brianp@shark.UUCP (Brian Peterson) (08/18/84)
Why is it bad to do unconstitutional things? Because that is
breaking the rules, thus not cooperating for the general good.
This holds in general. Specific rules may cause more harm
than the upset caused from disobeying them.
Laura, please tell us how you determined that there are absolute rights.
Please tell us where to look to learn what these rights are.
Who guarantees them? If it is the Constitution, then it really
is a bunch of people who made an agreement. (Those who wrote it,
and those who, at least by default, agree with it.)
Laura says that it is not proven that a fetus is not a person. (or did
she say human?) I can think of four ways to say what a "person" is.
There is the biological way. A fetus DOES have homo-sapiens DNA, and
it is alive. There is the legal way. Law is pure >definition<.
The rules may be made with reality and practicality in mind, but they
are still MADE by people. There is the intellectual/philosophical
way of defining people (though it may be a fuzzy concept not
discussed much on the net). A "person" is an intelligent being.
Lastly, there is the religious way (many, possibly) of >defining<
what a "person" is. This last way belongs in net.religion.
Religion is a personal thing, to be practiced among consenting adults.
Proving any "truth" about whether a fetus is human or not is
purely a matter of biology. Anything else is a matter of
definition. 3 mega-people may not be able to change reality,
but they can certainly make definitions! If they are smart,
they will base their decisions on reality.
Laura finally says that rights are NOT made up, that they are
merely recognized, codified, and protected. I want to
know where one finds a right. What geological structure is
the best one to look in? How does one measure the size of
a right?
What we >should< be doing is trying to find what everyone's
assumptions are, and then trying to see which ones fit
reality better. Once everyone agrees on the basics
(if ever :-) it should be possible to arrive at similar
conclusions.
Brian Peterson {ucbvax, ihnp4, } !tektronix!shark!brianp