Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Bush on human life

We won't hear anything like this from the White House for at least four years, so here's some of the proclamation Bush issued for National Sanctity of Human Life Day, January 18, 2009:

All human life is a gift from our Creator that is sacred, unique, and worthy of protection. On National Sanctity of Human Life Day, our country recognizes that each person, including every person waiting to be born, has a special place and purpose in this world. We also underscore our dedication to heeding this message of conscience by speaking up for the weak and voiceless among us.

The most basic duty of government is to protect the life of the innocent...

America is a caring Nation, and our values should guide us as we harness the gifts of science. In our zeal for new treatments and cures, we must never abandon our fundamental morals. We can achieve the great breakthroughs we all seek with reverence for the gift of life.

The sanctity of life is written in the hearts of all men and women. On this day and throughout the year, we aspire to build a society in which every child is welcome in life and protected in law.

That first sentence sounds like the Declaration of Independence: "That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life..." It's interesting that the colonists' justification for setting up a better government was founded on that fact-- that God had given them certain rights and therefore England was unjust to try to take them away. Without God, where would you find a universal moral authority?

Well, happy (in spite of the fact that it's) Inauguration Day, and pray for our new president!

(Editorial lesson, since I didn't know what to do myself until I looked it up:

As with other titles, capitalize president only when it precedes the individual's name or is part of another official title, and never when writing generally of the president or a president.

"That's something for the president to decide. I'll ask President Smith in the morning.")

No comments: