How to address the charge of pro-life hypocrisy?

[ssancho]

In a previous post,

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=769308

I asked how to be celibate and pro-life at the same time. I got some very enlightening answers. Thank you.

However, many non-Catholics–inside and outside the pro-life movement–see a celibate pro-lifer as a hypocrite. They think, “How can this person be pro-life if they don’t raise children of their own?”

The question I have now is this: how do I address the charge of hypocrisy that I face as a celibate pro-lifer? Is there something I should be doing to prove I’m not a hypocrite?

 

[Robyn_p]

In a previous post,

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=769308

I asked how to be celibate and pro-life at the same time. I got some very enlightening answers. Thank you.

However, many non-Catholics–inside and outside the pro-life movement–see a celibate pro-lifer as a hypocrite. They think, “How can this person be pro-life if they don’t raise children of their own?”

The question I have now is this: how do I address the charge of hypocrisy that I face as a celibate pro-lifer? Is there something I should be doing to prove I’m not a hypocrite?

There’s no more hypocrisy in you not having children of your own and being against abortion then someone who doesn’t have children of their own being against child abuse. Its a matter of human rights. Abortion is a human rights violation, and whether or not you have children shouldn’t make a difference. You are not trying to diminish the difficulty of child bearing or raising. But you also believe that every human being deserves to be born and not killed for being unwanted.

 

[robert_chacon]

I certainly don’t mean to insult you but rather people who suggest a prolife celibate is a hypocrite when I say that it just shows the mushy headed thinking of people on the other side. What absolute nonsense to suggest your position is hypocritical! Do these people even think about what they are saying to you?? Where did they ever get it in there head that to be prolife means you MUST create life?? I think they just like to be argumentative and find a way to criticize anything about the prolife effort. Pro life means that you are open to life if you were to be married. It means, as the other post stated , that you are for protecting the life of the unborn, the infirm, the elderly, chilren etc. Furthermore, even if you were to stay celibate as a consecrated single or religious or whatever, you are still expected to give spiritual life to those around you - your friends, their children, whoever you meet. These people think they are being clever and finding fault with your argument. All they do is reveal either their true motives of simply trying to find any fault to defend their indefensible position, or else they simply do not have the full mental capacity to argue in an normal logical manner. Good luck and God bless you for standing firm!

 

[agnes_therese]

The question I have now is this: how do I address the charge of hypocrisy that I face as a celibate pro-lifer? Is there something I should be doing to prove I’m not a hypocrite?

That is so nonsensical that I wouldn’t even bother addressing it.

 

[bzkoss236]

In a previous post,

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=769308

I asked how to be celibate and pro-life at the same time. I got some very enlightening answers. Thank you.

However, many non-Catholics–inside and outside the pro-life movement–see a celibate pro-lifer as a hypocrite. They think, “How can this person be pro-life if they don’t raise children of their own?”

The question I have now is this: how do I address the charge of hypocrisy that I face as a celibate pro-lifer? Is there something I should be doing to prove I’m not a hypocrite?

For the same reason a teacher can be qualified to teach children without having children of his/her own. Or how a priest can be a marriage counselor without being married. It doesn’t have much to do with experience (though experience can be helpful), but more to do with knowledge and wisdom on the subject.

 

[fastenatingguy]

Do you have to be Italian to eat/like pasta?

 

[elizaveta01]

I would simply say: “My being pro-life is due to my moral and ethical beliefs about the sanctity of all human life. It has nothing whatsoever to do with my personal decision on whether or not to have children”.

If you wish to continue the discussion you could point out that no one has to murder someone to know it’s wrong to kill, or have an affair to know adultery is wrong, and you don’t need to procreate to know that murdering an unborn child is wrong.

People who use this kind of rhetoric against pro-lifers remind me of the ones who equate being against gay marriage with being pro-slavery. The two things are completely different.