Saturday, January 24, 2009

Is It Just Me??

Is it just me, or did any of you find a "disconnect" in President Obama's moral thinking today (well, actually yesterday since I am posting this after 1 AM)? President Obama signed two very important legislative orders today, and I am personally having a hard time coming to grips with how Obama's mind works.

The first legislative order that Obama signed dealt with the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison and the manner in which the US military treats its foreign prisoners. In a nutshell, from what I understand, Obama does not agree with the way that foreign prisoners have been treated and some of the tactics that US military officials have used to gather information from prisoners (i.e. forms of what he considers torture). Obama feels that there are more humane ways of gathering intelligence information from these prisoners without compromising the security of our nation. I get that, but here's what I DON'T get.

On the same day that Obama signed legislation to preserve the rights of foreign prisoners, he also signed an order to reverse prior legislation that "prohibits U.S. money from funding international family-planning clinics that promote abortion or provide counseling or referrals about abortion services." Basically, your tax money and mine can now go to foreign clinics that promote abortion.

Now, here is where the disconnect in Obama's moral thinking comes into play for me. Why is it NOT OK to torture foreign prisoners, but it IS OK to kill innocent babies?? I just don't get that. When Obama discussed the Guantanamo Bay ruling today, he said, "We the people will uphold our fundamental values as vigilantly as we protect our security. Once again, America's moral example must be the bedrock and the beacon of our global leadership." I don't know about you, but MY moral example does NOT coincide with President Obama's moral example!! I don't see how you can work so hard to protect the "rights" of terrorists (and let's face it, people, that's who is held at Guantanamo Bay), but you can be so quick to take away the rights of innocent children. That form of thinking is just beyond my understanding.

I know we can all debate for endless hours on each of these subjects (along with the death penalty), and we all have a moral "compass" for our thoughts and feelings. I just find it so profoundly interesting that Obama was soooo quick to care about the rights of prisoners but at the same time not care at all about the right to LIFE for innocent babies.

Here are two articles that you might want to read in regard to this post:

Obama signs order to close Guantanamo Bay facility

Obama reverses abortion-funding policy

Let me be very clear that I am NOT a political expert. However, I am beginning to pay much more attention to politics than I ever have. I am not posting this to open up a can of debate and criticism about whether the treatment of prisoners or abortion is "right" or "wrong." I simply wanted to point out that two of the most important items on President Obama's agenda today seemed, at least for me, to hold very opposing values. All I know is, my morality is a bit different from Obama's.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

here here! I totally agree. I am not happy about these decisions at all. You mean my tax money goes to other countries for abortion? That's is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a long while. Thanks for speaking out. Great post

Anonymous said...

Wow that was a fantastic read. Perfectly captures the double standard. I'm really glad you chose to share it. Thanks!