked if it was about abortion, and of course I said yes.
They asked if I was against the death penalty, and I was.
They asked if it was about euthanasia, and really that was also true.
They asked if it was a statement about teen suicide, or suicide in general.
They even asked if it had to do with deliberately choosing life rather than just drifting through.
I came to realize that CHOOSE LIFE was an awfully good ethical rule of thumb.

The term "Pro-Life" has come to stand mostly for the fight against abortion.
Many forget that other lives are in danger- the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill, the abused child, the death-row inmate, the political prisoner, the missionary in a labor camp.

We all constantly face decisions in our lives that are pro-life or pro-death.
When we call to report that we heard a child screaming next door, or saw bruises...
-when we stop in to check on the senior down the street,
-when we serve on a jury that holds a man's life in its hands,
-when we vote for men and women who value human life in all its forms
rather than disregarding the rights of the helpless in favor of the vocal,
-when we give foster children a loving home, or adopt a child who may not be the perfect white newborn every agency wants,
-when we choose to regulate our sexual activities in accord with the responsibility we owe to our children,
-when we care enough to take responsibility for the lives we create, by raising them or giving them to someone who can,
-when we ask someone in trouble about suicidal thoughts, or tell someone about those we have,
-when we stand up with our own lives for the weakest and the most despised...
-we CHOOSE LIFE.

Threats to Life, and Links About Them

"I set before you life and death... choose life"
-Deut. 30:19
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other sites which cover a range of pro-life issues

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Abortion

"It is a poverty that a child must die in order that we may live as we please."
- Mother Teresa of Calcutta
 Here are some arguments for abortion that must be considered by those who oppose it. Abortion Perspectives does a good job of beginning to address this stance, and other pro-choice concerns.

Addictions

Capitol Punishment (the Death Penalty)

Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation

See also:
my Survivors Page of resources
for those who have been abused in the past.
my Dissociation and Multiple Personality Page
for those survivors who have dissociative problems or disorders (PTSD, DID/MPD, feeling numb or spacing out), especially prevalent among those who have been victims of child sexual abuse or ritual abuse.

Contraception

Deadly Cults

Depression and Suicide

Domestic Violence

National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is also staffed by trained counselors who are able to provide crisis assistance and important information about shelters, legal advocacy, health care centers, and counseling. They also have a toll-free number for the hearing-impaired: 1-800-787-3224 (TDD) "Peace, like charity, begins at home." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Elder Abuse and Neglect

Euthanasia

Genocide

Government-Sanctioned Killing (Human Rights Violators)

Amnesty International on-line

Killers At Large

Poverty

Terrorism

The Rat Race

See also:
my Frugal Page for information on the Simplicity movement and getting out of the "Rat Race".

War

"If you want peace, work for justice."
~Pope Paul VI

Zero Population Growth

Making a Difference

Related links pages:
Christianity & Catholicism
Missing Children
Psychology
Rosary


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HTML, background and imagemap graphics created by:
Donna Arthur,
donnak@augustmail.com
Created: Aug 18, 1997
Last updated February 8, 2000