I hope that when next Thanksgiving rolls around, your list of things to be thankful for will not only include “all of us somehow surviving a second Trump admin” but also significantly lessened physical pain.
"since now we are officially the stupidest nation on the face of the earth." It's not stupid to vote for the candidate better on the life issues. Abortion is intrinsically evil. Without the right to life all other rights are meaningless.
And somehow that conviction persuades you that a nation that allowed this man to be a major party candidate and then elected him isn’t to be looked down on?
And? The implication seems to be that anti-abortion people don't care about people after they're born. Setting aside whether this is true, the bad character of pro-lifers doesn't refute my initial comment.
Obviously the implication is that voting for Trump is going to lead to more deaths, more suffering among people already living. That I completely disagree with you regarding abortion is irrelevant. You have voted to make life worse for millions of people.
I have a thought regarding this line of reasoning on which I would very much appreciate feedback. It seems to me that the worst the Democratic Party can do is to make abortion more accessible, which would amount to allowing other people to make a morally repulsive choice, whereas the Republican Party is in the habit of actively harming vulnerable people by scrapping or defunding welfare programs, enacting inhumane anti-immigration campaigns, fueling racist and nationalist sentiments, etcetera—all of which has most certainly resulted, and will result, in the loss of life. Does that not make the Republican Party the greater perpetrator of evil?
I agree with you that the Republican Party is by far more harmful to the living. However, I wouldn't say that the pro-abortion policy simply allows people "to make a morally repulsive choice." A morally repulsive choice would be to cheat on your spouse. Destroying a defenseless creature possessing a human soul, on the other hand, surely is an action belonging to an altogether different category. That said, I am aware that the theists cannot impose such regulations on people who don't even believe in souls, so in a secular society a certain compromise must be reached. What I don't understand is why so many Christians, including, it seems, most of the self-identified Catholics in the USA, have absolutely no problem with abortion.
Perhaps “morally repulsive” was too soft. That was my attempt at encapsulating my general attitude toward abortion whilst recognising that it’s a complicated issue. I do believe that at a certain stage, and apart from some kind of extreme medical necessity, abortion is tantamount to murder. I’m not convinced, however, that personhood (or “ensoulment”; though I think that language is defective) begins at conception. Hence my reluctance to say something more censorious than “morally repulsive.”
I understand your position. Since I subscribe to the theory that the soul is the principle of life that forms the body, obviously for me the baby should be protected from conception. The notion that the soul comes to inhabit the body at some later point of the embryo’s life does not seem metaphysically sound.
I hold to the same theory, or so I thought. Perhaps I’ve not worked out its implications properly. Are you saying that because body is the product of soul, then a zygote, ostensibly regarded as the earliest stage of the human body, necessitates the existence of a correspondent human soul?
DBH's old sparring partner Ed "Bloodshed" Feser has been having an extended mental breakdown on his blog over Trump's rather blatant jettisoning of the pro-life cause. It's not like it's a secret; the man literally changed the Republican Party platform.
I am not as familiar with US politics as our American posters, obviously, but based on what I have read in the "conservative" media, it seems it was Mike Pence rather than Trump who was the driving force behind the pro-life agenda. And now their hopes rest on Vance, who is already disappointing them in this regard. I have not encountered a single conservative intellectual (including on the site that shall-not-be-named) who has any doubts about Trump's moral bankruptcy. On the other hand, he seems to be genuinely popular with some of the tech bros. He will inevitably fail them too, of course.
I already got in trouble this year for facetiously putting "the overthrow of capitalism" on my Christmas list (much to the consternation of my mother-in-law), and probably made things worse when I proffered "medieval peasant communism" in response to her "but what would we do instead?" Fortunately, my extended family are used to my grumbling about the ever-quickening approach of an anti-humanist techno-authoritarian Dark Age (that's what Armageddon means, right?), so I don't really have anything to lose by what I say over turkey and mashed potatoes.
Happy thanksgiving to you and yours as well, Dr. Hart. Mercifully, all of my Trump supporting relatives will be celebrating in a different state.
I don’t usually engage in political discussions, but one of my sisters was a “Trump team captain” in the recent election. Apparently she impressed the event organizers, and may end up doing some of that kind of work.
In the highly unlikely (I hope) event that she is ever elected to political office I will definitely relocate to Antarctica. I only bring this up because in that case I may not have the best internet connection, but I will continue paying my monthly subscription if you are open to taking payment by carrier penguin.
Happy Thanksgiving to Dr. Hart and all our American friends. Enjoy an unhealthy amount of pumpkin pie, bourbon, and football (so to speak), but please spare the turkey.
Every nation has its moments of questionable political decisions—Americans might think they hold the crown, but Romanians could soon give them stiff competition if Călin Georgescu becomes president in less than two weeks.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Thankfully for my rather politically homogenous family, it shall be a welcome respite from the insanity of the current climate.
Rule of thumb: never use a bourbon you wouldn't drink. Luckily enough in my case, there's probably not a bourbon I wouldn't drink.
I hope that when next Thanksgiving rolls around, your list of things to be thankful for will not only include “all of us somehow surviving a second Trump admin” but also significantly lessened physical pain.
Happy Thanksgiving to Dr. Hart and to all the readers of Leaves in the Wind.
Conveniently neglecting to mention the pumpkin pie recipe until it's too late so we'll have to subscribe for another whole year to get it....
"since now we are officially the stupidest nation on the face of the earth." It's not stupid to vote for the candidate better on the life issues. Abortion is intrinsically evil. Without the right to life all other rights are meaningless.
And somehow that conviction persuades you that a nation that allowed this man to be a major party candidate and then elected him isn’t to be looked down on?
It's a shame that such a man became a major party candidate. I agree with you there. But once there, I had to vote for him over Harris.
No, you didn’t. But it doesn’t matter now.
Which is why it will keep happening.
Some people also care about the right to life of people who have already been born.
And? The implication seems to be that anti-abortion people don't care about people after they're born. Setting aside whether this is true, the bad character of pro-lifers doesn't refute my initial comment.
Obviously the implication is that voting for Trump is going to lead to more deaths, more suffering among people already living. That I completely disagree with you regarding abortion is irrelevant. You have voted to make life worse for millions of people.
I have a thought regarding this line of reasoning on which I would very much appreciate feedback. It seems to me that the worst the Democratic Party can do is to make abortion more accessible, which would amount to allowing other people to make a morally repulsive choice, whereas the Republican Party is in the habit of actively harming vulnerable people by scrapping or defunding welfare programs, enacting inhumane anti-immigration campaigns, fueling racist and nationalist sentiments, etcetera—all of which has most certainly resulted, and will result, in the loss of life. Does that not make the Republican Party the greater perpetrator of evil?
I agree with you that the Republican Party is by far more harmful to the living. However, I wouldn't say that the pro-abortion policy simply allows people "to make a morally repulsive choice." A morally repulsive choice would be to cheat on your spouse. Destroying a defenseless creature possessing a human soul, on the other hand, surely is an action belonging to an altogether different category. That said, I am aware that the theists cannot impose such regulations on people who don't even believe in souls, so in a secular society a certain compromise must be reached. What I don't understand is why so many Christians, including, it seems, most of the self-identified Catholics in the USA, have absolutely no problem with abortion.
Perhaps “morally repulsive” was too soft. That was my attempt at encapsulating my general attitude toward abortion whilst recognising that it’s a complicated issue. I do believe that at a certain stage, and apart from some kind of extreme medical necessity, abortion is tantamount to murder. I’m not convinced, however, that personhood (or “ensoulment”; though I think that language is defective) begins at conception. Hence my reluctance to say something more censorious than “morally repulsive.”
I understand your position. Since I subscribe to the theory that the soul is the principle of life that forms the body, obviously for me the baby should be protected from conception. The notion that the soul comes to inhabit the body at some later point of the embryo’s life does not seem metaphysically sound.
I hold to the same theory, or so I thought. Perhaps I’ve not worked out its implications properly. Are you saying that because body is the product of soul, then a zygote, ostensibly regarded as the earliest stage of the human body, necessitates the existence of a correspondent human soul?
This would be the logical conclusion, if this theory is correct, yes.
We have been unburdened by what has been.
?
DBH's old sparring partner Ed "Bloodshed" Feser has been having an extended mental breakdown on his blog over Trump's rather blatant jettisoning of the pro-life cause. It's not like it's a secret; the man literally changed the Republican Party platform.
Last time around they had no platform at all. That should have clued everyone in to his essential moral vacuity.
I am not as familiar with US politics as our American posters, obviously, but based on what I have read in the "conservative" media, it seems it was Mike Pence rather than Trump who was the driving force behind the pro-life agenda. And now their hopes rest on Vance, who is already disappointing them in this regard. I have not encountered a single conservative intellectual (including on the site that shall-not-be-named) who has any doubts about Trump's moral bankruptcy. On the other hand, he seems to be genuinely popular with some of the tech bros. He will inevitably fail them too, of course.
I already got in trouble this year for facetiously putting "the overthrow of capitalism" on my Christmas list (much to the consternation of my mother-in-law), and probably made things worse when I proffered "medieval peasant communism" in response to her "but what would we do instead?" Fortunately, my extended family are used to my grumbling about the ever-quickening approach of an anti-humanist techno-authoritarian Dark Age (that's what Armageddon means, right?), so I don't really have anything to lose by what I say over turkey and mashed potatoes.
Happy thanksgiving to you and yours as well, Dr. Hart. Mercifully, all of my Trump supporting relatives will be celebrating in a different state.
I don’t usually engage in political discussions, but one of my sisters was a “Trump team captain” in the recent election. Apparently she impressed the event organizers, and may end up doing some of that kind of work.
In the highly unlikely (I hope) event that she is ever elected to political office I will definitely relocate to Antarctica. I only bring this up because in that case I may not have the best internet connection, but I will continue paying my monthly subscription if you are open to taking payment by carrier penguin.
Curiously, penguin is the second most popular payment method with readers of this publication.
Happy Thanksgiving to Dr. Hart and all our American friends. Enjoy an unhealthy amount of pumpkin pie, bourbon, and football (so to speak), but please spare the turkey.
Thankful for this newsletter, among many other things. It’s good to be reminded. Hoping our host will be feeling better very soon.
Alas, it appears I'll have to settle for bourbon in a glass with my pumpkin pie. (Happy Thanksgiving.)
Every nation has its moments of questionable political decisions—Americans might think they hold the crown, but Romanians could soon give them stiff competition if Călin Georgescu becomes president in less than two weeks.
But how much damage can Romania do to the rest of the world?
I shudder to think what could happen if they unleash their army of vampires
Well, they’re about to elect one.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Just finished making my cranberry sauce with a generous amount of bourbon as usual
Interested in that pie recipe. I've never loved traditional pumpkin pie.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Thankfully for my rather politically homogenous family, it shall be a welcome respite from the insanity of the current climate.
Happy Thanksgiving from across the Atlantic!