Book Comment: Poems of Faith

In college, I had a triple major course of study of Biology, Psychology, and English with a minor in Chemistry.  In my poetry classes, the name of Helen Steiner Rice often came up for denigration.  Her poetry was held up as an extreme example of excessive sentimentality and rigid adherence to an ultra-simple rhyming scheme.  Her poems resemble the verses in greeting cards because that is where Steiner began writing her poetry, working for American Greetings.

Helen Steiner Rice (b. 1900, Ohio, USA – d. 1981) was an advertising manager turned poet who has become known as “America’s beloved inspirational poet laureate” and the “Ambassador of Sunshine.”   Her books have sold over seven million copies, so far, and they still are selling well, years after her death.

By all accounts, Mrs. Rice was loved by everyone who knew her.  She was a pious, prayerful woman devoted to her Lord.  She told her friend, Fred Bauer that “I’m just another worker in the vineyard of the Lord, trying to do God’s will.  All I have to say is in the thoughts He places on my heart, thoughts I put to rhyme.”

Poems of Faith (1981) is a collection of 124 of Mrs. Rice’s poems.  In keeping with the nature of Mrs. Rice’s poems, the book is illustrated with paintings of numerous flowers by artist Judith fast.  The poems are not to everyone's tastes, including mine, but there is nothing heterodox or objectionable in any of them.  Millions of people find them to be inspirational statements of Christian faith and devotion. 

A Steinerian poem in response to the critics of Helen Steiner Rice.

http://chestertonandfriends.blogspot.com/2008/05/helen-steiner-rice-clerihew.html

Why Life Begins At Conception, Part 1

Over the next few days I will be posting, in several parts, on the subject, Why Life Begins at Conception.  The posts may not be on consecutive days but they will make the most sense to you if they are read in consecutive order. 

The subject has become a very hot topic in the United States because of the poorly thought out comments (I would say something more harsh except for the nature of this blog) of one of the current United States Representatives. 

The current controversy concerns abortion and certain types of contraception and the timing of when a developing fetus becomes “human.”  Does life begin at conception or sometime later in the pregnancy? Does the developing fetus have legal rights as a person?

The question is presented by many as a religious question, and it is, but a rational and scientific case can be made for opposition to abortion without any reference to religion.  Many people will not listen to a religious argument, but they might listen to a scientific one.

The posts in this series will present, in a highly simplified way, the scientific information necessary for a case against abortion and some forms of birth control.  Also, the very strong emotions of persons on both sides of the issue will be discussed.

1.     This is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog.

2.     I am qualified to present this particular scientific information because my undergraduate degree is in biology with a concentration in developmental genetics and embryology.

The abortion debate is not only based on religious beliefs

     A friend and I were talking  and somehow got onto the subject of abortion.  When I expressed my opposition to the practice he told me he was surprised at me.    He said, "You're so well read and seem to be intelligent.  How can you be anti-choice?"

     I pointed out to him that I am not anti-choice, I'm pro-life.  He started rolling out all the pro-abortion arguments.  And, he made the charge that only fundamentalist Christians and Roman Catholics oppose abortion; so, declaring that it was not necessary to invoke religion at all in the debate, I asked him a question.

     "If you take tissue from an aborted fetus and from the biological mother and submit the samples separately for DNA analysis and comparison, what will be the result?  ... The DNA analysis will demonstrate that the tissues came from two separate and totally distinct individuals.  Genetic science states that the fetus, from the moment of conception, is a separate life, not merely a patch of tissue in the mother's body."

     My friend admitted that this was true but the implications of that admission flew right over his head.  He resorted to the hypothetical game, "If your daughter were ... "

     Many people of both liberal and conservative orientations stake a claim on a particular issue on ideology and become almost automatons, chanting the established mantra over and over.  They challenge any deviation from their particular orthodoxy.  Real argument, in the classical sense, is drowned out; they merely become louder with their chanting.  If you don't agree with them you must be an uneducated boob, hopelessly confused, or, worst of all, a bigot.

     It would be a positive step if we could all learn to argue with respect.  At the end of our argument my friend and I looked at one another and laughed.  We're still friends.