Back in the 80s, the fourth-century burning of the great library at Alexandria was a popular totem among atheists I knew. At the time it was widely believed that Church leaders torched it because they were afraid of knowledge, and the legendary act became a symbol of the kind of tragedies that can arise due to ignorance and fear. I recall a professor friend recounting the event in vivid detail one evening when my family visited his house, almost getting teary-eyed as he said, “Imagine all those rare books—gone. A collection unique in all of history, never to be seen again.”
Though we now know that it may not have been Church leaders who took out the library, it’s still troubling to imagine stacks of worn volumes containing invaluable ancient wisdom, history and literature, going up in flames, lost forever. Though Alexandria may not be the example du jour, the image of book burning comes up a fair amount when I talk to atheist friends about religion. Unfortunately there have been some misguided folks throughout history who did destroy libraries and throw books on bonfires in the name of God, and atheists sometimes point to these incidents as examples of the dangers of religion. I don’t find these examples to be troubling in the slightest; such cases are simply matters of people misunderstanding what serving God is all about and misdirecting their zeal (and, in many cases, disguising political or personal rivalries as religious issues).
But I do think that this acute sensitivity to the tragedy of lost information that I’ve seen when discussing book burnings can be useful in a different analogy.
If you’ve ever tried to defend the pro-life position to someone with a secular worldview, you’ve probably found that one of the hardest cases to make is for the dignity of newly-conceived life. In a world where a person’s value is defined primarily by what he can contribute to the world, it’s hard to get people worked up about the destruction of a human who is only a single cell—in fact, it’s hard to convince people that that is a human being at all. (Which is silly, since the facts of biology are indisputable—Dr. Gerard Nadal covers this subject well.)
That’s where the library analogy comes in.
When a lover of knowledge and information thinks of irreplaceable books going up in flames, it would be hard for him not to feel moved by the sheer tragedy of such an event. And yet, is this not what happens when abortions are performed at even the very earliest stages?
Even a zygote contains a complete set of DNA. Were this new person to live to be 100, his body would never need more genetic information than it has now. It’s all there. Even if you deny that this is a human, even if you insist that such a simple organism could not have rights, you cannot deny that, encoded within this little cell’s DNA, is a staggering amount of precious information. Billions of “letters” contained within the “books” of the chromosomes, elucidating the secrets of human life—a collection of instructions unique in all of history, one that has never been seen before, and will never be seen again.
And so when my secularist friends and I talk about early-stage abortion and the dignity of newly-conceived human life, I sometimes just ask them to think of it as the burning of a great library. Even if you can’t see that this is a fellow human, at least admit that within this tiny structure is a vast and utterly unique set of precious information, greater than even the shelves in Alexandria. And is it not a tragedy when something like that is destroyed?
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I’ll have to try that approach. It’s a great thought, and too right.
What a great post…
Thank you!
I love this sentence: “a collection of instructions unique in all of history, one that has never been seen before, and will never be seen again”
Of course that “vast and utterly unique set of precious information, greater than even the shelves in Alexandria” could also become the next Hitler. Studies have also shown that abortion leads to lower crime rates, so of this seems more likely.
Arghh, I hate it when facts disrupt my feel good emotions.
@Andy
I’d be interested in seeing those studies. Do you have any information as to where I can find them? Even if the studies exist and are well designed, etc., it seems a trifle extravagant to reduce the crime rate (not to mention prevent another Hitler) by destroying innocent people. Sounds like Hitler reigns already.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Impact_of_Legalized_Abortion_on_Crime
Also, Hitler (a catholic no less) was a big fan of forced birth, just like the catholic church today, so take a good long look in the mirror.
Jen, beautifully said.
And, as a teacher, my students are forbidden to use Wikipedia to cite facts in their papers because the information, which is edited by “the public” is prone to inaccuracy and error. They are also not allowed to call their teachers Hitler because they disagree with what they say.
When you can’t use the same logic/rules as highschoolers, it’s time to take a good, long look in the mirror.
Also, when did it become okay to use the death penalty on a person for a crime they not only did not commit, but were not capable of contemplating yet?
1) The wikipedia article is a writeup of a scientific study. There are links to the study within.
2) I did not bring up Hitler, AuthenticBioethics did, I corrected him.
I anticipate your smug filled response
Neither the Church nor a Christian mob burnt the Great Library of Alexandria. Beyond the ravages of time, climate, and vermin, etc. Alexandria suffered major destruction from fire during the time of Julius Caesar and again under the Emperor Aurelian.
Andy,
Read your first post. You did bring up Hitler first.
And you didn’t answer my point about the death penalty.
However, I won’t be waiting around for your response. Since you are already responsible for 3/8 comments on this board, it’s clear you’re in for the long haul.
I, on the other hand, have a life.
Happy trolling.
My first post pointed out that if you’re going to ask what great possibilities could come from a fetus you have to ask what terrible ones could come as well. I did not compare anyone to Hitler as Bioethicist did, if you prefer substitute Ted Kaczynski, or even an evil Atheist like Stalin or Mao.
But since reasoning is apparently trolling and your life is above that, I guess the old adage is true. Ignorance truly is bliss.
I truly feel sorry for your students. I hope they can overcome your teachings
Andy, you mentioned Hitler. You said abortion can prevent Hitler along with crime. I asked you for information about the studies you cited. Frankly there is only one. And the Wikipedia article, a website not known for conservatism on any issue, offers numerous ways the study is flawed. I haven’t had a chance to read the whole thing. But thanks for giving me the wikipedia article and also the links to cogent responses to your claims therein. Basically, what you cited disproves your point.
Even if the study were well designed, I still maintain that abortion and the wanton destruction of innocent, crimeless people is a poor choice of means to reduce crime and prevent Hitler or Unabomber.
Hitler was raised Catholic but he abandoned the faith. He acted as a pagan, not as a Catholic. Stalin, who was worse, and Mao, too, were not Catholic.
@Andy: 1) Hitler was NOT Catholic, although he was raised Catholic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler’s_religious_views;
Furthermore, Hitler sent over 3 million Catholic Christians to extermination camps along with Jews. He was clearly no fan of the Catholic Church.
2) Yes, life is always a gamble. We cannot tell in advance what choices a person will make. Each life can lead to either a Hitler or a Martin Luther King, Jr. Shall we then prevent any new life simply because we cannot tell?
3) Crime rates are non-existent among the dead, but this does not mean that the grave is preferable to life.
4) The Catholic Church is not a fan of forced birth, as you claim, but is a fan of protecting the innocent and the weak. The unborn have committed no crime and cannot speak up for themselves. Their lives are deserving of protection. Furthermore, everyone is harmed by abortion - the women who choose it, the father of the child, the grandparents, and society at large who lose out on the gifts this child has to offer. The Catholic Church is trying to protect not just one life but the lives of everyone involved.
Hitler was a fan of eugenics - which is the idea of the creation of a “superior” race and the elimination of anyone who doesn’t belong that that race. He was a fan of forced abortion and of forced conception. He was frankly a fan of forcing people to do what he wanted them to do by whatever means he had available to him.
Andy’s argument is silly. Preemptive killing to prevent crime through abortion?! But, if I can recollect correctly, that study was featured in Freakonomics. It was later discovered that the data model was flawed.
http://www.economist.com/node/5246700?story_id=5246700
First I didn’t say abortion could prevent Hitler, I said that if you’re going to wonder what great things a fetus MAY become you have to wonder what so not nice things a fetus may become.
So because there are criticisms it is already disproven? I can find many criticisms of the Bible, the Vatican, the Pope, etc.. Thanks for disproving your entire religion.
Some great “pagan” quotes from Hitler
“My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice… And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.”
“The National Socialist State professes its allegiance to positive Christianity. It will be its honest endeavor to protect both the great Christian Confessions in their rights, to secure them from interference with their doctrines (Lehren), and in their duties to constitute a harmony with the views and the exigencies of the State of today.” –Adolf Hitler, on 26 June 1934, to Catholic bishops to assure them that he would take action against the new pagan propaganda
“Providence has caused me to be Catholic, and I know therefore how to handle this Church.” -Adolf Hitler, reportedly to have said in Berlin in 1936 on the enmity of the Catholic Church to National Socialism
I can call myself an orange; talk about having grown up hanging from a tree limb; wear orange every day; and even spout off facts about oranges but that doesn’t make me an orange. Christians, and especially Catholics, are not defined by the words that come out of their mouths. You can quote scripture, talk about Jesus, and even call yourself Catholic but that doesn’t make you Catholic. What makes you Catholic is OBEDIENCE to the Pope, to the Magisterium, and to Sacred Scripture. Notice in that article that he did not attend Mass after leaving home. Attending Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation is a REQUIREMENT of those who belong to the Catholic Church. He did not go to confession once per year, another REQUIREMENT of the faithful.
Read Matthew 25:31-40
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
These are the things all Christians, and especially all Catholic Christians, are expected to do. We may not do them perfectly, but we are certainly expected to do our best to do them at all times and to all people. Hitler’s hatred for the Jews was not a Catholic belief - it was a perversion of the faith. After all, what Hitler ignored in his quote above was that all of the apostles, Christ, and Mary were Jews!
Furthermore, his quote that ‘As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated’ directly contradicts Christ’s teaching “But I say to you not to resist evil; but if one strike you on your right cheek, turn to him also the other. And if a man will contend with you in judgment, and take away your coat, let go your cloak also unto him. And whosoever will force you one mile, go with him other two. Give to him that asks of you, and from him that would borrow of you turn not away.”
I can tell from your posts that you really don’t know a whole lot about Christianity, and even less about the Catholic Church. I’m sure it is hard to understand the Church’s position from where you are at, especially on issues like abortion, birth control, and euthanasia. However, your vocal presence here suggests to me that you are struggling to justify what you have been told is true with what your heart is telling you is true. I invite you to study more about the Catholic faith and about why we believe what we do. At the very least, you will walk away better able to engage in debate with Catholics. At the best, you will not walk away at all. :)
Be at peace, Andy. God loves you. He’s reaching out for you. All you have to do is give Him a chance and He’ll change your world.
Andy, you’re right, criticism of a thing might not be valid. On the other hand, the study in question is not without its weaknesses and it really does not prove anything. It does suggest abortion reduces crime by limiting the birth of undesirables, non-whites, the poor, and those least likely to provide a good loving home for the children. It may have some validity in that respect. Still, the victims of abortion haven’t committed any crime, and it is a high price to pay for statistical purposes.
Hitler lied to everyone in the 1930s. Go ahead and believe him if you like. The last quote is especially telling. He put Nazism above his religion right there.
John Mueller, author of “Redeeming Economics,” has also shown abortion and level of crime directly related rather than inversely related.
@jared
According to the Wikipedia article that Andy provided, Mueller (also) said that “economic fatherhood” - being responsible for a family - reduces crime, and that this effect was stronger than abortion on crime. He also pointed out some defects in the method of Donahue and Levitt. Others have noted (Paul Vitz from NYU for one) conversely that absentee fatherhood increases the likelihood of crime and other problems in the children.
Everyone knows that while Adolf was raised a Catholic, he had a great hatred for the Church and Christianity. His plan was to take all the beautiful churches and turn them into temples for the Fatherland. Not only that, but he learned his hatred for the Jews from the “Eugenicists” of the day, the forebears of Margaret Sanger, who believed in the superiority of the descendants of the lost continent of Atlantis (I’m not making this up), and, therefore, the inferiority of everyone else. So inferior in fact, that they should not be allowed to breed or even live.
Also, please, because abortion rates are up and crime rates are down in no way shows a correlation between the two things.
@AuthenticBioethics, I get the feeling some people grab a link without reading it. ;)
Mueller’s book is pretty good if you are interested.
@ Brandy,
I love your orange analogy. You rock.
Andy: I feel you’re being “ganged up” on here. Why the heck did you choose to post such an irresponsible and transparently refutable post on a Catholic web site? Try the Huffington Post. You’ll get a lot of “amens,” and not so much inconvenient and picayune criticism. “Google” is the enemy of lies.
Andy: Please forgive me. I recant any suggestion that you have lied (at least, intentionally, if there be any other kind). I have been in a most uncharitable frame of mind lately, and who am I to judge you or anyone else, anyway? I am a liar and a fraud from way back. So, if you’re not, well God bless you! And if you are, well, may God have mwercy on us both, in any case.
That’s “mercy,” son. Not “mwercy.” Well, He can sure have that on us, too.
I love Andy’s post, because it provided the platform for a number of articulate, helpful responses that went far beyond a poorly done study. I learn so much from you all, and through your comments find support to help me continue in my own small way to battle the culture of death. Thanks, Andy, for opening the door!
(See Mark Shea’s article about the devil stepping on his own tail.)
Dawn, it happens every time. ; )
Brilliant.
Where’s all the “Catholics are Nazis” propaganda coming from? It’s like a fad. A young atheist friend of mine (big devotee of Hitchens) has started on this recently. His latest Facebook comment reads something like, “Pope Benedict is a murderous Nazi…!!” Later, in the kitchen (I clean his father’s house) I confront him, “Why do you think the Pope is a Nazi, is it because he has a German accent?” Hmmph..“He was a Hitler Youth, which was actually the CATHOLIC Hitler Youth Organization…” (...right) “So he’s a Nazi, like, they are flying swastikas at the Vatican now?” “I never said he was a Nazi.” “You didn’t?” (this seems to be some kind of atheistic debating tactic whereby the atheist denies the stupid crap he just said in order to induce blender-brain in the listener who could easily fact-check said crap if only he could remember it)“He’s killed millions of people.” “I’ve never heard that, you’d think it would have made the news?” “In Africa.” “What, he went through with a machete…?” “He might as well, he won’t let people use condoms in a country with AIDS!” “I don’t know, if a person was doing multiple sex partners and having sex with prostitutes that person wouldn’t likely care what the Pope had to say about anything, including condoms.” “Well, he’s a Nazi.” I guess it really is that German accent thing.
All of you handled Andy with great grace, charm and truth. God must have sent him to troll here for the specific purpose of allowing the truth to be told yet one more time!
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