Say What You Mean . . . Mean What You Say

This morning on the way to work a small, black car passed me up on the freeway. On the rear bumper of the car was a sticker that read, simply, "Meat Is Murder."

Uh, huh. The pretty young woman driving the car was obviously intent upon getting somewhere, probably school, judging from her age and the several other bumper stickers she'd affixed to the back of her car. I wished that I could pull her over and ask her about meat being murder. This is what I would have asked: "Do you really believe meat is murder?" If she said no - discussion over. But somehow I doubt that she would say no. Rather, I think she would have felt compelled to defend the inane statement made on the bumper sticker. So, let's just assume she says "Yeah, of course it is. It's killing another living creature," or some such drivel as that.

So, now that we've set the scene, what would you say to her? Would you agree? Would you try and explain why it's ok to kill other living creatures? For my part, I would just ask her this: "So, you believe that the police should march into that McDonalds down the street and arrest everyone in there eating meat as accessories to murder, and maybe the owner, manager and crew as pre-meditated murderers? Is that what you believe?"

You know, she might say, "Yeah, that's what I believe," but somehow I don't think that she'd really mean it, if push came to shove and, say, her 18-year-old brother happened to be in there among the accessories. Nor do I believe that most of the people who will tell you that "Abortion is murder," or "Fur is murder" would want their sisters or daughters or sons actually prosecuted for murder for having an abortion or for wearing fur. Some crazies would, of course, but I think even the people out there spouting these poorly conceived arguments would, for the most part, be up in arms about that - as well they should.

If you truly believe that abortion is murder, you should be willing to allow your daughter to be arrested, tried, and either imprisoned or executed for having one. If you're just willing to have her jailed for, say, five years, then abortion must be somewhere on a par with burglary. If you're only willing that she pay a fine, then abortion has fallen from murder to a misdemeanor.

I won't get into the scientific defenses of abortion here, because they always form a slippery slope as to when the act is moral and acceptable and when it isn't. Abortion is a moral choice. I do not mean by that that it is always moral to choose abortion, but that is a choice based in one's personal morality. In my mind, one may choose the first abortion and have made a morally defensible choice, but by the third - absent extraordinary circumstances - that choice should begin looking much less defensible, if only because one should avoid placing oneself in morally compromising positions. Everyone is entitled to a few mistakes on the road to maturity, but a few is a few, and they shouldn't be a few of the same one over and over again, either.

So, is meat murder? If you think so and you've ever eaten a hamburger, better turn yourself in and throw yourself upon the mercy of the court. I won't hold my breath.

More on a corrollary topic next time . . .

Hot dog! gentle reader