{"id":9417,"date":"2019-02-03T06:22:27","date_gmt":"2019-02-03T11:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=9417"},"modified":"2019-02-03T06:23:34","modified_gmt":"2019-02-03T11:23:34","slug":"a-binary-world-and-a-governors-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=9417","title":{"rendered":"a binary world and a governor’s words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the most challenging aspects of current culture (even among the intelligent)<\/em> is that we continue to craft our world as one full of binary choices\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must be this or that\u2026 for or against\u2026 black or white\u2026<\/em> as if there are only two possible ways to react to every issue\u2026 as if there existed a simple two answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this current events blogger\u2019s semi-humble opinion (emphasis on the “semi”),<\/em> we have significantly over-employed the \u201cif-you\u2019re-not-for-us-you\u2019re-against-us mentality.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> We have lost our awareness and even respect for the existent middle ground, a perspective that fits not into the \u201cone or the other\u201d division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, it <\/em>is <\/em><\/strong>possible<\/em> to want secure borders and<\/em><\/strong> have great compassion for immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It <\/em>is<\/em><\/strong> possible<\/em> to want to ensure everyone has affordable health care and<\/em><\/strong> be concerned that the government is financially insolvent and operationally inefficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It <\/em>is<\/em><\/strong> possible <\/em>to support the #MeToo movement and<\/em><\/strong> believe that some women have prevaricated the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It <\/em>is<\/em><\/strong> therefore possible<\/em> for a \u201cmiddle\u201d perspective to exist, even in the midst of a tribal culture passionately attempting to sway us otherwise. The sides\/tribes benefit when they can add another to their team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we wrestle with the folly of a binary society, there are times it\u2019s harder \u2014 harder to find what a \u201cmiddle\u201d perspective may be. Understand that we aren\u2019t having this conversation simply due to the desire to compromise; we are having the conversation because the middle actually exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We find the middle murkier when discussing abortion. Such became clear once more last week when New York passed their state Reproductive Health Act on the 46th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in Roe v.<\/em> Wade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be honest\u2026 finding a completely factual synopsis of what this bill says and what it does not was incredibly difficult; too much opinion continuously obstructs the news.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York\u2019s previous abortion law was passed three years before Roe v.<\/em> Wade. It \u201callowed women to seek abortions up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy and at any point if it was deemed medically necessary to protect the mother’s life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their newly passed legislation \u201cmaintains the 24-week limit under which women can seek abortions but adds a provision for abortions at any time if the baby would not survive the birth. Additionally, the act permits abortions at any point if it is necessary to protect the mother’s life or health. It also decriminalizes abortion by regulating it under the public health law, not penal law.\u201d [Source: \u201cAM New York\u201d]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reaction has been raucous. Any middle is hard to find.

One of the most, perceived radical, public reactions was found in the words of Virginia\u2019s Gov. Ralph Northam. He said this: \u201cWhen we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of the mother, with the consent of physicians, more than one physician by the way, and it\u2019s done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus which is non-viable. So in this particular example, if the mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen, the infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if this is what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physician and the mother.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a raucous reaction to Northam\u2019s reaction, the Governor has circled back and attempted to clarify that he was not talking about infanticide. His clarifications don\u2019t seem to be gaining significant traction in the court of public opinion, as many people across all political affiliations are deeply disturbed by the Governor\u2019s words \u2014 now finding fault in other words and behaviors of his, even though they previously existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I, too, am disturbed. I\u2019m disturbed by the Governor\u2019s words\u2026 disturbed by the condemnation\u2026 and disturbed by the cheers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No doubt this isn\u2019t a simple, binary answer. I wish we knew how to talk about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most challenging aspects of current culture (even among the intelligent) is that we continue to craft our world as one full of binary choices\u2026 You must be this or that\u2026 for or against\u2026 black or white\u2026 as if there are only two possible ways to react to every issue\u2026 as if there … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “a binary world and a governor’s words”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9417"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9422,"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9417\/revisions\/9422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}