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Old 10-05-2003, 12:56 AM   #36 (permalink)
filtherton
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Location: In the land of ice and snow.
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basic gist: infanticide is not natural, it goes against the natural order of things. it does happen in nature and in human populations but it's usually because the mother is too young to handle the responsibility of having a child (or in china where couples are allowed to have one child. Girls are less valued than boys and are thrown into the river). This comparison irked me.
I can assure you, infanticide is very natural, as it occurs quite naturally in the natural world. What else does it take for something to be natural? It doesn't really go against the natural order because it is part of the natural order. Lions kill lion cubs all the time.
Humans have been killing babies since the very beginning of humanity. The only justification the natural order needs is for the child to significantly hinder the parents' abilities to survive. If the parents end up dead trying to keep the child alive, well, trying to keep the child alive will seem pretty silly in hindsight because the child will likely not survive without its parents. It sounds cruel, but then again thats how it goes in mother nature's court.
However irky you found my comparison, it is still valid. Infanticide is as natural as any marijuana plant and yet it is not justifiable solely because it natural. Or maybe it is. The important thing to remember is that while infanticide and marijuana are both natural, you don't hear baby killers justifying their behavior with a casual, "Don't worry dude, it's natural." You also probably won't hear a pothead mumble, "Well, as much as i love babies, infanticide is natural, just like my beloved marijuana, so it is allright for me to kill my child."

What irks me is when people use the "naturalness" of marijuana as some kind of inherent proof of its goodness and a justification for it use. Mother nature could give a damn about you and there are a great many things in nature that wouldn't think twice about killing you.

That being said, i am not trying to say that pot smokers are in the same category as someone who would commit infanticide. I am only trying to point out the fallacy of the "it's allright because it's natural" argument.
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