Speaking for myself, I was not an anti-abortionist until after I read the decision of Roe v. Wade. It was in fact the very first legal decision we read: it was passed out during orientation in Law School. It was also the poorest bit of legal reasoning of all the cases I read in all three years of Law School: it quotes no authority, no precedent, gives no guidelines to distinguish the case under considerations from parallel cases.
It was not until I saw a picture of my firstborn in the womb that I became committed emotionally to antiabortion. The doctor advised us to abort Orville. Seeing that these people were trying to get me to kill my son, whom I am honor bound to love and protect, washed the scales from my eyes.
I was also raised to believe in the axioms of the sexual revolution. It was merely part of the atmosphere of the age: everyone from Robert Heinlein to Ayn Rand told me that sex was recreation, not reproduction. Seeing that these people were trying to get me to fornicate, to cheat on my wife before I even had a wife, when honor demands self-control, began to offend my cold Vulcan heart. Why were all of them cheering for the lack of self-command? Why, suddenly, was self-discipline, trustworthiness, purity, honor, and goodness to be mocked? Why was virginity shameful and harlotry admirable? Would Epictetus or Seneca or Cicero or Marcus Aurelius have said, "Well, if your emotion is stronger than your reason, indulge! Wallow like a swine in heat with a sow! You need no live like an honest man. Surrender your brain to your loins, and act without regard to consequences."
It also began to offend my ferocious poet’s heart. Where was the romance, the glamour, the allure? The Sexual Revolution made sex boring, robbed it of meaning, robbed life of its adventure. Why are so many romance novels set in the years long before this revolution? Because the mystique was still alive.
As far as the sexual revolt goes, count me as loyal to the ancient regime.
I do so enjoy John C. Wright’s blog whether he is writing on SF, morality, or for that matter any subject. When he does write on morality it is always excellent and interesting since he came to much of his understanding while still an atheist.
I would also highly recommend his Golden Age Trilogy, War on Dreaming series, and The Chaos Chronicles series which are all great reads. He also has a new book in the Chaos Chronicles coming out next month.
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I can’t believe he’s atheist . . . That’s probably the best, and most solid experiential reasoning I’ve ever heard. Wow, thank you so much.
Or was athiest at least, when he started taking an anti-abortionist stance.
What do mena by that Hoodlum?
What a great quote! Now I’m off to check out his blog. Thanks for posting this.
We are indeed reaping the bitter harvest of the sexual revolution. It is interesting how highly intelligent people have followed the dogmas of this age like lemmings. I am convinced that most people are, at heart, followers; they do not think critically for themselves. Disintegration of the family is considered liberation, and adherence to traditional morality is equated to bigotry.
Grace is a mysterious force; and mystery as essentially divine held the heart of belief prior to the age of pseudo-rationalization. Now it seems even for some of us who came back late in life that mystery once again as always leads the heart homeward.
Thanks for the post and link.
John C. Wright does indeed claim on his blog to have become a Christian, thanks to actual visions and visitations from Our Lord. I’m not getting a good link now, but I was able to google it successfully ust a few weeks ago. It’s quite a testimony and evidently sincere.
I’ve met some pro-life atheists, but some of them are very odd about it; e.g. for the sake of humanity, don’t abort. A typical argument is that selective abortion will eventually reduce the human race to a homogenous mess that won’t have enough variation to change or fight diseases.
John C. Wright describes his conversion in the middle of his recent interview reported here.