Contributors

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

The Moral Needle

This week I was going to write a nice column on how the Republican Party has changed so much over the last 30 years. I was all set to frame it with a story of a friend of mine, who used to be a Republican, and has since switched sides. Maybe I will next week.

But I changed my mind when I woke up this morning and saw two articles in my morning papers that made me physically ill. The first one was in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and it was about pharmacists in our fair state that are refusing to give out birth control pills for “moral reasons.” The second one was about the Kansas State Educational Board mulling the idea of removing evolution theory from school’s curriculum.

The first article made me think of just how far right we have really gone. Last time I checked it was not up to a pharmacist to decide what was right for me or anyone. I give him money and he gives me my drugs. Period. I wonder if he is not giving out the pill to married people or just young women who he knows to be single. How can he tell?

This is the classic conundrum that the religious right perpetuates. They quite simply don’t want people fucking. They feel that it is wrong and no matter what they want us, if we are not married, to stop. They are against abortion and they are against birth control which makes no sense to me whatsoever. It’s completely unrealistic to push a moral code that most of the country is not going follow.

The second article just continues on the same “keep the people dumb so we can scam them” mentality. I want to go on record as saying that I think Darwin’s evolution theory is full of holes. I don’t agree with it. But it should be taught in our schools along with other scientific theories about the origins of life. Do you know where creationism should be taught? IN CHURCH!!! That’s why my family and I go there. Again I will ask, why does the right need to have religion in our public institutions? At my church, you can go everyday if you want. There are all sorts of activities every day and night of the week. Heck, you could spend more time in church than in school if you really wanted.

You know what folks? I would like to live in a country where I don’t see government interference in my life, injecting a moral code into me like a needle, and filling me full of bullshit that they don’t even follow themselves!!

I want to wake up in the United States again where my child can go to school and learn about all science and all studies and decide for herself what she believes. I want my child to go to a Presbyterian church and not be looked upon with derision because she is not an evangelical Christian. Yes, this has happened three times in the last year!!

Dude, where’s my country?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so outraged by the pharmacist thing that I can't even begin to explain all of the things that are wrong with it. But I will say that I don't think it's surprising given our society's over-exaggeration of "personal rights", a concept that is grossly perpetuated in large part by the left. We live in a society where the norm has become - if you don't like something, don't just leave it be; sue to get it changed.

It's an imperfect world, people, and you are not always going to get what you want. Hate to be the one to break it to you. Hey Pharmacists -- it's your f'in job to dispense birth control pills. Get your ass behind the counter and start doing your job or we'll find somebody else to do it.


Re: evolution, the beauty of the scientific method is that it is self-policing. The fact that you don't agree with "Darwin's theory" (as you call it) is irrelevant to any discussion. What is relevant is that evolution is the prevailing scientific theory on the origin of life and, as such, must be taught in science class. Not should be....MUST be. That is the very essence of science. By definition, the prevailing theory prevails until it is disproven or a theory that fits better is discovered. It truly is that simple. Scientific theory does not bend to prejudice, political motivation, or social whim. It is measureable, repeatable, and predictable. It is irrelevant how much we may like or dislike a theory. What matters is measureable, repeatable, predictable. Darwin, Newton, Einstein all had theories shot down by other scientists without passion, prejudice, or deference to past greatness. That's the nature and value of the scientific process, and that's what should be taught in science class. (A process infinitely superior to blind adherence to dusty old credos authored by people long dead who lived in a world entirely different than ours and whose entire foundation is "trust me".)

Anonymous said...

I think that both situations mentioned, the pharmacies as well as the schools in Kansas, will be handled by the free market. If some dolt pharmacist won’t sell people a legal product then the people who need that product will go to another pharmacy down the road that does sell it – simple as that.

If the seats on the Kansas State Educational board are filled via elections then they have a good chance to be voted out of office. “Mulling” the idea is quite different than “implementing” the policy. Hell I heard for years that ol Ashcroft was going to take away a woman’s right to choose. The left loves to focus on intentions, I tend to focus on reality and results and generally, after all is said and done, the results end up being quite different that the sky is falling rhetoric that comes out of the left.

“They are against Abortion”

I’m pro-choice myself but I won’t bring myself to march on DC holding up pro-choice signs. Reason being that the whole pro-choice movement sees any little restriction on abortion as a grave threat to our well being. I agree with the pro-life movement that the health risks of abortions should be communicated prior to obtaining one and I also think that parents should be notified if their 14 year old daughter is about to have an abortion.

“they are against birth control”.

I think the “they” you mentioned in this one is only made up of a couple thousand catholic hardliners who are going to be a thing of the past in 1 more generation(their social security numbers are probably “1” or “22”). There are plenty in the “religious right” who have hysterectomies, vasectomies, use birth control pills and condoms. I don’t think organized religion itself is the problem here…..the problem is when blind faith trumps common sense. If all forms of birth control were to be made illegal then I think you would have an argument here but the reality nowadays is that if one wants condoms or birth control pills, one can get them.

“It’s completely unrealistic to push a moral code that most of the country is not going follow.”

Sounds like my argument against the ACLU.

“I want my child to go to a Presbyterian church and not be looked upon with derision because she is not an evangelical Christian. Yes, this has happened three times in the last year!!”

If that happens be sure to engage the old middle finger to whoever does the derision, then whip out your cock and start pissing on the guy while saying “Hail Lucifer” over and over. Then go kill their parents - problem solved.

Anonymous said...

Some random thoughts......

Look around you and I bet you’ll see lots of reasons why birth control is needed. heehee

I would have to say that this is the choice of the owners of the pharmacy. The only thing that is bullshit is that people think that a company owner should be forced to do things they find unethical.

So what you’re saying is that a Pharmacist should not be allowed to determine what they will and will not sell in their stores? That they should not have a right to choose what they sell in THEIR store? They should be forced to do something they don’t believe in? It’s their right to refuse and its her right to go to another store.

You’re all about people having every freedom to do what they want until its something you’re against, then you want to smother every one else’s freedoms so your viewpoints can flourish.

I think it’s kind of a ridiculous thing regardless, but that store owner has every right to do it. Guess what honey, there’s other pharmacies. Go to one. They have a choice to not sell that, you have a choice to go elsewhere. Remember freedom?

Life is full of choices and personal freedoms. Be lucky you have the opportunity to go to another pharmacy.

Pharmacists are not DUTY BOUND to do anything. They’re businessmen with a Pharmacology degree.

That being said, part of the problem one of these girls had was that the pharmacist refused to transfer her prescription to another pharmacist who would fill it. Now that went beyond refusing to support birth control because he actively prevented her from going to another store to get it filled. And part of the quote in the strib article indicates that they (pharmacists who won’t fill certain prescriptions) feel this is OK. I have a problem with that but then again, it shouldn’t stop her from doing anything about it because Pharmacists transferring prescriptions is a convenience, not a requirement. You can easily call your doctor or insurance company and have the prescription transferred anytime you want. I’ve done it before; it takes all of about 2 minutes.

I like how it was suggested that this is all Bush’s fault. I swear it seems like some people wake up and look for things that they can blame on Bush today.

I myself have absolutely no problems with birth control. Some people do...that’s life. If a business does not accommodate you then take your business elsewhere that will accommodate your needs.

It’s funny how relativists loose their relativism when someone else’s morals conflict with their own.

You have your morals, the pharmacist has theirs. Live and let live right? But that’s beside the point.

Does it suck that this girl was denied birth control at the pharmacy? Yes. Then again...how many pharmacies are there in a 5 mile radius these days?

I find our entitlement complexes which have been bred from our consumerist society rather disturbing. It seems like it’s all "Give me what I want...NOW". Plus, I don’t know about your prescriptions, but when I get one it doesn’t say on the prescription which store you have to go to.

For clarification, Bush didn’t win because of his "rallying of the Conservative Right", he won by convincing all the "unsure" people he was better than the other guy.

Now I never said that I didn’t believe in her right to use the pill. I said that I thought that the pharmacy should have the right to sell what they want to. Your argument is that the pharmacist is trying to force his beliefs onto someone else, and that he should have to sell her these pills even though he finds them unethical. Now, you’re upset because someone is "forcing their beliefs" onto another person, but would find it acceptable to force the pharmacist to sell something they find unethical.

She is completely free to go to another pharmacy and fill her prescription.

My point is that both parties should have the freedom to do what they see as ethical. That is what freedom is supposed to be about. Remember Freedom?

Just threw that out there to be the devils advocate cause I had some time to kill. Carry on.