Consistently Opposing Killing: From Abortion to Assisted Suicide, the Death Penalty, and War

by Rachel M. MacNair

Overview

This work explains an increasingly popular view dubbed the Consistent Life Ethic, which holds that all life deserves reverence, so all social support for actions that destroy life should be withdrawn. The call is for opposition to abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia and other forms of killing to be consistent. Supporters of this view, shared widely in these pages, include figures from the Dalai Lama and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malread Corrifon Maguire to actor Martin Sheen and Village Voice columnist Nat Hentoff. It is at once an ethical, religious and political ideology, explored here in its application to actions from treatment of unborn humans to infants, the disabled, the poverty-stricken, war combatants, and animals.

In the work at hand, contributors explain the history of the pro-life movement, its growth and expansion, how these types of seemingly disparate killing are all linked, why a Consistent Life Ethic is needed, and how individuals can take steps to assure this ethic is more widely accepted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313352799
Publisher:	Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/30/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	276 KB

About the Author

RACHEL M. MACNAIR is Director of the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis. A Psychologist and Sociologist, she is also author of Psychology of Peace: An Introduction (Praeger 2003) and Perpetration Induced Traumatic Stress: The Psychological Consequences of Killing (Praeger, 2002).

STEPHEN ZUNES is Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he chairs the Middle East studies program. He serves as a member of the advisory committee for the Tikkun Community and as the chair of the board of academic advisors for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Previous books include Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (2003) and Nonviolent Social Movements: A Geographical Perspective (1999).

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Power of Being Consistent   Rachel M. MacNair     1
Connected Violence
Word Games Take Lives   William Brennan     11
The Left Has Betrayed the Sanctity of Life: Consistency Demands Concern for the Unborn   Mary Meehan     19
The Indivisibility of Life and the Slippery Slope   Nat Hentoff     25
Israel/Palestine and Abortion   Stephen Zunes     33
Understanding How Killing Traumatizes the Killer   Rachel M. MacNair     39
Abortion and the Feminization of Poverty   Thomas W. Strahan     47
The Direct Killing of Racism and Poverty$dExcerpts from various sources     55
When Bigotry Turns Disabilities Deadly$dExcerpts from various sources     61
Right to Life of Humans and Animals   Vasu Murti     67
Does the Seamless Garment Fit? American Public Opinion   Edith Bogue     73
Perceptions of Connections   Rachel M. MacNair     87
Connected Solutions
Activists Reminisce: An Oral History of Pro-lifers for Survival$dTaped interview     105
Activism Throughout the Centuries   Mary Krane Derr     117
Changing Hearts and Minds   Mary Meehan     133
The Law's Role in the Consistent LifeEthic   Carol Crossed     147
Pro-life Politics: From Counter-Movement to Transforming Movement   James R. Kelly     159
Connecting the Dots-Nonviolently   Michael N. Nagler     173
People Power and Regime Change: How Nonviolence Spreads Democracy   Stephen Zunes     179
Conflict Transformation: Dissolving "Battle Lines"   Rachel M. MacNair     187
About the Editors and Contributors     195
Index     197

What People are Saying About This

Dr. Alveda King

"The authors consistently and rationally support the position of opposition to murder in a society where wrong may seem right, to the detriment of life, liberty and justice for all. This is a recommended read for serious thinkers and for all seeking truth."

Sister Helen Prejean

"The societal wounds of racism, poverty, and a penchant for using violence to address problems are intimately connected to the death penalty, to war, to the killing of the old and demented, and to the killing of children, unborn and born. If more people were familiar with the consistent life ethic, as expounded in this book, then the voice of all unseen vulnerable people would be better heard."