A Consistent Ethic of Life

I want to have as much consistency in my ethic of life as possible.

That's why I thought it was a good idea in 2000 when Illinois placed a moratorium on its death penalty. DNA evidence was exposing grave instances of injustice in which men were being executed for crimes they didn't commit. If there is uncertainty as far as the guilt of an accused murderer, I take the side of life.

I'm sure presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would agree with me.

I am equally disturbed with our nation's seeming nonchalance about the collateral civilian lives that have been lost in the conflict in Iraq. According to a March 15 issue of The Washington Post, 1640 civilians had already lost their lives in Iraq in 2008. Estimates of the civilian death toll in Iraq since the beginning of conflict are edging toward 90,000. While many of these were likely killed in Iraqi-initiated attacks, others are victims of errant missiles, friendly fire, mistaken identity, etc. This number doesn't include the civilian victims of the conflict in Afghanistan. These deaths are indirectly the result of our nation's response to the murder of 3,000 American civilians on September 11, 2001. Simply put, the numbers reveal an unspoken premise that American civilian lives are worth more than the civilian lives of Iraqis and Afghans. If there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of a military campaign that is destroying the lives of countless civilians, I take the side of life.

I'm sure presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would agree with me.

I'm not sure when life begins. If it begins at conception, what happens to the many zygotes that are naturally aborted before implantation? When does a human being possess a soul? If it doesn't begin at conception, when does it begin? I do know however, that if there is uncertainty about when life begins, I take the side of life and its preservation.

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama agree with me on this uncertainty, but in the case of abortion, it's apparently just not politically expedient for them to take the side of life. Pathetic.