An easy choice

On a crisp autumn evening as I jogged past Bryan Park, a crunchy old townie stopped me and asked me to sign her petition. I replied that I would need to know what I was petitioning before providing my signature. So this old, gray hippy lady -- let's call her Alice -- informed me that her organization wanted to end the euthanizing of animals at the Bloomington Animal Shelter.\nThings went downhill from there.\nWe agreed that puppies are cute; and we agreed that it's really a tragedy that lots of them must be killed, and that in a perfect world it wouldn't be necessary. But finally I told Alice that I would not sign her petition.\n"Alice," said I, "you're obviously very concerned about the death of cute animals in this town, but what about the ongoing murder of human beings?"\nJust a few months prior to this meeting I had spent a week in Rwanda, a nation that a decade earlier had been both victim and perpetrator of the one of the worst genocides the world has ever seen. I told Alice that my experience proved the histories true: that there are no dogs in Rwanda; they had been exterminated after the genocide.\nI asked Alice if she knew why, and she confessed her ignorance. "Because when anarchy erupted, the dogs turned on their masters. The dogs ate the victims that had been murdered in the streets, and then attacked the walking survivors. So genocide survivors and perpetrators alike -- even the supply-strapped U.N. forces in Rwanda -- shot dogs on sight.\n"Alice," said I, "did they do the right thing, exterminating the dogs?" She flustered that she didn't know, and that she hoped to never be put in a situation like that because it would be "a difficult choice."\nI told her, "That's why I won't sign your petition. Because a few miles away from this slaughterhouse of cute puppies is a multibillion dollar, international business (Planned Parenthood) that is raking in money by the boatload to kill human beings. And you're worried about puppies."\nAdmittedly, unborn children are not particularly cute; even a newborn infant isn't very cute until he's been around for a few weeks. But thank God cuteness isn't the criterion for a right to live. If it were, Yours Truly -- as well as some of the readers -- would have an obligation to recuse ourselves from life.\nWe in the Western world have inherited the Christian teaching that man is a unique creation on this planet, made "in the image of God." And as image-bearers of God, whether or not we're cute, happy, "loved" or enjoying a positive "quality of life," the intentional taking of that life is a sin against God.\nAt 2 p.m. this Sunday local churches and citizens defending the sanctity of human life will hold the Rally for Life to mark the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in America. We will meet on the lawn of the Monroe County Courthouse, 100 W. Fifth St., and we welcome everyone -- cute or otherwise.