I was heart-broken, truly sickened today by the sad story in the paper about this woman in Albuquerque who had suffocated her 3-year-old son, resuscitated him after a change of heart, only to change her mind again and finish the job. She buried him in the sand at the playground, where he was found three days later. She was walking to turn herself in, but they stopped her before she got to the police station. She said she killed him because didn't want him to suffer from not being loved and cared for, like she had not been loved or cared for growing up. The symbolism of this woman murdering her child on a playground screams loudly about how our society does not care for its women and children, so they must resort to infanticide. It's symbolic of our mindset in general, as the world sinks in economic depression from corruption, greed and violence. The feminine and life are not valued in our culture, so it is murdered and buried on the site of what is to be inspirational and a bed of creation and life and joy.
My heart goes out to that woman and her son. I know how incredibly difficult it is to raise a child alone. And the loneliness and isolation is about as abnormal as you can get, a product of our modern society. Alienated from each other, we seek community and connection to help us with life's biggest challenges, such as raising children. We should be pro life in the sense that we care for the living children and their mothers in this country and the world, supporting financially by expanding social security to women and their children. We should start community housing collectives for single and widowed women and children to provide a safe place for nurturing each other - that to me is pro life.
And those who scoff at not supporting people on the dole, where have you scuttled your assets off shore, failed to pay taxes or cooked the books? Truly we need to move toward a compassionate society that is focused on life and humanistic issues rather than profit, no matter what the costs, because the results of not making the world safe for women and children are hideous.