Abortion n Stuff

Being 18, i feel i have a very different view on abortion than i did one year ago. I am a legal adult who could have a spouse and kids. If i got a girl pregnant, i know for my sake as well as the kids sake i could not afford to support the child. It would greatly be a burden to me if abortion was illegal because that would put me in a seemingly impossible situation.

When looking at both sides of the issue i have a large problem with those who identify themselves as "pro-life." First of all the name is misleading, that tells me that if you are not "pro-life" then you must be pro-death. Who would want to be in favor of death? Next i do not like the religion backing of the "pro-life" movement. It does not have any merit to me when someone says that something is wrong because god says so. While i think its great to have faith in something i do not see how an individuals faith could say something is right or wrong. My example of religion is like the "Livestrong" wrist band that many wear. You cannot wear the band touch a blind person's eye and suddenly they can see. The band is just a reminder to be a better person and to live each day to its fullest. That is what religion is, it is a group of people who believe the same ways that one should be a better person. No religion clearly says that a cause is just, that is for an individual to decide for themselves.

Another thing i do not like is the tactics some "pro-life" people use. These people have decided to use the government system as a ploy to make abortions almost impossible to get. It seems to me like people sit at desks all day and dream up bills to test the current laws in place to make it more difficult. Also, some people have used very violent tactics on the doctors who perform this procedure. These include murder, death threats, arson, stalking, harassment, and even bomb threats. This is not the way to get a point across.

I think that parents should have to consent to the procedure, at a certain age. An abortion shouldn't be held in a special light simply because it is controversial. Lets call it what it is, a procedure. Parents need to consent to procedures until a certain age. There should not be any special rules on this procedure. At the same time, i do believe there should be a clause open for individual cases to be reviewed by a judge. Such as if a woman is put in immediate danger by her parent knowing about her procedure.

When it comes to Illinois law, i am not sure what to think. While i think the woman still has a right to choose, she cannot get an abortion after 12 weeks. This seems like a fair common ground to me but i know that both sides will not rest until the law is in one of the extremes.

Clifford Boggess Should Be Executed

After watching Frontline: The Execution, i do believe that Clifford Boggess should have been executed, but for different reasons. Clofford Boggess admitted to murdering two older men, Frank Collier and Roy Hazelwood. Jack Collier and Lisa Hazelwood are both family members of the two individuals who were brutally murdered and they wanted Boggess dead.

Lets begin with Lisa Hazelwood, Lisa said that is "killed" her emotionally to wonder what Clifford was doing, alive, in jail. Lisa wanted Clifford to pay for the emotional toll that he put on her by ruining her family. While we all understand that Lisa has had to go through a lot emotionally, do we really agree that Clifford should die for upsetting her? After Clifford wrote her a letter trying to explain what he did and apologize for it, she became even more upset. After Clifford's execution, Lisa told Frontline that she was upset that Clifford got to pick the day he died and could pick where his ashes were spread. It is this type of thinking that i differ from. Clifford murdered her father, yes, but that doesn't turn him into an object. He may be an evil person but he is still a person non-the-less. I think Lisa was being extremely selfish when she was not happy with the "freedoms" Clifford had to choose when to die. The world doesn't stop because her father was murdered. Sadly, these things happen.

Jack Collier told Frontline that Clifford may think he is accepted in the eyes of the lord but he is in fact not. Since when is religion fact? I think that there is way too much religion involved in the justice system. I think Jack handled his brother's death the right way, he kept on going. That is what a killer wouldn't want. Lisa remembers Clifford every second of every day, Jack caries on without Clifford's memory...because that is what everyone wants, to be remembered.

Personally, i think that Clifford Boggess should be executed because he admitted to premeditatively murdering two people, case closed.

After Reading Some Stuff...

After reading the survey i am surprised by the percentage of people who do not care about the religion of the president. The first thing that came to my mind was that some people voted for that but don't actually feel that way because it makes them feel good inside. I was also surprised by Q12, 54% of people think it should be legal to burn the flag. I think this is because there hasnt been a draft and no one feels especially close to the flag for some time.

After reading the article on Religious Clubs, i was unaware there were actually laws that showed proof of church and state. I thought that i was just something that the government said they do.

Also after reading the article on the separation between religion and science on creation, i have decided that the only way to accomplish this is to be able to establish a balance between the two ideals. It should not be important what one believes, because the point of school is simply to learn, and not to discriminate. There really is no way to prove one vs the other (especially the religious way.)

Speech Codes and Stuff

What are speech codes? Speech codes are policies made by schools to restrict hateful speech. This speech would be protected under the First Amendment if the school did not make a specific rule against it. If the school did not declare hateful speech illegal people would find loopholes in the law until the law stood for basically nothing. I think that there is too much grey area in the First Amendment. With the use of speech codes, academic institutions can restrict speech to the means they feel necessary. I think speech codes are a good thing. A school has full rights to maintain their reputation of comfort and freedom for all races/genders. It is pretty obvious when a school abuses their speech code power and i am confident a group of students would challenge their power.