Ad Patriam Meam: A Letter
Dear America,
Know this, homeland of mine: I love you, more than words can say.
I could, to quote Coldplay, "write a song/a hundred miles long" about all the reasons why. Maybe I will, another time.
But not now.
Oh, not now.
In truth, I don't even know what to say, how to begin.
This abortion thing? The videos exposing Planned Parenthood that have so recently gone viral?
It all leaves me sick. Heartbroken. Weeping. And angry.
The real issue isn't if Planned Parenthood is profiting off of sales of fetal tissue or if they are merely covering their expenses in the tissue donation. That is a valid question, and one that opens up a lot of legal ramifications. But it isn't the heart of the matter.
This is: our nation is okay with killing people.
And this conversation is not about killing enemy soldiers in wartime, or those clearly convicted of heinous crimes. It's about babies, about human beings who are as defenseless as you get. It's not about hate speech against those of other religious or political convictions, it's not about decisions to take out dictators of oppressive regimes. It's about us. Killing our own people.
I cannot conceive how this can ever be justified. We look at North Korea and are outraged, rightfully, and baffled, understandably, by the sick thinking that allows those in power to oppress their own people. We recognize that rapists and child molesters and corrupt officials and police who grow heady with their own power are deeply, desperately wrong. We know that pet owners who kick their dogs and don't feed their animals are not to be trusted and not to be lauded.
Dearest America, there are many parts of your history that I'd be glad to rewrite, but there are many, many other parts interwoven that I am proud of. Despite all of your struggles and shortcomings and blind spots, you've been a beacon of justice and mercy to many people over many generations, a safe haven and something worth fighting for.
But this? This killing of your own children? This wholesale slaughter that seemed so unthinkable to many back when it first was legalized that they assumed it would quickly be reversed? This legal option to terminate a life that has been a part of your culture for my whole life and is now popularly considered to be a right?
It is so far out of true, so evil, so disgusting and depraved that I am astonished that our nation still exists. We wonder at the brutality of the Old Testament, of parents sacrificing their children to their unliving idols, but we live in a country where children are sacrificed for convenience.
America, I love you deeply and dearly. But this massacre I hate, far more than I can begin to say. Sure, stop the evil of selling human body parts for profit. But that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Stop the killing. Please, please.
I'm not saying that it is an easy solution. I'm not saying it's convenient. I know full well that it is not. I've seen the messiness of single-parent homes and of sexual abuse and of drug abuse and of children born with severe mental and physical special needs. I don't have quick fixes for these things and they, too, break my heart.
But I believe that we can work toward answers, only first -- dear patria -- stop killing your people.
Because I love you, America, I beg you: please stop.
With love,
Hannah
Know this, homeland of mine: I love you, more than words can say.
I could, to quote Coldplay, "write a song/a hundred miles long" about all the reasons why. Maybe I will, another time.
 |
(photo by Morgan Sessions) |
Oh, not now.
In truth, I don't even know what to say, how to begin.
This abortion thing? The videos exposing Planned Parenthood that have so recently gone viral?
It all leaves me sick. Heartbroken. Weeping. And angry.
The real issue isn't if Planned Parenthood is profiting off of sales of fetal tissue or if they are merely covering their expenses in the tissue donation. That is a valid question, and one that opens up a lot of legal ramifications. But it isn't the heart of the matter.
This is: our nation is okay with killing people.
And this conversation is not about killing enemy soldiers in wartime, or those clearly convicted of heinous crimes. It's about babies, about human beings who are as defenseless as you get. It's not about hate speech against those of other religious or political convictions, it's not about decisions to take out dictators of oppressive regimes. It's about us. Killing our own people.
I cannot conceive how this can ever be justified. We look at North Korea and are outraged, rightfully, and baffled, understandably, by the sick thinking that allows those in power to oppress their own people. We recognize that rapists and child molesters and corrupt officials and police who grow heady with their own power are deeply, desperately wrong. We know that pet owners who kick their dogs and don't feed their animals are not to be trusted and not to be lauded.
Dearest America, there are many parts of your history that I'd be glad to rewrite, but there are many, many other parts interwoven that I am proud of. Despite all of your struggles and shortcomings and blind spots, you've been a beacon of justice and mercy to many people over many generations, a safe haven and something worth fighting for.
But this? This killing of your own children? This wholesale slaughter that seemed so unthinkable to many back when it first was legalized that they assumed it would quickly be reversed? This legal option to terminate a life that has been a part of your culture for my whole life and is now popularly considered to be a right?
It is so far out of true, so evil, so disgusting and depraved that I am astonished that our nation still exists. We wonder at the brutality of the Old Testament, of parents sacrificing their children to their unliving idols, but we live in a country where children are sacrificed for convenience.
America, I love you deeply and dearly. But this massacre I hate, far more than I can begin to say. Sure, stop the evil of selling human body parts for profit. But that is only the tip of the iceberg.
Stop the killing. Please, please.
I'm not saying that it is an easy solution. I'm not saying it's convenient. I know full well that it is not. I've seen the messiness of single-parent homes and of sexual abuse and of drug abuse and of children born with severe mental and physical special needs. I don't have quick fixes for these things and they, too, break my heart.
But I believe that we can work toward answers, only first -- dear patria -- stop killing your people.
Because I love you, America, I beg you: please stop.
With love,
Hannah
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