Is it Just Me, or Is the Religious Right Really Obsessed with Rape?

So Richard Mourdock, GOP Senate candidate from Indiana, decided to add his two cents to the rape/abortion debate last week, saying "...  and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."  He, of course, amended his comment later to clarify that the rape was not what was intended, but the pregnancy, and that all life is precious.  And while we all know full well that's not what he intended, it doesn't make his argument any less dumb.  And it should be noted that, in proclaiming divine providence on pregnancies, you are, in fact, at least implying that the rape was God's will, since the result was God's will.  And I'm sure that God, with all His omnipotence, appreciates people like Dick reaching out to help those of us lesser people truly understand God's will - as if that's actually possible.

The problem with the abortion debate is that, to have it, you have to split a lot of hairs.  I don't support abortion, I wouldn't want my wife to have one unless there was a specific need to.  But I'm sorry, the argument against abortion is a religious one.  Even for those who shoot for secular, only debating when life begins, the origination of that argument has always been a religious one.  I'm Christian, but I also think God doesn't need me telling anyone what their life is or should be, or the decisions they make for themselves.  And it sure as hell isn't my right to legislate beliefs onto the whole of the country, especially when a good portion of the country doesn't share in that religious belief.  So I would fall into the pro-choice category - as would my wife.

God's greatest gift was his Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins.  His second greatest gift was the freedom of choice - even the choice to not believe in Him.  God doesn't force belief - omnipotence being what it is, He already knows the end result - so He patiently waits, with His hand out, for His children to find that belief in their own time.  We can't ever really know God, only ascribe to a relationship with Him, try to live in His light.  So as God gives us choice, the religious right have decided to circumvent God and dictate people's lives to them, knowing, for an indisputable fact, that this is what God wants, whether those people are believers or not?  

Right to lifers say the same thing about abortion that they do about gays - that they don't want gay rights and abortion rights forced upon them.  Aside from the fact that they're not (any of you been pulled into a Justice of the Peace office and forced to marry someone of your own gender lately?  How about women?  Been yanked into a back room, tied down, and had your baby aborted lately?), they all have no problem forcing what they want onto everybody else.  Could it be more disingenuous?   I'm not sure there's a more two-faced approach in our legal system.  Splitting hairs about cells vs. developed human bodies is an argument that goes nowhere, and it completely sidesteps the root issue:  should any person have a say in what someone else does with their body, if that person is of sound mind and spirit? 

Religious beliefs do not belong in legislation unless the entire country the legislation serves believes the same thing.  Christians want every other non/religion to bow to their whim.  It's the greatest of hypocrisies - the religious right complains that guys like Obama believe they know better than you what's best for you, and they chastise him for that attitude - and full throatedly campaign against that attitude.  At the same time, they wag the naughty finger at abortion rights groups and gay rights groups, saying they know better than you what's best for you, and you should just do as they say - after all, this is about what God wants, and they are God's enforcement officers here on Earth.  They could be more wrong, I suppose, but I'm not sure how.