The Mama Grizzly was quite patient on her Facebook page with the irascible atheist biology professor who yesterday said of those with her son’s condition, “[a]bort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have a choice.”
Mr. Dawkins, I’d let you meet my son if you promised to open your mind, your eyes, and your heart to a unique kind of absolute beauty. But, in my request for you to be tolerant, I’d have to warn Trig he must be tolerant, too, because he may superficially look at you as kind of awkward. I’ll make sure he’s polite, though!
Love,
Sarah Palin & family
Dawkins says his morality is based on increasing happiness and reducing suffering. Read the happy story of Kate Owens, a bride with Down syndrome.
Dawkins’ Twitter tirade was not uncharacteristic of his tendency to get into trouble with the public online. From drawing accusations of misogyny to saying that “mild pedophilia” is not worthy of condemnation, to now making the case that abortion is not just indifferent to morality but actually serves a moral purpose, Dawkins is a challenge for new atheist PR.
But the diehard Darwinist is simply expressing the consequences of a worldview void of an absolute standard of morality that values human life. Our life is thereby valued merely by our utilitarian capabilities for the collective and our supposed capacity for suffering (“fetuses, diagnosed before they have human feelings” says Dawkins of the unborn with Down syndrome). Oh, and perhaps by how wanted we are.
Thankfully there are strong mothers out there like Palin who see the God-given value and “absolute beauty” of every individual. If the value of human life is left to the vicissitudes of academia and government, eventually we run the risk of being expendable at every stage of life.
