tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1699424480186588104.post3271234499092311038..comments2024-01-18T09:17:28.686-08:00Comments on Rollan's Censored Issues Blog: SENSE AND NONSENSE OVER “RIGHT TO LIFE”.Rollan McClearyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06938125139496292379noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1699424480186588104.post-91230741875260446012007-06-08T18:31:00.000-07:002007-06-08T18:31:00.000-07:00"Aquinas (who unscientifically assumed that the in..."Aquinas (who unscientifically assumed that the infant was a complete homunculus of the male seed from the first - which would make any abortion a murder of sorts)."<BR/><BR/><BR/>And yet, it was Aquinas who argued the notion of the quickening or the time when the soul is infused into the foetus. He argued that abortion prior to the quickening could be allowed as there was as yet no soul or personhood. The quickening argument essentially first trimester abortions. It was only in the 19th century that Rome moved to squash that position which was in conflict with the very long established (from antiquity) opposition contraception and non-procreative sex. <BR/><BR/>This teaching was itself based on notions of the male seed being a type of homonculus - an Aristotelian idea and one that was widespread in the ancient world and Middle east. Anthropologist Carol Delaney terms monogenesis and its influence is still pervasive throughout much of the Mediterranean and Middle eastern world and much Old Testament and Quranic imagery (I've also detected traces of it and the allied sperm/seed and womb/field agricultural analogies in Indian texts). By this thinking each sperm is a type of homonculus.<BR/><BR/>Monogenesis I would argue is what's behind much of the contradictions of Catholic and Christian morality. One of the features of the early CHurch was it's very strong position on the right to life of every person and an ensuing opposition to violence and killing. It gave the early church a mrked 'pacifist' position but it also meant that it opposed abortion, infanticide and contraception. If each sperm is a homonculus then it must be accorded a right to life, to be 'spilt' on oin a way that optimised the possibility of conception and ongoing life. Hence a gender egalitarian impulse to celibacy was reinforced by a 'pacifist' right to life ethic of sexuality.<BR/><BR/>So on one level I'm quite happy to see the Catholic Church return to the ancient Christian stress on the right to life of every person. However when it comes to sexuality and reproduction it is still trapped by ancient biological thinking (Aristotle's position was an 'orthodox position' of ancient Greco-Roman science). THe thing is we now know that monogenetic explanations of reproduction are not correct and that consequently 'every sperm is' not 'sacred'. However, Rome is also caught up in a trap of its own authoritarian mindset, the same trap that resulted in Humanae Vitae i.e. to overturn something that has been so much identified with the teaching authority of the Church and the papacy, which is also rooted in ancient tradition risks putting the inerrancy of that authority into question. <BR/><BR/>As for the US fundamentalists and their spin-offs around the world I really do think they have virulently misogynist understanding of marriage, sex and reproduction. The woman's body is the property of her husband and any exercise of autonomy is seen as a threat to male authorityMichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356422488538820280noreply@blogger.com