15 Comments

  • Hewson

    Not sure how persuasive this argument will prove to be. I can imagine a stinging counter-video in which the fetus in question turns out to be Hitler, a crack-addict, drunk, etc. I like the video, but you get my point.

  • ryan

    Hewson,

    I get your point but I do not think it refutes the ad the way you think it does.

    The ad simply highlights the HOPE of life and the amazing possibility that is in every womb. Being that hope is a central theme for the Obama campaign I think the ad nails it in saying that if we are to be a nation of hope, we must not restrict it at its most formative and vulnerable stage. All new life carries with it tremendous unknown for good or evil, but that does not inhibit the fact that life must be given a chance to demonstrate its worth.

  • Hewson

    Ryan,

    I agree with you that this is a clever add and has strong emotional appeal; and I mean that it a positive sense. However, by resting the argument on potential for good, the obvious rebuttle is potential for evil. I would rather see pro-lifers -and I am most certainly pro life- argue on the basis of intrinsic value, image of God, and personhood rather than one’s potential to overcome obsticles and achieve “great things.”

  • Darius T

    Hewson, I don’t think “intrinsic value, image of God, and personhood” appeals to people who think we’re just a variation of ape. So appeal to where they do put value: their new messiah.

  • Hewson

    Darius,

    I see the strategy, and can appreciate the tactic. However, I think the long-term price is too high. Selling people on human potential for great things (being president, etc) is false advertisement because most people will never achieve greateness, so defined. Moreover, what about the sick? The aged? They are unable to meet that social expectation for greatness, so why is their life valuable? I think event people who accept evolution can accept the personhood arguments being made by guys like Peter Kreeft and by the authors of the book Embryo: A Case for Life.

  • Darius T

    Good point, Hewson. As a long-term strategy, no, it’s not a particularly good one as implies the elderly don’t have much to offer. However, don’t give humanity too much credit… most people aren’t thoughtful enough to understand personhood arguments made by writers or philosophers. So going for the 30 second shock or awe value has some merit.

  • Hewson

    It would be interesting to see a similiar video in reverse and thus make the point that a great person was once a fetus and to kill that fetus would have been to kill the great person. So that you gets at the issue of potential and personhood. I really do like the video, though. Russ is right about the right battlefield, for sure.

Comment here. Please use FIRST and LAST name.