Kakistocrat

Dr. Ken Walker (pen name W. Gifford-Jones), a Toronto based physician whose syndicated column appears in more than 500 newspapers, has recently suggested that seven month old conjoined twins Tatiana and Kristina Hogan should have been aborted rather than birthed. He suggests that while nature has created this "terrible catastrophe" (the fertilized egg failing to divide completely, resulting in conjoined twins) its mistake is compounded by subjecting the twins to the terrible fate of being allowed to live.

Ethicist Margaret Somerville identifies this as "negative eugenism" (the elimination of those seen as genetically inferior) and suggests that where it is employed "disabled people become disposable people."

Such twins certainly could have been disposed of for legally there mother could have had an abortion, and medically, it is more than likely that she would have been advised of this. Because she refused to do so, W. Gifford-Jones then questions her rationality, and states that she "should not have been allowed to make the ultimate decision," and that instead an ethical committee who "would have seen the logic of terminating the pregnancy" should have been empowered.

Recognizing the pro-choice dogma that interprets a woman’s right to control her own body to an extreme degree, does Gifford-Jones really wish to subordinate this right to an ethical committee in cases where a mother might see value in life that he sees as having should have never been allowed to emerge?

As a result of technologies which allow for screenings (PGD’s for instance) of the unborn, the decision to abort those ‘defective,’ according to Somerville, "might have the effect of wiping out certain groups of people," like Down Syndrome children, dwarf children, those deaf, those bipolar, those with a cleft palate (even thought this is treatable by the final trimester), those of an unpreferred gender, and even those homosexually oriented (should a ‘gay’ gene be found).

Somerville believes society "will lose lessons in courage, hope, perseverance, balance and acceptance," and that in great likelihood, society’s capacity to be humble will be reduced, while its empathy, compassion and acceptance of difference, as well as respect for life, will be diminished.

In defending Terri Schiavo, President Bush warned that when in doubt, one must always err on the side of life, and I too believe that because our lives go through stages, and because the embryonic stage represents the earliest of human life, the embryo should be allowed to emerge unhindered, just as we were allowed to emerge unhindered. If there are opportunities to improve its quality of life, that may be done, but ultimately the question of ending its life is unethical. Negative eugenics like the kind Gifford-Jones promotes, entrench a view of human life that is dependant on particular characteristics that aim for superficial perfection in others. Such eugenics is even more dangerous when the responsibility to determine elimination is given to a third party like an ethical committee. 

K.

One of the dullest elections in recent memory winds up today with NDP Premier Gary Doer widely believed to be on the verge of winning his third straight majority. While Doer went into the campaign enjoying 80% approval rating, this was a winnable election for PC leader Hugh McFadyen. Unfortunately for him, he did not capitalize on what would have been a good strategy (by campaigning strongly on the need for a change in leadership or by calling into question the team around Doer who, once Doer-less, would produce disastrous results for the province), and McFadyen as a good strategist should have known this. (I am not suggesting such strategies represent truthful claims, but rather that politically they would have worked).

However, despite the fact that a late poll has Doer ahead by approximately 7 points (which is even better if you consider the higher concentration of seats in Winnipeg), low voter turnout could help the PC party in certain swing ridings, as certain NDP voters may not see the need to bother voting. In contrast to this lower voter turnout, the higher voter turnout that has already been noted in advanced polling (probably) bodes well for McFadden, whose party may pick up a few seats from the NDP but will still not reduce Doer to a minority. I could be wrong though. It’s certainly possible, but highly…

K.

Declaring him to be in possession of "heroic virtues," the Vatican’s Congregation of the Causes of Saints, has moved Pope Pius XII one step closer to official sainthood. As Pope from 1939 to 1958, Pius’s legacy hinges on the question of his perceived silence during the Holocaust.

While plenty has been written both in support and condemnation of Pope Pius XII, only last year were the Vatican archives from his era made fully accessible. Because the question of his silence has still not been adequately addressed, until it has been, and particularly until the Jewish people have been themselves convinced of his "heroic virtues" (perhaps by Yad Vashem’s formal identification of him as a righteous gentle), only then should the case for his sainthood proceed.

While saint-making is an internal Church matter, the potential sainthood of Pius XII, precisely because of his perceived silence during the Holocaust, has consequences beyond the Church, and in light of the relative good relations with the Jewish people that have lasted now some forty years, I do not think it would be wise, or consistent with Christian charity, to recognize the still-present wounds within the Jewish community and proceed by continuing Pius XII’ canonization.

What do you think?

(This is less of a discussion regarding Pius actions during the Holocaust, then it is a discussion of the wisdom of canonizing him while the verdict is still out on his perceived silence).

K.

My sister wanted me to pass along a significant detail (significant to her, at least) regarding the fact that we are less than eight months away from the American release of The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. (Upon reflection, she may actually have neglected to encourage me in this regard, but if given the chance, I am sure she would have done so).

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep centers around a lonely boy named Angus MacMorrow (played by Alex Etel, the star of Millions) who discovers a mysterious egg which hatches into a sea creature of legendary Scottish proportions.

It is believed that The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep will break the Oscar records set by Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King (the third instalment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy). Only time will tell. No word as of yet on whether Avril Lavigne has been recruited for the soundtrack.

K.

I read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer the other day, and not simply is it an enjoyable tale, but it is masterfully (and humourously) narrated as well. The narrator makes very little attempt to conceal his (sometimes very sarcastic) thoughts on a number of issues. 

Of interest here is that which takes place towards the end of the Book when commenting on the death of Injun Joe, and how this death is reacted to by the citizens of the village. I find Twain’s sarcastic critique here very relevant to our own judicial state though I recognize that through his narrator Twain is criticizing citizens themselves while it is the judiciary itself that warrants our own critique.

Injun Joe was buried near the mouth of the cave; and people flocked there in boats and wagons from the towns and from all the farms and hamlets for seven miles around; they brought there children, and all sorts of provisions, and confessed that they had had as almost as satisfactory time at the funeral as they could have had at the hanging.

The funeral stopped the further growth of one thing—the petition to the Governor for Injun Joe’s pardon. The petition had been largely signed; many tearful and eloquent meetings had been held, and a committee of sappy women been appointed to go in deep mourning and wail around the governor and implore him to be a merciful ass and trample his duty under foot. Injun Joe was believed to have killed five citizens of the village, but what of that? If he had been Satan himself there would have been plenty of weaklings ready to scribble their names to a pardon-petition, and drip a tear on it from their permanently impaired and leaky water-works.

K.