My point was that, I want to know what all of the people who are complaining about these images are doing to combat abortion. People leading the charge and fight against abortion use and promote the use of these images. If you are against these images, what is your exp. fighting abortion? What do you do? Most people who are against these images are usually very inexperienced and do very little.
If I am wrong let me know. Tell me what you do.
Either the action of showing huge photographs of mutilated blood covered corpses where young children can be reasonably assumed to encounter them without their parent’s prior and express consent is morally appropriate on its own merits or it is not.
You are arguing two positions. One, that the end justifies the means. I believe that has been adequately addressed. In this situation, it does not, as there are plenty of alternate means available to achieve the end of informing adults that abortion is wrong that do not involve showing huge pictures of blood covered mutilated corpses to 4 and 5 year olds on the way to the toy store or birthday party.
Second, that the moral appropriateness of an action is based on whether one person does more “things” to protest abortion. This is a false argument that simply seeks to divert the discussion from the action in question.
First, one has to define the criteria. How do you measure the “experience” and which “experiences” count? Do you have to be involved in all activities concurrently and at the present time or is it cumulative? Does prayer, letter writing, donating to organizations, teaching your child about the sacredness of all life count or just standing on a street corner where others can see you? Ie, does the action have to be publicly visible in order to be “legitimate” enough?
Then we have to look at whether sheer experience is an adequate determiner of moral appropriateness.
Tina does 5 activities to protest abortion. Tina believes that it is morally inappropriate to show huge photos of mutilated blood covered dead babies in front of young children.
Andrea does 6 things to protest abortion. Andrea believes that it is morally okay to show huge photos of mutilated blood covered dead babies in front of young children.
Why should Andrea’s belief on the moral appropriateness of an action hold more weight than Tina’s solely because she does more things? If Tina adds two more activities, does it then make it morally inappropriate? And if Andrea then adds two, it flip flops again?
It would seem that that way lies moral relativism, which is not, as I understand it, popular with the Catholic Church.