Cupcakes for Life

October 9, 2009 - 5:00 pm By Hillary - Columbia

life cupcakes

The good news: Someone might surprise you by presenting you with a tray of cupcakes today!

The unsettling news: That person might be a part of the “Cupcakes for Life” movement, a group of pro-lifers dedicated to making people feel uncomfortable via free baked goods.

The Cupcakes for Life crew asks supporters to bring cupcakes to a group of people, prompting those people to ask, “Who’s birthday is it?” [sic—guess they were too busy baking to learn grammar.] The supporters are then supposed to answer by saying, “Its no ones birthday. [still sic. Improper apostrophe use reeeaaally irritates me, okay?] These cupcakes represent the 50,000,000 children who weren’t allowed to be born, who never had a birthday … If you and I were aborted we wouldn’t have a birthday party either.”

Um… awkward.

I have no problem with people choosing to be anti-abortion—after all, that’s why I’m pro-choice—but this entire movement is just bizarre. They recommend that mothers bake cupcakes that say “I Heart Babies” on them and bring them to their child’s homeroom, then “tell all of his or her friends about how babies need lots of love as they slowly grow inside their mommies.” Alternatively, mothers can “invite some teenage girls over to bake the cupcakes,” then “challenge them to make cupcakes that represent how they feel about the unborn.” They ask high schoolers to “hand the cupcakes out with plastic baby fetus’s.” That’s right: plastic baby fetuses. Where do you even get those? Creepy Toys’r’Us?

I’d be inclined to take this entire thing as a giant joke… but apparently there was a National Pro-Life Cupcakes Day last year, which implies that these guys are for real. They’re like that one obnoxious vegan you know who won’t stop yakking about slaughterhouses any time the people around her eat a burger, but magnified by a factor of ten thousand awkward silences. Everyone has the right to their own opinion, but as soon as you start forcefully pushing that opinion down other people’s throats in the form of a delicious, sugary treat, you’ve gone way too far.

If a proselytizing pro-lifer presented me with a cupcake and a lecture today, I might just smash that cupcake into his or her face. Luckily for that hypothetical pro-lifer, Cupcakes for Life has some tips for how to deal with disgusted liberals like me: “Wipe the cake off your face and share the rest of them with someone less angry inside. Go with courage and go with love, the unborn need you to be their voice.”

Ugh. I’m sticking with candy today.

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39 Comments on "Cupcakes for Life"

  1. Maggie says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20095:58 pm 

    Lol, this should have been the topic of a WTF Friday post!

  2. Kate says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20096:36 pm 

    It’s not ‘forcefully pushing your opinion down another person’s throat’ to protest. You just think they are being forceful because you disagree with their beliefs and don’t want for their viewpoint to be expressed. If you truly supported freedom of speech you would not be trying to ridicule somebody utilizing their freedom of expression and freedom of beliefs. I myself am pro-life and I’m glad that there are people protesting abortion. I don’t know why it is that so many liberals are adamantly against the death penalty and see it as murder but see killing a fetus as okay. A fetus is simply a human being in a younger stage in its development. Just as it is not for humans to decide when it is okay to kill a person by enacting the death penalty, so it is not for humans to decide at what point it is okay to kill a human in this young stage of development. I’m of the personal opinions that people should not have the power to decide when it is okay to end another person’s life without that person’s consent. What do you think? Is it okay to end another person’s life without their consent? Is it for human beings to decide at what point someone is a human and their life begins to have value and thus should be spared from murder? :)

  3. D says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20097:45 pm 

    I’m very very strongly pro-choice but…I’d eat one! Or four. In any case WAAAAAY less creepy then people stomping about shoving their children/pictures of late term abortions in others faces and screaming. This way I get to enjoy a cupcake AND disagree with people! Mmmm

  4. tasha says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 20099:36 pm 

    go those cupcakes.

  5. shari says:
    Fri, 9th Oct 200911:57 pm 

    i’d smash it on the ground right in front of them. and step on it.

  6. Sophia says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20092:37 am 

    There’s a pro-life website that sells small plastic fetuses with names like “The Precious One” and “Baby Innocent”. Creepy.

  7. Casey says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 200910:43 am 

    I will never understand why some people feel they have the right to just do away with a perfectly healthy living thing. I don’t go around proselytizing, and I don’t think it’s right to tell people what to do, but I just don’t get why people think it’s ok. A fetus is a living thing, it may not have feeling (we don’t know), and it may not be able to live on it’s on yet, but it IS alive.

    50,000,000 abortions? Really!? That’s a lot more than I would have imagined and it’s a really sad statistic.

  8. Lynne says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 200911:43 am 

    I’ll abort you like a fetus. And stomp on you on the ground.

    Fact: Your mom was pro life.

    Fact: Liberals are a dying breed because they abort their young.

  9. The Plan says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 200912:06 pm 

    THE PLAN …………
    A. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.

    B. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.

    C. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.

    D. In three generations, there will be no Democrats.

    Damn – I love it when a plan comes together.

  10. Guy says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20093:29 pm 

    When I first saw this photo I thought it was taken by some gifted baker here. Seeing as the tray makes it look like a novelty cake like on those TV shows. Then I got dissapointed when I realized it ws just a normal tray. Then for the life of me couldnt figure out why I actually thought a feminist might do something that cool.

  11. Guy says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20093:41 pm 

    BTW Hillary everyones got a political opinion. But really becuase someone whos not pro-choice offered you a bake good?
    At Columbia that may be protesting the opposition. In NYC thats it’s called assault and battery…no matter what Dr. Hairy Legs has to say about it.

  12. Jo says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20093:57 pm 

    “Everyone has the right to their own opinion, but as soon as you start forcefully pushing that opinion down other people’s throats in the form of a delicious, sugary treat, you’ve gone way too far.”

    Yeah and the President taking money from us to pay for abortions overseas is absolutly not “pushing” anything down our throats. No in fact its “pulling” money from our pockets. But the contents of our pockets are government property anyway according to your school.

  13. B says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20094:53 pm 

    To “The Plan”

    HAHAHA I LOVE IT

  14. Star says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20097:31 pm 

    Well it’s all opinion at this point since so far no one knows whether or not a baby is technically “living” until it is born. Personally, I’m not religious, I don’t believe in any sort of afterlife, and I feel that until you’re old enough to be conscious it really doesn’t matter if you were born or not because you never had a chance to be conscious and realize that you weren’t born. After death we’ll lose consciousness and won’t realize we’re alive. I feel the same about an unborn child. If I had been an abortion, I wouldn’t be here today and I also wouldn’t know that I was aborted so I doubt I would care either way.

    Here’s a fun question though. If you’re considered alive when you’re conceived, why do you celebrate your birthday day on the day you were born? Why not on the day you might have been conceived?

  15. Casey says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20097:58 pm 

    Star, you celebrate your birthday on the day of your birth. That’s why it’s called a “birthday”. Plus it’s sometimes difficult to determine the exact date of conception.

    Also, a fetus has a heartbeat at 8 weeks. That means it’s living. If something has a heartbeat it means it’s alive.

    But how do you know that fetus’s aren’t conscious? There is absolutely no way to tell if they are or aren’t. We’re conscious as babies. If a baby hears a loud noise it crys because the sound scares it, or hurts it’s ears. It’s conscious enough to play games and explore. Perhaps fetus’s do have feelings and know they are being killed, we don’t know.

    And personally, I would hate to loose consciousness after I die. That’s one reason I believe in “heaven” because I like to think that we wont just cease to exist, that my mind will still work. Like in the last book of the golden compass series (which is written by an atheist to destroy childrens belief in Christianity) how everyone is happy to just be a little unconscious floating orb. If they aren’t conscious then how can they be happy? and I certainly wouldn’t be happy if I stayed on earth with no consciousness, sounds more like hell to me.

  16. rlh says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 20099:46 pm 

    This is getting off really off topic but, what the hell, Casey? First of all, Philip Pullman is technically not atheist, he’s actually agnostic. And second, he did not write the Golden Compass books to “destroy children’s belief in Christianity” or anything like that. He actually only criticizes institutionalized religion used for blind obedience and oppression of sexuality; that could be any religion, but it just so happens that Christianity has the longest and darkest history of oppression, greed, and abuse of power. Pullman’s books actually promote core Christian values; love, kindness, tolerance, and peace.

    And while it would suck to have no consciousness after life, I’m not so sure I’d want to be conscious for all of eternity…

    And the whole abortion thing- honestly, the only people who deserve to protest abortions are the women who have actually been in the situation where they became pregnant unexpectedly, or as a teen, or by rape, or knew it had birth defects, yet they went through with the pregnancy anyways. Luckily, I have not been in any of those situations, so I don’t think I deserve to protest it, even though I like to believe I would never be emotionally capable of having an abortion. There are the women who take advantage of it, though, like girls in their early 20’s who have already had two or three abortions. That crosses the line, and it’s disturbing, but we shouldn’t have to make it illegal for everyone.

  17. Guy says:
    Sat, 10th Oct 200910:47 pm 

    The beginning of Stars post reminds me of Roseanne Conners reson for supporting pro-choice rallies for in the 90’s when people actually reconized her. She recounted a tale of how her mother tried to abort her before Roe vs. Wade and was subsequently forced to give birth to her.

    Some people are just so fucking dense…..

  18. Casey says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20091:30 am 

    The whole story was about the kids killing god. At least that’s what I and my former catholic turned atheist sister got out of them. Even she was appalled by them. But ok.

  19. Star says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20092:31 am 

    The point is it doesn’t matter whether you do or do not want to be conscious and continue existing after death. You can believe in Heaven as hard as you possibly want, but that doesn’t mean it will exist when you die. It’s either there or it isn’t and all the belief in the world won’t change that.

    People aren’t agnostic or atheist because they’re like “I would love to just die and never feel happiness again!” They’ve just decided to face the fact that an afterlife is more than likely a human fantasy that doesn’t exist and that this is there one and only chance to be a good person while they can. Unlike many people, I don’t need the threat of Hell to make me a good person. I don’t need a god to tell me his ten commandments. I’m smart enough to figure them out on my own.

    And yes I just went very off topic, but abortion and religion tend to run very close together since usually your views on religion determine whether or not you believe a baby is considered alive while it’s still developing.

  20. Petey says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20093:12 am 

    Star did you get enough attention today sweetheart? All your posts come down to “look at me im so smart becuase im not religous.”

    BTW not that I have a dog in this fight but isnt religion and everything that it entails considered “faith”…meaning your pontificatiion of employing rationale and self congratulatory pat on the back is nothing more than a feeble and pathetic attempt to boost your ego. For what its worth just about every mammal with a an IQ above 70 or so has had the same thought process as you, asked the same question, and a sizeable portion has come to the same conclusions. They are just not delusionaly in love with selfs enough to act as if its some unique epiphany. Alot of religous people are whacky but you can always bet on the Atheist, Richard Dawkins wanna-be to annoy the fucking shit out of everyone at a party.

  21. Casey says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 200912:17 pm 

    Petey, while I’m not sure what the true point of your post was, and I think the insulting was extremely uncalled for and rude, you made a point that I was going to discuss.

    He’s exactly right, believing in religion means you have to have faith. In fact, Faith is the whole point. Basically, the whole point of Christianity (aside from the “be nice” factor) is you have to have faith in God and Jesus if you want to go to heaven. Faith is the whole point. If we had solid substantial proof that God exists, has existed, and always will exist, that he made earth and everything in, on and around it, and that Jesus is his son, then where is the FAITH? You have then eliminated the whole point. And I believe this is the whole reason that there is no proof. Heaven is reserved for the ones who have faith, the people who believe despite the fact that there is no proof. If we had proof, no one would have to have faith, everyone would believe and everyone would go to heaven (or would we all go to hells since we don’t have the chance to have faith?), and that’s not the point. If you don’t believe in God, he’s not going to believe in you and welcome you “home”. I can believe in something without having solid proof, I don’t think it makes me ignorant, or stupid, or closed-minded. I think it makes me optimistic, and hopeful, and there’s a good message behind it, no matter how many crazy nuts want to ruin it and make it sound ignorant and intolerant the fact is, everyone knows Christianity promotes tolerance, love, happiness, etc. The one’s who are hateful and intolerant, but claim to be christian, they aren’t true Christians and don’t represent true Christianity.

    Every way I look at it I can find connections between evolution and creationism, science and religion. My dad is a former catholic, I’m not sure what he calls himself now, but the stuff he believes in is pretty far fetched, but makes sense. He believes there was this group of aliens (I don’t remember what they were called) who came to earth and made the beings that were here into workers (those beings are us and they created humans, which means they are the “God” of Christianity, it was also explained that they came from the sky, which ties into why we think heaven is up) he has all these books and articles and videos on whatever ideology this is and he reads them to me every chance he gets. And actually, they kind of make sense. They go along with every story in the bible, they connect religion and Christianity, and they are backed by ancient writings from Mesopotamia. But now I’m getting way off topic.

    My point is, the whole point of religion, at least the Christian religion, is faith. And with proof there’s no faith. You you just have to choose if you’re going to believe in it with the thought that you’ll go to heaven and have a happily ever after, or you don’t believe in it and risk being miserable after death. (no those aren’t my reasons and motivations for being a Christian, those are just the consequences that come form the decision to be, or, not to be one).

    But where is the argument that a fetus isn’t alive until it’s born? Here are the characteristics of a living thing,

    Living things are made of cells.
    Living things obtain and use energy.
    Living things grow and develop.
    Living things reproduce.
    Living things respond to their environment.
    Living things adapt to their environment.

    A fetus meets the first three criteria, and has the capability of meeting the last three if allowed to be born, but sterile men and women (which do exist!) don’t meet all of them either. So are they not living things? Mentally retarded people don’t always respond or adapt to their environment, so are they not living things either? Some people don’t grow, or develop, (past a certain point) are they not living things either? It seems those last three aren’t as substantial as the first 3, so fetuses fall under the same category as all of those types of “living” people.

    Sorry for the long post.

  22. Casey says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 200912:23 pm 

    I wrote a poem and analysis on my blog (click my name) which talks a little about what I just discussed, if you want to check it out it’s called “The Incredulous Paradise” Sorry, I hate self promoters, but it’s relevant to my last post and may explain a little better what I was rambling on about.

  23. rlh says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 200912:37 pm 

    Hmm you seem to always have to get the last word, Casey. I guess the books were too much for you when you read them. They weren’t about about kids killing God. No one even kills him; Lyra and Will see an old man in a glass coffin and want to set him free, but he’s too weak to survive outside of it and dies in Lyra’s arms. They didn’t even know who he was. And Pullman describes him as The Authority, the first angel to exist who posed as God, the creature of the universe, to humanity. Another angel found out and The Authority banished her. So the books are actually about a struggle against a well-disguised Satan and The Church. But ok.

  24. Casey says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20091:07 pm 

    These books are marketed mainly to children, from my understanding. (especially since I read them in 5th grade) This is an excerpt from the third book,

    “Ah, but I knew about [angels]. I used to be a nun, you see. I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn’t any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that’s all.” – From p. 393 of the 2003 Laurel-Leaf paperback edition.

    To me, this sums up the entire series. Way to kill god and religion for children who may not have had a chance to decide for themselves.

  25. Star says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20091:15 pm 

    @Casey – I understand what you mean about religion being based on faith, and we can’t really prove that because like you said if we didn’t have faith then there would be no point in religion.

    What bothers me, or worries I should say, is that every culture has the same basic religious myth that if you believe is so-and-so you’ll be happy when you die. And while I understand you need faith to believe in that, it’s also an easy way to create something completely fake and say “This is real. I can’t prove it to you but you’ll just have to trust me.” Then how do you know which religion to trust? How does Jesus have any more credibility than Muhammad or another profit? Little children have faith in Santa Clause but learn he’s not real. How do you decide which things are real and which are just wishful thinking?

    This isn’t meant to be a personal attack by the way, just questions. I’m going to go look at your blog though, so I apologize if everything I said is talked about in there already.

  26. Star says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20091:18 pm 

    As for the abortion issue (didn’t want to post it all in one post since mine was already too long), I feel abortion is a woman’s choice and yes it’s sad because you’re killing a chance at life. But I don’t believe the actual consciousness and quality of being alive comes until you’re born. They had the potential to live but since they were never born, I feel it’s not the same as killing someone after they’ve physically come into the world. It’s a tough subject, that’s why I believe each person should choose on their own.

  27. Casey says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20092:09 pm 

    Those are all good questions. And perhaps the reasons why so many people these days are atheists. The more religions you introduce, the more people become divided, and then there’s more skepticism about all of them. My sister just told me that she became an atheist (now agnostic) because she found out a close family friend who is Jewish apparently would not be going to heaven because he doesn’t believe Jesus Christ is the messiah, that idea didn’t sit well with her so she lost faith. It’s impossible to tell which religion is “true”, or if any of them actually are. You just have to make those decisions for yourself.

    Take Judaism and Christianity. The Torah is the first half of the bible, the old testament. Christians and Jews have a lot of common beliefs, but the biggest and most notable difference is that the Jews were the group who chose not to believe that Jesus Christ was the messiah and from my understanding they believe the messiah hasn’t come yet, so that formed two different religions, from one.

    I don’t know much about the Muslim religion except for what I have heard, and that’s that if you kill at least one or so many “non-believers” then you are guaranteed access to “heaven” and like 71 virgins or whatever. Since I haven’t studied about it that all may be very wrong, but to me a God who created us wouldn’t want us to kill each other and harm his creations, and wouldn’t use sex as an ultimate “prize”, so, for me, that rules out that religion. Basically, you just have to study them, and figure out which one you believe in, if any at all. But then there’s always a chance you’re misinterpreting something, overlooking something, or just have the idea of it completely wrong.

    As for Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Well those were just stories which we have proof were made up as childhood fantasies. There’s still no proof that religions were made up or not.

    Basically, I can’t answer those questions, no one can, you just have to decide for yourself.

    But about abortion, the fetus is already in the world, it’s just inside a woman. There’s literally inches between it and the outside. I don’t really see how a couple inches of skin and tissue have an effect of the quality of it’s life. It’s in the world, it’s just not in the world on its own. It still needs to be protected. What I don’t understand is that most people who are pro-choice, are also anti-capital punishment. An innocent living thing who has done nothing wrong and hasn’t even been given a chance yet isn’t worth as much as a piece of scum waste of space person who has no regard for others or life because it can’t live on its own yet? I’m not attacking you, especially since I don’t know where you stand on that issue, but I just wanted to point out that I think that idea is pretty hypocritical.

  28. Kay says:
    Sun, 11th Oct 20098:06 pm 

    Casey, why bother even bringing up Muslims if you admit you don’t really know the truth behind their religion? I guess just to post more on here?

  29. Casey says:
    Mon, 12th Oct 20092:14 pm 

    And what was the point of that comment? Just to start drama and derail the discussion?

  30. rlh says:
    Mon, 12th Oct 200911:19 pm 

    Does Islam teach hatred for non-Muslims?

    Since Islam considers the diversity of people and nature as God’s creation, respect for diversity is commanded. Especially noted in the Quran are “People of the Book”, namely Jews and Christians, who were always given a special place in Muslim society. Muslims are commanded to safeguard their right to worship and their places of worship, a command that has been historically followed, as is evidenced by the existence of old churches and synagogues throughout the Muslim world in places like Turkey, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Bosnia. Contrary to the common stereotype, Islam was not “spread by the sword”, nor people forced to convert, a fact again born out by the existence of non-Muslim populations throughout the Muslim world. This same respect and tolerance was extended to people of other faiths.

    Are Martyrs guaranteed 70 virgins in Heaven?

    This is not an authenticate Prophetic Tradition (Hadith). However, in Islam martyrs are promised a great reward from God, just as war heroes are honored in many societies. However, a Muslim who dies commandeering a plane-load of civilians into a building full of civilians, or blowing up innocent people on trains or buses, jeopardizing the safety and security of Muslims throughout the world, and opening the way for antagonistic forces to slander, denigrate, and vilify Islam cannot be considered a martyr. Terrorists are mass murderers, not martyrs.
    -Islamic Networks Group, http://www.ing.org/media_releases/default.asp?num=17

    What was the point of your comment, Casey? Why would you ever say that about Muslims if it’s based on “what you’ve heard?”
    “Basically, you just have to study them, and figure out which one you believe in, if any at all.” Yeah, you should try that yourself. I’m pretty sure if what you “heard” was true, it would mostly likely “rule out that religion” for everyone else too, and Islam wouldn’t be the second most-practiced in the world. Perfect example of why Americans are seen as ignorant and self-absorbed to the rest of the world….

    And the whole Golden Compass thing — the quote that sums up the whole series for me is:
    “I remember. He meant the Kingdom was over, the Kingdom of Heaven, it was all finished. We shouldn’t live as if it mattered more than this life in this world, because where we are is always the most important place. He said we had to build something…That’s why we needed our full life, Pan… we wouldn’t have been able to build it. No one could if they put themselves first. We have to be all those difficult things like cheerful and kind and curious and patient, and we’ve got to study and think and work hard, all of us, in all our different worlds, and then we’ll build…”
    “And then what?” said her Dæmon sleepily “build what?”
    “The Republic of Heaven.”
    Lyra to Pan in Ch. 38
    He is not killing god or religion for children who can’t decide for themselves – the children who are able to read these books and actually make it through the 3rd are most likely really intelligent and thoughtful for their age anyways, but that’s not the point – he is making the reader simply QUESTION, not reject, organized religion and how we humans describe God as a king, with no actual proof of him existing, and use God/Allah/Yahweh as an excuse for wars, for honor killings, for terrorism, for the burning of “witches,” for not funding sex ed in schools, etc. I think it starts an argument, which older children/pre-teens should be exposed to so they can decide for themselves, that maybe you don’t HAVE to be part of a church or synagogue or anything to be spiritual, to be moral, or have faith, and that you won’t burn in hell or anything for questioning it.

  31. valkyrie9 says:
    Mon, 26th Oct 20097:40 pm 

    We can debate on and on and on about what constitutes the beginning of life is (and we should probably note that the official scientific definition is “life begins at implantation,” not conception, so “it starts at conception” is just as much a subjective, faith-based belief as the belief in other cultures that life doesn’t start until “quickening” or whatever). The definition of “life” is one of those questions where if you ask 12 people, you get 12 different answers, and that’s perhaps an argument as good as any that abortion should be an individual decision – since we definitely can’t agree as a society about what is the technical definition of life is, then the answer is that we probably shouldn’t decide.

    But, of course, that’s not really what the whole abortion is about anyway. Or, rather, it’s not the fetus’s life that’s really at the heart of understanding the issue, but rather, the woman’s.

    The problem with arguing “omg abortion is bad so we should ban it!” is it’s ignoring the fact that banning abortion has never actually done anything to reduce the abortion rate. In fact, the abortion rate in the U.S. has actually gone DOWN since Roe v. Wade. The region of the world with the highest abortion rates is Latin America, where it’s completely illegal or severely restricted in every country save one (Cuba). Making abortion illegal doesn’t stop it, nor does it even discourage it. However – as with drugs, and guns – making it illegal does make it harder to control, and harder to regulate, which is harmful to women because “harder to regulate” means there’s no way we can guarantee that the people performing abortions are trained doctors. In fact, making it illegal pushes the *actual* trained doctors out of the profession, for fear of losing their medical licenses, so that shifts the balance of “abortion providers” disturbingly in the direction of people with ill intentions (or just a lack of medical expertise) in areas where abortion is restricted.

    So you have to realize that the death of fetuses is something we can’t do much about (or, well, we can but banning abortion doesn’t do much to affect it – more on that later), and therefore, the life at stake here is the woman’s, not the fetus’s. I urge you to look up stories of women who sought out abortions in the years before Roe, and then see if overturning it is really the “pro-life” thing to do.

    Lastly – on Islam – Casey, I would really advise you to do some actual research on Islam (even Wikipedia is better than wherever you’re getting your info) or, better yet, get to know some real-life Muslims. I grew up in the Detroit area, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in the US, and the “72 Virgins” thing is not something most Muslims believe in. Islam is actually a very tolerant religion, or at least, no less so than mainstream Christianity. And two of the main ideals of the religion are peace and charity. Your average Muslim, especially in America, wants about as much to do with Al Qaeda and other “Islamist” terrorists as your average Christian wants to do with the people who bomb abortion clinics or commit anti-gay hate crimes “in the name of Jesus” – that is, they want absolutely nothing to do with them.

  32. valkyrie9 says:
    Mon, 26th Oct 20098:05 pm 

    I meant to say that if you are really appalled by abortion, there is something that DOES decrease abortion rates – preventing unplanned pregnancies in the first place. So get active making sure that people in your area have access to contraception (including emergency contraception, because accidents happen) and that high-schoolers are getting sex education that gives them all of their options, not just abstinence. In fact, that’s why the “oh if we let abortions happen eventually there will be no more Democrats” argument fails: abortion rates are actually higher in red states than blue states. The reason? Republican-run states are more likely to have laws restricting birth control access and more likely to mandate abstinence-only sex ed, which both lead to more unplanned pregnancies and, thus, more abortions. Women are going to end their pregnancies by any means possible, whether it’s legal or not, and oftentimes, even if it conflicts with their political or religious ideology surrounding abortion.

    Lastly, to get back to the original issue – I don’t think people are arguing that the “‘Pro-life’ Cupcake” people don’t have a right to do this (although, if the plan to “give them out at school” interrupts time that should be spent learning, I think the parents should have a right to take that up with the school, especially if the teacher doesn’t also take time to explain the other side of the debate. Kids giving them out to their classmates outside of classes, though, like at recess or at lunch, should be allowed to do so.) It’s the tactics that are a bit uncomfortable – luring people with a yummy treat and then announcing that the cupcake was just a big trap to get you to listen to their message (which you may not want to hear/discuss) as they suddenly jump on their soapbox. There’s a big difference between that and, say, giving out cupcakes like this at the Students for Life booth at a student club fair: in that case, people know what they’re in for, because they see the political pamphlets on the table next to them. If they’re pro-choice or undecided or just don’t want to talk about it at that moment, they’re given the agency to decide whether their desire for a delicious treat trumps their lack of desire to discuss this issue with the Students for Life people. Whereas, with the Cupcake Day, they have no idea that they’re walking into a political discussion they may not want to be a part of (at the moment, or ever), and so it’s incredibly dishonest. Not to mention that the way that they write about their desired reaction after making the “It’s no one’s birthday” comment – “The cake in their mouth will become dry and the moment will hopefully become quite somber” – makes it sound like they get off on making people feel uncomfortable and awkward.

  33. Casey says:
    Mon, 26th Oct 200910:08 pm 

    Actually, the person who told me all of that was a Muslim girl in my 11th grade ceramics class. That’s why I brought it up even though I “openly admit [I] don’t know the truth”. I’ve never actually studied it, but what I wrote was what I was told by someone of that faith, so I felt it at least had enough credence to be expressed.

  34. tina-lou says:
    Tue, 3rd Nov 200911:53 am 

    how is it sad that 50,000,000 people were aborted in this country when you think about the fact that the top 1% owns more in the way of wealth than the entire bottom 95% combined? i wish pro-life people would stop and think about this rationally. we are way too overpopulated, our resources are already on the brink of depletion and your answer is to have more babies? if all 50,000,000 of these people had been born, where would we be now? how many more people would have not enough to eat? if you really believe so strongly in your religion, wouldnt you also believe that your so-called god would take care of the unborn? would “he” really leave the fate of their souls up to us? you all talk about the glory of heaven so much, i would think your dead babies are in good hands according to you. however, here on earth the people who are struggling to have a better life count to me a little more than people who never were and never will be.

  35. Casey says:
    Tue, 3rd Nov 20094:06 pm 

    We aren’t really THAT overpopulated. There is still plenty of room in the country, there are just some areas that are overpopulated. But I’m not saying we should “have more babies” I’m saying we should have the babies we make. and considering it’s 50,000,000 abortions in all over a matter of years and almost 7000 people die daily in the US, all of those aborted babies really wouldn’t have hindered the population at all had they been allowed to be born.

    And I really don’t get what you’re talking about in reference to the religion part. As a Christian, I believe the souls of children born or unborn go directly to heaven. Children are considered innocent and therefore don’t have to go through the judgment process. What do you mean, “leave the fate of their souls up to us?” The fate of the soul of an aborted child isn’t and never was the issue pro-lifers have with abortion, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. “[Our] dead babies” (which actually aren’t OUR dead babies, considering pro-lifers don’t believe in abortion, they’re actually YOUR dead babies) are in good hands, like I said, I have no idea what you’re rambling on about heaven and babies souls for.

    Every living thing matters to me, whether it’s been born yet or not, because it’s not right to kill an innocent human being.

    If you’re so worried about the population, and people trying to have a better life, how about we “do away with” the murderers, and rapists who sit in prison using up our tax money, who live for free on 3 meals a day with cable television, either until they die, or until they make parole and can continue to make life bad for people. Why not “do away with” the people who actually are making life bad for people, the ones who are a drain on society, not the innocent babies who haven’t yet been given a chance, who could possibly make life better for someone some day, who we could put that tax money to better use on to help the parents who can’t afford them. I would much rather my tax money go to helping a baby have a chance at life, then to help some scum bag live a secure life.

    I wish pro-choice people would stop and think about this rationally.

  36. Salome says:
    Wed, 4th Nov 20094:02 am 

    I think it’s ironic that you’re telling us that we’re “not thinking about this rationally” when pretty much every statement you make – from the stuff about murderers and rapists in prison (the amenities they get in prison, especially those in high-security prisons, aren’t really all that great, and the death penalty isn’t as effective as people like to think it is) to “baby having a chance at life” (wouldn’t a woman be able to give a baby a better chance at life if she could wait until she was in the ideal circumstances to raise a child?) is guilty of massive over-simplification. Being pro-choice requires one to have a pretty rational, nuanced understanding of morality and of life; “oh no! abortions are killing!” comes from emotion, not logic, and is a pretty black-and-white (and, thus, not-so-nuanced-or-well-thought-out) reaction.

  37. Salome says:
    Wed, 4th Nov 20094:04 am 

    Also, Casey, you didn’t really address any of my points other than the one about Islam (and Islam has as many widely-different interpretations of it as Christianity, and so one person probably can’t define the whole religion for you – I’m basing my observations on both reading up on it and having met many different Muslims, both Sunni and Shi’ite). So did you really read the post? I was curious about what you would have to say in response.

  38. Salome says:
    Wed, 4th Nov 20094:07 am 

    P.S. forgot to add this, but I’m the same person who posted as valkyrie9; for some reason, it only sometimes logs me into my WordPress account, and sometimes it provides a different username. Sorry about the confusion.

  39. Casey says:
    Thu, 5th Nov 20095:07 pm 

    OK you say the scientific definition is “life begins at implantation”, well that usually occurs no more than a couple days after conception, around 7-14 days after having intercourse, I guarantee most abortions are not done in the first 7-14 days after you have sex that resulted in a conception, but I’m glad we’ve clarified that one.

    Then you say that banning abortion forces women to seek an abortion in unsafe circumstances, (non-doctors performing the procedures, unsanitary conditions, people with ill-intentions) and thusly puts the woman’s life in just as much risk as the fetus. So therefore, you think we should keep abortion legal so we can regulate it and so many women won’t die, since that is apparently counter-intuitive to the “pro-life” agenda. However, the woman has a choice to have a knowingly unsafe procedure performed on her or not, the fetus has no choice what-so-ever in either situation. If a woman is willing to have a life-threatening operation performed on her, when she has other, safer options, then that is ignorant on the woman’s part, and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s ignorance, so honestly, I feel no sympathy for them.

    I said “I wish pro-choice people would stop and think about this rationally” because the commenter I was responding too said the same thing about pro-lifers, but didn’t have much of an argument to back it up, it was a jab at her, not really all pro-choicers. And prisoners still get amenities, no matter how good they might be, we are still paying for whatever it is they get. Also, if you’re going to make this statement, can you please elaborate on it, “and the death penalty isn’t as effective as people like to think it is”, because I’d like to know what isn’t effective about doing away with a piece of scum who I’m paying to keep alive, and with more luxury than some people I know have (3 meals a day is a luxury considering a lot of people in this country can’t afford to feed themselves and their families).

    I knew a girl in high school who had an abortion, I remember the day she made her appointment, she came up to me and said “I’m getting this shit removed on March 8th! So Stoked!” I know this girl doesn’t represent ALL women who get abortions, but I’d be willing to wager that she represents a majority of them. Having a baby does seriously derail your life, but if you’re not ready to have a baby then you really shouldn’t be engaging in an act that results in one, and if you are engaging in it, you need to take the precautions not to get pregnant. If you can’t have sex responsibly, then you REALLY shouldn’t be having it (and drunken casual sex that many college students engage in is pretty risky considering your judgment is effected by the alcohol).

    I agree we do need to focus on sex education so fewer people will be having unwanted pregnancies, but I’m really not sure how much good it will do. I know so many people who had the same sex ed classes as me who could care less about having safe sex, sadly a lot of them say, “eh, whatever, I’ll just get an abortion”. I went through 4 years of high school with people with this mentality; can you maybe see now why I’m pro-life? If there are that many people in a concentrated area who think that way, how many more of them are there spread out all over the country? I have actually yet to meet a pro-abortion person who thinks rationally about them (I have met plenty of pro-choice people who say they will never have an abortion who think rationally about it, that’s why I say “pro-abortion”). What good does sex education do when abortion is still an option for those people who evidently don’t value life? Obviously they don’t value life enough to save their own from a botched illegal procedure (seriously, if someone would rather chance death than have a baby they helped to produce, then there’s something wrong), and they don’t value it enough to save that of their child.

    I dunno, if the baby’s going to die either way, and population is such a BIG concern, then the best way to go is ban abortions, then we loose two lives instead of just one, and the mother can experience what she’s putting her child through.

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