What if your mom had an abortion? How would you feel?

I would feel nothing.  I would not exist.  It's a pretty simple answer to a pretty dumb question pro-lifers like to ask to trip up pro-choice advocates.

To not exist is neither good nor bad.  It just is the case (in a negating sort of way).  So if I never existed, it would never have mattered—to anyone.  Of course, existing now matters to me and others who love me, but if I never was, I’d never care and neither would anyone else.  There would be no me.  And that would have been fine.

But to use the kind of argument as the questions above give is to commit a gross error.  It demeans women who have become pregnant by telling them they have no free will over their bodies.  In the (usually) well-intentioned efforts of pro-life advocates to esteem the personhood of the unborn, they take away the personhood of the already born.  This is a case of mixed-up priorities.  To be pro-choice means that one fully respects the personhood of the woman just as I would want everyone to respect my own personhood.

I can say what I say because I exist.  But if I didn’t exist, so be it.  There would be no skin off my back (literally and figuratively).  Pro-lifers need a new argument.

Selective reasoning on what is fantasy (by anon)

The most shocking realization I had in my conversion experience out of Christianity was seeing how deeply rooted the Christian mythology was in me.  Basically, Christianity says that we are all sick, some guy came down out of nowhere and had to die this horrible death, he miraculously comes back to life after a brutal murder, but we have to wash ourselves in his blood, and only then are we made healthy and can go to heaven.  This seems so natural to believe as a Christian, especially when one grows up in the church.  Those are beliefs that feel like home.  BUT when I take a step back and look at them more objectively, they just seem crazy.  I can’t be clean until some guy dies for me – and he died over 2000 years ago?  I have to be cleansed in this guy’s blood?  How can this story ring anything but fantasy?  If someone said that the spaghetti monster requires that I eat some of his noodles and sauce for me to be allowed in his heaven, I’d say he’s nuts.  I thought that Mormonism was nuts for saying that Mohammed and his horse were raised to heaven at the Dome of the Rock.  Who’s ever seen anyone rise up to the clouds without mechanical aid?  So if I think these kinds of stories are fictions, how can I think any differently about the whole “Jesus’ body and blood will save me” theory?  If an alien species came down to Earth and learned about this, they would surely perceive Christians as no different than how we view ancient Greek mythology.

The moral of this is the age-old notion that if one is too close to something, one may not see it clearly.  I allowed myself to take a step back and it was quite eye-opening for me.  I was selectively choosing what was fantasy and what was not fantasy, when it was clear that it was all fantasy.

Are there any absolutes?

There is one absolute to be sure, the absolute being of all things. You can call it the Universe. The Universe is our absolute truth, all things worldly, scientifically and spiritually spawn from the Universe, our Absolute truth. The Universe(the Being) is HE. HE is absolute, HIS hands are reaching forever. Nothing is beyond HIM, HE is it.

~ 7antStyle 

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When the game loses its value (by anon)

Competitiveness and competition are bound to happen in any sport; that’s already well known and expected.  However, once people are overly competitive and just plain rude that is when the game becomes un-enjoyable.  I get that people like to win and most play to win and I myself hate to lose so I understand when people get upset or frustrated when losing, especially if they were once winning or ahead in the game.  But becoming unsportsmanlike and irritated not only makes the individual look foolish, but the whole team is given a bad rep as well.  The team itself may even be referred to as the team that complained, cussed, yelled etc.

Some may say “why do you get so worked up, it is just a game?”  This phrase has some meaning and truth to it but ultimately I hate this question.  It is not just a game, sports are something people compete in and most often do their best to succeed and win.  Even more than that games are a way to better oneself in any and all aspects of the game and in life.  Teammates learn to cooperate with each other and form team cohesion.  The ability to communicate effectively with them and essentially trust them is something that is greatly strengthened by playing in competitive games.

When someone on the opposing team becomes aggravated and yells at me, and my teammates, refs, umps, etc or become overly physical and aggressive, it truthfully makes the game hard for me as well as others to enjoy.  When someone on my team does it I honestly find it difficult to continue playing the game with them.  This has happened to me before and it is not only embarrassing but demeaning to me as an athlete when I just want to have a healthy and fun competition with my opponents.  Yelling, swearing, “talking shit”, pushing by another player puts a negative image not only on the player but the whole team.  Standing up for yourself and your team is one thing, but acting like an ass because you are losing or the refs/umps make a bad call is not an excuse.  Games are meant to be fun and enjoyed with friends, teammates, siblings and even the challengers.  Once anger arises and all sportsmanship had disappeared that is when it loses the components and aspects of a real game.