Faith in Abortion

(This article was written at the time Dr. Savita died, I am putting it up in the context of recent news where Irish Parliament has made progress on the abortion law)

Faith in Abortion

Needlessly a young Dental doctor Savita Halappanava from India has lost her life thanks to the adamancy of the predominantly catholic community of the Republic of Ireland, who refuse an amendment to the prevailing laws on abortion citing their catholic faith. The political leaders though admitting that they have to keep abreast of international laws are afraid that they would not get votes of the catholic conservatives who unfortunately in Ireland happen to be in a majority.

The question being raised is can a country follow laws forced upon by religion and can these laws be challenged in international courts. The answer is yes, and certainly this death must also be challenged and compensation sought in international courts. But will compensation resurrect this young woman who was begging to be saved. How can modern man legislate such laws which are primitive in thought, and how can the studied silence of the majority be taken as the law in spite of it not being logical. Law is derived from logic, and it is strange to note that logic finds no space in the thinking pad of this majority catholic population.

Faith is private to every human being and most people resent interference in their private space, but when it is a matter of life and death, then these very individuals must measure their religious beliefs and summarize whether it is right to advocate such stringent practice of religion. Man is not made for religion but religion is made for man, therefore man must consider tuning himself to advancement in science and technology and increased spread of information and knowledge.

Primitive man was not educated enough to feel terribly reprehensible about a point of view, modern man is. Though he proclaims to be knowledgeable and educated, he likes to stick to certain beliefs which do not sadly modify with times. It is a baggage that he wants to carry around and not willing to let go. If only he would let go and expand his thinking horizons to reassert his knowledge and apply them to problem solving, things would have been different.

The world is still to fathom why religious leaders go unchallenged with their primitive and often adamant rules even though they know the world is changing and with it the needs of their followers. These followers probably risk being ostracized in their religious societies, at the cost of being termed aesthetic. Religious leaders should be one amongst the masses and not lord over them looking down upon them from a high pedestal, thereby concluding that the follower does not need to think beyond the gurus teachings.

Once there was a preacher who would have an evening discourse for his disciples every day in the courtyard of the campus where they stayed. One day while he was delivering his sermon a cat ran across and the preacher getting angry because it disturbed his concentration ordered the cat to be tied to the nearest pillar. Every day the preacher would carry on with his discourse and the cat remained tied to that pillar without fail. No one thought of untying the cat. Many years passed by and the preacher grew old and died, the disciples, as was the practice choose a new preacher and the sermons continued uninterrupted. All this while the cat remained tied to the pillar.

Equate the cat to the baggage that we carry in our heads, this baggage is akin to tying the cat to the pillar, once tied it remains tied forever in spite of the preacher changing or followers joining or leaving. Religious beliefs that do not change or modify itself with time is like the baggage that is stuck in our heads and will remain forever tied, not allowing for change that is essential to improving the life of humans including its most ardent advocates.

Robin Varghese

Mail to: robin_vargh@yahoo.com