I just saw this: Huckabee Backs Akin, Lashes Out At GOP | TPM LiveWire, where Huckabee makes a plea for fairness and, essentially, a second chance for the guy who said that women being truly raped won't get pregnant.
He certainly apologized for saying so, but for what? Is he really sorry for saying something that he clearly believed to be true? Did he learn in the backlash that he had no understanding of human reproduction?
Or was he simply sorry that, as a friend of mine put it, "people on the interwebs thought he was a complete idiot."
If he really learned, then that would be great. But I have been reading about all the people in the Republican party who believe things that are very close to this. One doctor wrote an article about how rape victims rarely get pregnant, and both Romney and Akin know of him and Romney praised him.
Plus, in the day after he "apologized," Akin said that he really meant to talk about how women lie about rape.
Jesus Christ! His apology about saying that raped women wouldn't actually get pregnant really meant to say that women lie about rape all the time--and would do so to get an abortion. Just more of the trend, and I really see this in so many on the right--that women cannot be trusted with their own body. Those same women, I would note, are left to their own devices and "personal responsibility" when dealing with abusive men, healthcare needs, access to contraceptives, and even providing healthcare and nutrition to an infant. But when faced with a difficult pregnancy, they can have no individual responsibility, because women simply can't be trusted.
Sigh.
3 comments:
I propose a new guideline. Given how often generic apologies and the superficial trappings of contrition are used as Get Out Of Responsibility Free cards in evangelical circles, let's assume that any conservative Christian in public office is lying when he apologizes, until his changed actions show that he actually meant it.
Come to think of it, that's not a bad rule for public figures in general.
I think that is a good rule in general, but I think that an unfortunate number of people will tend to ignore indiscretions if done by someone from "their team."
Repentance is most clearly understood and changing actions, not just feeling sorry for what you did. It is termed "amendment of life" and if you did not indicate that you were, in fact, going to change your ways, then absolution just might not be granted from the Priest.
So, yea changed actions show you mean it!
Post a Comment