I'm certainly not a doctor so I won't attempt to speak to the physiological complexities of conception or birth. Nonetheless, I am amazed how two people, out of billions of possibilities, and then (in most cases) one particular egg (out of how many?) and (in most cases) one specific sperm (Oi), join together to begin the creation of another completely individual story within the epic human story. I mean, the conception seems so random and unlikely at the cellular level yet the birth seems specific, personally and collectively, to the needs and elements of the time. Despite the complexities and my non-medical limitations, I'm going to claim that conception reflects biological mysteries while birth reveals mythological intentions and they both strike me as miraculous!
[I can already hear the fundamentalists yelling, "Ah-hah! So you do! believe life begins at conception. You do! think abortion is the destruction of a human life. You are! anti-abortion." Hmm... this issue will never be that simple. It is worth thinking about, however. So, "Yes," I do believe life begins at conception. But life began a few billion years ago (give or take) and at the cellular level alone has begun and ended more times than any of us could ever comprehend (and that's just human biology!). Under those circumstances it's obvious that biological mysteries, always and everywhere, unalterably connect life to death, naturally transcending the distinctions of each. And "Yes," I do think abortion is the intentional destruction of life. But that reality must be comprehended with a full history of what can only be described as the biological and ideological destruction of billions of the already living. So, from my perspective, the abortion debate is seeped in oppression and lost potential any way you look at it. In other words, trying to defend the miracle of conception while simultaneously oppressing the miracles of life all around is spiritual ignorance. And trying to defend the right to create and destroy life without understanding the unalterable connections between freedom and responsibility is also spiritual ignorance. I trust, therefore, that if we were all willing to fearlessly examine biological and ideological oppression we would each begin to address the abortion issue much differently than "for or against." Fundamentally, I'm protesting the whole debate until and unless it includes examination of how the issue is preceded by, and founded on, centuries of destroyed human potential.]
Hmm... I didn't set-out to write the second paragraph but the moment I finished the first one I got this image of a guy I know who is always using his religious beliefs to metaphorically punch me in the face. If I mention how I believe people are miracles he gets this mean smile and insists that I answer whether I'm "for" or "against" abortion. I refuse the debate based on the grounds that two men addressing this issue is complete and utter hypocrisy. Besides, in his rigidity toward life he needs to start and "win" the debate in order to prove the righteousness of his faith. And even though I try to practice empathy (a nonjudgmental effort to understand and care about another's experience) I too smile like a fist (Yes, I'm aware of my own hypocrisy). I also know he has a history of childhood abuse. From the beginning interpretations of his Potential were ideologically aborted by domestic violence which led to teenage withdrawal, manipulation and rebellion that included drugs, weapons and eventually time in prison for violent crimes. Finding his personal salvation in a rigid belief system (i.e., attempting to organize the dissociations of his earlier traumas) is what he needs these days. I wish him luck and hope his religion leads him to some healthy, loving relationships NOW! in this life. But, because disagreeing with him might include some dire consequences, I have my doubts. Nevertheless, I thank him for helping me wake-up to why I believe what I believe.
Waking-up is what the "How I Am: Being Human" diagram (2nd post of May 18th) is all about. Of the six "needs" and their corresponding health components I think truly waking-up starts with and finds its way back around to the "Freedom Needs/Spiritual Health" sphere. As shown, the factors and influences immediately surrounding this sphere are Calling and Temperament; the other realities are Change, Potential and Mortality. In the beginning most children have a natural grasp (no ideology) on these elements. As we grow and experience the ideological conditioning of feelings and values, (nurturing?) the grasp on Potential begins to loosen, sometimes let go of completely, causing us to drearily fall into unexamined beliefs and conditioned behaviors (like zombies). Essentially, throughout life, being human is continuously formed, conformed, deformed, informed and transformed by relationships, experiences and perceptions. And it's all in relation to Potential and the "Freedom/Spiritual Health" sphere as they relate to one's current story, history, herstory and our collective story. I think waking-up means to bring the unconscious material of the stories to consciousness and then taking full responsibility for "How I Am: Being Human" right NOW. Life, after all, is about waking-up to one's Potential and "Freedom/Spiritual Health" while being in a conscious, meaningful relationship as, and with, a world full of miracles!
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