You have a zest for life, but not everybody does. If a baby has a deformity, it's likely that they won't enjoy life.. For one thing, when they grow up they would have endless sexual frustration, as well as endless failures. That happens to alot of people anyway but for them it'd be even worse.
Well as you mentioned, life isn't exactly a bed of roses for anyone. However I think if God didn't want disabled people to live then he wouldn't have gifted them with life at all. Is it right for you to take someone's life away after God granted it? Some people have big ears, some people have ugly faces, and some people have other problems, but we're not all going to be the same as one another and whether physical or otherwise, everyone is going to have some kind of issue that they must face.
Moses/Moshe himself had a speech impediment. Was it right for him to be rescued from the basket?
Have you see the film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Caine. They played 2 pranksters. I saw it a few times, and one time it turned out to be uncut, it showed Steve Martin playing a mentally retarded child, fully clothed, but hanging onto somebody and humping them.. The other person was very uncomfortable and tried to pull him off.
I saw it thinking "gosh, that's probably what some of these kids do"..
Then I was at a wedding waiting to shake the groom's hand, and ahead of me was a mentally retarded person.. He ran up to the groom, said he wanted to dance with him and make him happy, then he pushed his groin against the groom a few times.. "the groom said 'I dont think so' , and held him back"..
It's a fairly grim life, and he'd have to have some really great competent parents or it would be even worse.
I'm sure that nobody hated those people for doing that or at least they shouldn't. They should have understood that they don't function the same as other people and they made allowances for that behavior to a degree and not gotten angry, even though I can see how it could be embarassing and it did need to be stopped.
Now, looking from a purely ethical point of view, I think aborting the foetus would have been preferable.. Looking at it from an ethical-religious point of view, there are objections.. the point of view of we are all G-d's children and murder is wrong, then you can't. Or judaism's legal view, one can only abort if the foetus endangers the life of the mother. But talking pure personal preferences.. I am not so against it..
There are a lot of disabled people who do live fulfilling lives though. Even some people with some really bad deformities have gone on to live successful and happy lives. Look at Matt Fraser, for example. he does comedy, dances, sings, and has a great life even though thalidomide ruined his arms and hands. I've seen a lot of people with deformities or disabilities while working with the public, and they seem to be going about their lives just like anyone else does, with hard times and good times both.
Life isn't perfect for anyone to begin with, so I don't think we should balk at helping babies through some added challenges in life.
Have you heard of the tri-athlete with Harlequin Icthyosis? I wouldn't recommend looking that disease up because the images of the babies with it are truly horrific. They come out with their skin all cracked and looking almost non-human, but if they can survive with doctor's help, they can go on to be like Ryan Gonzalez, who competes in sports events along with so-called normal people.
Here's a great article about him. He looks a little different but other than his skin condition, he's healthy and living a full life:
http://www.10news.com/health/3919722/detail.htmlAlso please watch the video of the Hensel twins I posted.
Topic: Arkansas family welcomes 18th child, a girl (Read 5624 times)