Why Liberals are Misreading Mourdock

[DonViejo]

Amy Sullivan
October 25, 2012

Let’s get one thing straight from the start. I am not defending Richard Mourdock’s position on abortion, including his opposition to a rape exception. So take that twitchy finger off the “send” button. However, I do want to examine some of the outrage surrounding the latest comments of a Republican politician regarding abortion and rape.

On Tuesday night, during an Indiana debate between candidates for the U.S. Senate, Republican Richard Mourdock said the following to explain his position on abortion: “I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

Immediately, Twitter lit up with incensed and indignant comments characterizing Mourdock’s words as saying that God makes rape happen or that God intends for rape to result in pregnancy, along with all manner of dark humor about other things God intends. Liberals seemed shocked by Mourdock’s statement and his beliefs.

I was just shocked that anyone was shocked. Lots of Republican politicians oppose rape exceptions. Paul Ryan, for one, opposes abortion in the case of rape. Rarely does anyone bother to offer an explanation for why he holds that position. (Todd Akin famously did earlier this year, and that didn’t go so well for him.) I’m not sure what justifications people had imagined for opposing a rape exception that would be more acceptable than Mourdock’s.

more:
http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/109111/why-liberals-are-misreading-mourdock#

[warrior1]

1. I think liberals and everyone else who cares about women's right gets it just fine.

They want men to have total control over women's bodies.

[Scuba]

2. Yeah, it's us liberals fault for realizing the guy is a first-class asswipe.

[beac]

3. Shock value headline + defense of the indefensible =

truly piss poor article from the usually not so stupid Amy Sullivan.

[Jennicut]

4. The problem is using religious belief to make public laws and policy.

Which is why a separation of Church and state even exists. I don't care if Mourdock was talking about rape or pregnancy being God's will, it is still forcing one's religious belief onto another person.

Our VP Biden approached this issue the right way in the VP debate against Ryan:

"With regard to abortion, I accept my church's position on abortion as a — what we call de fide doctrine. Life begins at conception. That's the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life.
But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews and — I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman.
I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women, they can't control their body. It's a decision between them and their doctor, in my view. And the Supreme Court — I'm not going to interfere with that."

Mourdock can believe whatever he wants to regarding God. But legislating it for women who may not share any of those beliefs is just plain wrong. I will never understand conservatives on abortion or gay rights. Religious belief belongs out of legislation. And I am a Christian myself.

[TwilightGardener]

5. Nobody's "misreading" anything. We know that they believe

exactly what they say when they oppose abortion for all women, all the time. It's using "God's will" as open justification for denying women their rights after a crime that makes us realize we're headed toward a theocracy, and we're determined to shout about it.

[Arkana]

6. Don't quite get her point.

"What Mourdock said was bad, but why are you saying it was bad? Everyone in the party is horrible!"

[Comrade_McKenzie]

7. Don't really give a shit. We should destroy everyone of these RW nuts with anything we find...

Taken out of context, blown out of proportion, whatever... use it against them.

They do us.

In this case, no one is doing either. So continue bashing away.

[Jumping John]

8. Well you see it is the fact that people see that Mourdock is saying that if

God intended the life to happen then God is so shallow that he is OK with the rape happening that culminates in that life.

Which is exactly what he said.

And if Mourdock thinks that God is on his side and if he knows what God intends, then why did he get it so wrong and feel the need to offer an apology.

Republicans sit and think of political tactics but have no core values to support their positions behind their political tactics.

edit:

I laughed at your line about being shocked since I find it hilarious the thing that shocks you.

Like Mourdock saying God's approval of rape is obviously not a shocker for you.

LOL I find that funny.

[oh1kelley]

9. Mourdoch

My problem with Mourdoch is the insensitivity of his statement not his beliefs. He's entitled to his beliefs, no matter how misguided. But he's not allowed to force these beliefs on others. I think he truly does not undersrand that if God intended for a rape to result in pregnancy, then God intended for a particular woman to be raped. I think God's gonna be plenty mad when he finds out what he's being blamed for.

In addition, the presentiment that women are not fit to make judgements about what to do in such an incident is stunning alpha male patriarchy at its worst! I think if men were the one's to get pregnant there would be a big about face in some of these twisted beliefs. And while I do not wish this evil upon anyone, I do wonder what would happen if such a horror were suffered by a family member. That's the litmus test of this behavior.

Do any of you remember when rapes were reported in the news with the end statement: The woman was not hurt? We seem to be headed back that way.

[WCGreen]

10. He looked sincere, to me, about his belief and didn't stick his chin out like others I have seen...

He also looked as if he really searched his soul. I will give him that.

And yet letting this man anywhere need the relatively easy constitutional amending process in the senate is not an option. He is putting personal beliefs over perhaps the most personal decision making a woman.

And that is not the American Way. At least the last time I looked.

[onenote]

11. Reading Mourdock as believing God intended for the rape to happen is the most rational reading

of what he said, even under Sullivan's tortured logic.

Sullivan seems to be acknowledging that the underpinnings of Mourdock's position is that what happens is dictated by God's will. Well, you can't logically believe that when a pregnancy occurs its God's will but not also believe that the circumstances under which the pregnancy occurred weren't also God's will -- what God intended. The only other possible readings are that Mourdock believes one of the following:

God doesn't intend for rape ever to happen but is powerless to stop it. Hmmm...not likely to be Mourdock's position.
God doesn't intend for rape to happen, but also doesn't care if it does -- in other words, God's view on rape is "shit happens."
God doesn't intend for rape to happen, but when it does God swings into action and decides whether the victim should be given the "gift" of pregnancy. Presumably those rape victims that don't get pregnant are being punished by God's denial to them of this "gift."

Mourdock opened this can of worms and its fair to pursue exactly what he thinks rather than to engage in half baked excuse making and illogical rationalizations for his position.

[Coyotl]

16. Mourdock is wrong.

[janlyn]

12. Only one problem with that thought process...

And that is that our politicians want to base laws on a book that was written thousands of years ago..and supposedly with An invisible entity guiding the writers hands..hence the term word of GOD!!!

People that are (other directed) (devils,demons,voices in their head) are generally institutionalized!!!

People that are (other directed) ie. God,Allah,Jehovah and want to make others do the will of there supposed higher being are just as dangerous!!!

We only have to look at history to reveal just HOW dangerous!!!

[BlueStreak]

13. The thing nobody is willing to say out loud

It has nothing to do with abortion or rape.

This guy is a religious kook, plain and simple.

Problem is there are millions more just like him so no politician dares speak the truth.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

17. Yes, the problem is the ugliness of the people

There has never been a shortage of kooks. What's distressing, however, is that they can have millions of followers. No one in the media or in politics is courageous enough to tell the people that they are wrong and that they are the problem, not a random mental case who would not be heard from without millions of disgusting supporters.

[Jumping John]

14. So if Obama were to be admitted into hospital after a car wreck or something and was in a coma

and a dastardly orderly managed to get some of Obama's sperm and then abducted Mourdock's wife and raped her with a dildo loaded with Obama sperm and she got pregnant with Obama's child ----

Well then that would be what God intended.

And Richard Mourdock would be all good with raising Obama's child.

I would be shocked if he wasn't.

[Jumping John]

15. So Richard Mourdock has no children. I am sure if you ask him he would say

that it is the way God intends it to be.

[justiceischeap]

18. My problem with his comment wasn't about the mere stupidity of it

or how he thinks he has the right to impinge upon my rights as a woman, my issue is that he thinks it's perfectly fine to use his religious beliefs to create law. That's my problem with any abortion debate that starts with or contains the word God, faith or belief. Amy Sullivan is an apologist for someone intent on forcing his religious beliefs onto the masses; many of whom disagree with his beliefs.

[karynnj]

19. I'm a liberal and that is NOT how I interpreted it

I took it as an extreme view where God micromanages the entire world AND although he did not cause the rape to happen, he made the choice that the woman would get pregnant.

This suggests a simplistic view of the world where God makes everything happen for reasons we do not understand. Now, you never hear them say that God intended 911 or the Holocaust. Yet, if this were really their belief that would be equally likely.