If you are a youth, someone who lacks resources, someone who has no social support structure, etc. then the answer may very well be yes. The conditions are what are quite punishing in such circumstances, lest we merely confuse the presence of a baby with a switch that raps a bad kid on the rear who does not listen to his or her parents. It is not just the presence of the baby that punishes, but the transformation of the social structures that do. “Punishment refers to adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior.” To say that a newborn does not introduce something aversive to someone who does not want him or her misses entirely what punishment actually means.

Why do I raise this? Barack Obama recently made a reference to this in relation to his daughter. The quote: “Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old,” he said. “I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information” (Johnstown, PA, March 29, 2008). Of course the other way to look at it is that the baby would also be punished as well. This is not an argument that says “abortion is cool” as you might hear many now say.  Nor is it a suggestion that Obama is decidedly “pro-abortion”.

It is to say that if we do not take appropriate social and educational measures, the birth of newborns will be apprehended as something aversive to a social order and to the  psychological condition of the mother rather than be apprehended as a gift. Not to understand that this currently happens for young mothers is rather naive. If you disagree with this, spend some time in a hospital labor and delivery unit and count how many children are born into less than hospitable conditions with decidedly unaccepting parents and/or grandparents.

Over at Reformed Chicks Blabbing Michele McGinty raises this issue with the following:

So, pro-life Obamaicans, which is better for our pro-life position: a president who doesn’t talk about abortion or pro-life issues but wouldn’t promote it or be an advocate for it either, or someone who has such a low view of life that he calls a baby, “punishment” and would make an apologetic for it using his own daughters?

I think it’s clear that Obama isn’t post-partisan on the abortion issue, he is decidedly pro-choice.

The pro-life position is really anti-abortion so let’s not sugar-coat it. The anti-abortion position does punish a teenager with a pregnancy because it offers no argument to increase social services to help that mother to raise her child. It just points the finger at her for getting pregnant. Thus, it is not just the newborn that punishes, but it is the social stigma and ostracism of the new mother that comes with the package that punishes. The young mother with little resources and a baby is a toxin to the order of society and she is treated as such.

The anti-abortion position has nothing to say about that young mother. She is cast out in favor of “the system”. The options for child-rearing are then to choose the system or choose a mother who may not get the proper education and resources to be a good mother for her child.  This is especially true if there are no grandparents around for this important task.  The anti-abortion position does not offer such support for the mother but maintains a myopic fixation on the unborn. Love and hypocrisy cannot co-exist and the lack of love for the post-partum life in the world is where the anti-abortion argument fails.

Want to make the position more plausible? Get more “liberal” with social support services and improve them. Otherwise it is theological window dressing for an otherwise anemic ethical philosophy that is both inconsistent and dare I say hypocritical. The pro-life/anti-abortion position is therefore implausible.

One final caveat. I am not defending Obama here as much as presenting an argument contra an irrational position. If “Obama defender” is your take, feel free to build that strawman on your own time.

From NPR:

The Bush administration’s top housing official resigned Monday amid a criminal investigation and a lawsuit over alleged favoritism in awarding contracts.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson did not say why he was stepping down, but some prominent Democrats in Congress have called for his resignation.

“There comes a time when one must attend more diligently to personal and family matters. Now is such a time for me,” he said. His resignation will take effect on April 18.

How many times have we heard this happen with the same reason for resigning?  How many have resigned from their often very high posts as well?  Is it me?  Does it just seem high due to media filters or is it actually a really high number?  I flipped around a little, but could not get a credible answer anywhere.  I would be very interested if anyone knows where not only to find these data, but comparative data to other administrations.

Since the term “meme” makes me want to gag, I prefer to call this an “autobiographical widget™”.

Books are scarce in the world. They are illegal in some provinces. They are not easily replaced if not impossible to replace if lost in many if not most circumstances. If you can replace a book or buy one it is usually through the black market at astronomical costs that you cannot afford. Yet you have been able to maintain one of the best collections in the world. If your entire library was about to burn up (think of the firefighters in Fahrenheit 451 invading your home) and you could only have one* book to take with you other than the bible, what would that be and why?

Simple Rules
Answer the question. Offer one quote that resonates with you. Tag five people whose response is of genuine interest to you and inform him or her that they have been tagged. Cheers!

*And it cannot be an entire series of something, that’s cheating.

I look at this almost like a snapshot of life right now since it essentially asks the question of what is the most important thing to remember right now. My selection is Works of Love by Kierkegaard. It is a book I have never finished because it is so rich. I have just not had the time to absorb it in the midst of so many other concerns in life. And the content that I have read in the first 100 pages or so I have read three times. The notion that we see the effects of love in our works, but cannot produce the source of Love itself in an objective fashion seems to be that pivotal in the life and work of the church. It says that we cannot have God, but only God can have us and this is experienced through love of neighbor.

The most mediocre defence against hypocrisy is prudence; well, it is hardly a defence, rather a dangerous neighbour of hypocrisy. The best defence against hypocrisy is love; yes, it is not only a defence but a yawning abyss; in all eternity it has nothing to do with hypocrisy. This is also a fruit whereby love is known - is secures the lover against falling into the snare of the hypocrite.

How often do we actually betray that relationship and fail to recognize God as God through love of neighbor?

Tagged! Nick, Bryan, Andy, Carol, Sarah , Brenna, Melissa

• 3 yr. old just pushed 1 yr. old down the stairs. Late birthday present for him? Geez. Good morning campers! #
• I am seeing people who started their dissertation before me now sending in for completion. I am geting a big "L" tattooed on my head. #
• Anthropological Query: Is Viagra the instanciation of the penis gourd in the West? http://snurl.com/23046 #

I am bored, creatively avoiding real work - again, and I am too tired to give much thought to, well, much at all.  So I thought I would riff on the list thing that has been shooting around over the past month.  Past lists are scholars who could blog (like this one) at Nick’s and Bryan’s blogs.  Halden offered the latest through experiment on the pre-modern theologian you would study if you had to (mine was Athanasius or Chrysostom - got to give a nod to Gregory of Nyssa and the other two Cappadocians though).  So here is my riff on the theme in the key of bored flat:

• H. Richard Niebuhr
• Peter Berger
• Rodney Stark
• Simone Weil
• Calvin O. Schrag
• John Dewey
• George Marsden
• Robert Wuthnow
• Mary Douglas
• Marshall McLuhan

Yep.  That’s the kind of stuff that has floated in my head over the past 8 years or so.  I am clearly more interested in religious behavior than doctrinal theology.  I also do not think one should bother with doing theology unless in conversation with biblical scholarship.  If I could I would pair it (in no order) with biblical theologians as well.  Childs, Brueggeman, Von Rad, LT Johnson, Brown, Fitzmeyer, Schnackenburg, Dunn, Mays, Fretheim.  I did have a few of my professors and mentors such as Peter Macky and Bob Van Dale from Westminster; and Diogenes Allen and James Loder from Princeton.  But that was too easy so I scratched it.

Hmmm…  I see too many white guys there.  Not enough women or people of color.  I will need to change that some day.  Maybe give Schussler-Fiorenza, Cornel West, and Kristeva some props too?

Oh yeah, if any of those above who are still among the living have blogs, please let me know. 

There are a lot of reasons why Tomas Haake of Meshuggah is simply, bar-none, the best heavy metal drummer out there. Not the least of the reasons for this is his versatility. Check it:

• Evan turns one today, my baby isn’t a baby anymore… #
• @targuman you can download The Future of Ideas for free online. Pretty cool. #
• Raising boys who are 3 and 1 is like that c. 2000 gem commercial about "Cat Herding" - http://snurl.com/22wu7 #
• @targuman wish I was there (maybe). ELI this year focused on 2.0 applications for higher edu. and it was well done. #
• @shanafme nope. we are sooo done. #
• @skerlin zotero is way cool. Does not have the referencing power of Refworks or Endnote, but great for cataloguing the web. #
• Kid Rock’s Song "Amen": Nice sentiment, boring execution. And he still can’t sing. #
• VH1 is talking to Kid Rock in Retching…or Reading, PA. So much for MSG Kid. Welcome to the D list. #
• Want a Top 40 hit? Pick up a corporate sponsor and look good doing it. Eg. Why 99% of Top 40 music sucks. #
• My wife’s word of the day: "Lanai" in referece to a patio. Man do we need spring weather. OK. Naptime to let my body work on Lyme disease. #
• Is it acceptable to sedate your kids? They refuse to nap! %#@$! #
• How about a little vial of liquid ether I can drop into the humidifier or something… Is that ethical, or possible? #
• Who needs rest when coffee - nap in a cup - is here with us. #
• Going to contemporary worship tonight - dunno. I am a 21st century guy who still digs 19th century worship. #
• Here are 2 reasons why contemporary worship is not my favorite: a) love/romantic songs to God that are b) not all that "contemporary". #