Let’s discuss equal rights.
I’m a feminist. At least, I’d like to consider myself one, except for that little but vital bit about feminism where it seems you have to also subscribe to the pro-choice motion, which I don’t. Feminism is, in essence, the belief that women and men are equal (I am NOT saying the same. We have differences, but we’re equal in worth). I saw recently that feminism is egalitarian, but I cannot quite believe that, since for some reason an unborn child is not considered to be of the same worth as a full-grown man or woman. Okay. So I’m not a feminist.
I’m egalitarian. That child is of the same worth as the woman that carries it and the man with whom she conceived it. That little being has a soul, and is of the same worth. If feminism really were about everyone being equal, I think this would be understood by now.
I still love a lot of the feminist principals, but I also think feminists confuse equal worth with equal characteristics. Women and men have different, complementary characteristics which balance one another. Have you ever heard the joke: “Which weighs more? A pound of rocks or a pound of feathers?”
Glory, I hope you get that. Take a moment till you get that.
Okay, get it? They weigh the same but they are entirely different substances. Maybe you don’t like this analogy because you immediately assume that the feathers are women and the rocks are supposed to represent men, and that seems like another instance of society dictating what women should be. If you did think this, remember: I never said the women were feathers. You automatically assumed it, and the social conditioning is in your mind, not my writing.
If you want, we can go ahead and make another comparison, using subjects with less disparity in substance. Which weighs more, a pound of tulips or a pound of daffodils? It doesn’t matter how the petals are shaped, or how heavy each leaf is, or how much pollen they produce, or how deep their roots go. A pound is a pound. A person is a person. They’re equal. They’re different. They weigh in the same on this grand moral scale, and they should weigh in the same on our societal scale.
They are absolutely equal in worth.
Including the unborn babies.
But our societal scale doesn’t seem to reflect this seemingly obvious truth, about women, about fetuses, about blacks, or Hispanics, or Syrians, or police officers. We’re all human, from different places and backgrounds, of different ages and sizes and colors and sexes.
Why do we treat some as if they are less of a person than others? What is this meanness, this lowness? If you treat them like dirt…well, guess what? You’re dirt too. We’re all dirt. The Bible literally says we’re made of the dust of the earth. That’s dirt, yo.
If you treat someone like a child of God…well, guess what? You are too! And so is your neighbor, and your kid, and that annoying young guy who blares his radio in the middle of the night, and that celebrity who wears several thousand dollars’ worth of really fancy clothes. God is our Father, and we are His children. It’s another thing we all share.
So I’m egalitarian. Our worth is the same. I believe in human kinship. Join me in believing and acting upon this, protecting it. Every being is equal, and, let’s admit it, life is hard, so let’s help each other out: Embrace our equality of worth.