Finally, an abortion argument I can get behind!
First, all the usual caveats about the Pope and the still-medieval practices of the Catholic church, treatment of women, etc. Here they are, even the ones I've missed, all bundled in this space so that we can avoid the accusations of unnecessary hero worship. Thanks in advance.
Let's talk about why this is a big deal.
Here's how he said it:
Pope Francis Says Abortion Is Evidence Of 'Throwaway Culture'
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has criticized abortion as evidence of a "throwaway culture" that wastes people as well as food.
In Monday's annual speech on world crises, Francis cited abortion and said: "Unfortunately what is thrown away is not only food and dispensable objects but often human beings themselves, who are discarded as unnecessary."
http://www.gallup.com/...
Abortion is one of the most emotional and messy issues that our country deals with. You can see from the graph above that the abortion argument has been at a stalemate for quite a while now, with about a 50/50 split on pro-choice or anti-choice. (That's my framing, deal with it.)
In the context of the recent spike in support for gay marriage and marijuana legalization, the abortion argument appears to be stubbornly stationary. This is in spite of the Tea Party wave of 2010, which led to Republican legislatures country wide enacting severe anti-abortion laws. The harshness and severity of those laws either hasn't filtered into public consciousness, or it's just that abortion is a far more complicated argument than weed legalization / gay marriage.
Of course, everyone agrees that ideally there should be as few abortions as possible. And of course, the Republican position of outlawing abortion has always been absurd and punitive. And the reason it's absurd and punitive is because capitalism creates the economic conditions where having children becomes a massive economic burden due to the splintering of society and the lack of a real social safety net.
Would anyone like to dispute that Pope Francis' "Throw-Away Culture" line is not a dog-whistle for capitalism at this point, especially in the context of his previous statements? I'd be happy to hear them.
Now here's a question: Can you imagine if Pope Francis managed to convince evangelicals Christians that unrestrained capitalism is the true cause of the high abortion rate?
As I said: an "anti-abortion" argument I can finally get behind.
I expect to see some epic meltdowns if he keeps pulling this thread.