Mr. Tasin finally responded to all his critics, but he just can't defend his actions because they are deplorable. I do give him credit for trying to explain his reasoning but the examples he gave are not convincing.
Mr. Tasin and another man are known in our fair city of Victoria, Texas for showing up at our schools or along our main thoroughfares to display their graphics signs of a human fetus. I saw one of them, and I was walking down the steps of my church. I was startled by man holding a sign that read " If you voted for Obama; you are an accomplice in murdering babies." The idea that a person could come out of the shadows and pounce on someone for maximum effect, stuck with me for the rest of the day. If he only knew that the pros and cons of abortion never crossed my mind that day, but his rudeness did. Whatever message he was trying to convey was lost on me.
Mr. Tasin tried to convince everyone that a picture was worth 1000 words despite the methods used. He said pictures of the holocaust, beaten civil rights protesters, and the funniest of them all, the movie Bambi had on discouraging hunters had a major role in how we view things today. He was correct in saying that the military showed, pictures of the effects of venereal disease, but he didn't say that 12 hours later, at a bar on Saturday night, young military men had completely forgotten those pictures. He didn't say that we took pictures of the holocaust to document history not because we thought it would deter atrocities in the future. While the nightly television news showing blacks being beaten and sprayed with fire hoses did make a case for civil rights legislation; you can't take away the major impact the 20 years of preparation by Martin Luther King's in his calling for peaceful demonstrations. I would bet $100 that the decline of hunters had more to do with the changing of times and being less reliable on hunted food, then it had to do with a Bambi movie. It is my opinion that Mr. Tasin takes a noble cause and cheapens it by making it about him and his methods.
Unfortunately Mr. Tasin is not the only one making a woman's right to choose extremely difficult. Several republican states are making it more difficult for a woman to choose, by making her wait three days and requiring her to go to clinic,where they will try to talk out her out of it before she can have an abortion. Others are making the pregnant mom view the sonogram prior to getting an abortion. On the Federal side, republicans tried to redefine the word " forcible rape"but had to settle for "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." Then there is Rep. Chris Smith's bill which would essentially "turn IRS agents into abortion cops — that is, during an audit, they'd have to determine, from evidence provided by the taxpayer, whether any tax benefit had been inappropriately used to pay for an abortion." That's because the legislation contains a whole section called "Prohibition on Tax Benefits Relating to Abortion," which would make it illegal, to, say, use funds set aside in a pre-tax health-care spending account to pay for abortion — unless, that is, the abortion was the result of rape, incest, or a threat to a woman's life. As I understand it, voluntary sonograms are doing more to change a pregnant mother's mind than the forceful methods that the republicans are trying to make mandatory.
21 comments:
I posted another comment and it got lost. D=
I don't like how the words "embryo" and "child" are purposefully interchanged. I don't like confusing the stages of fetal development OR the lifespan.
I did notice that he called himself an 18 year old child, as if comparing himself at 18 to a child (maybe about 4 as mentioned in the letter) that might see his signs - justifying his tactics. Also, I don't like a 14 year old boy being compared to an embryo, or Tasin comparing himself to the mom who lost that 14 year old. I know that wasn't his intent, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Giving walking breathing moms, fathers, sons, and daughters no greater status than a newly fertilized egg seems --- not supporting life. It's more about supporting a movement.
Also, he tried to justify his tactics by saying that the people who would complain are hypocrites. They would watch a violent movie with their child. Again, it's the confusing of the stages of development. I'm not a hypocrite if I want to protect my small child from graphic images, but then decide that my 14 or 15 year old can handle a horror flick with mom and dad. I see a difference...
Oh, and when I held signs and participated in the chain of life (or whatever) I was NOT scared of people being rude. They weren't. I think because people weren't going to the extremes that they are now. NOW, I bet there IS negative reaction. The tactics define the movement and those Tasin-tactics are what people are responding to. The tactics have become louder than the message.
Rebecca
I lose my own comments in the blogspot section.... Next month, I'm going to devote all my time learning about the in and outs of this blog.
I was waiting for your comments, when Tasin gave you a personal invitation for a response...He posted "Rebecca,
If you received the Pro-life Newsletter fro Life& Family Advocates you
would see where and when the next graphic sign display is to be held. Life & Family Advocates Newsletter P.O. Box 345, 77904
It seems like his answer was," I'm not gonna stop but if you wanna opt out, read the newsletter."
Tasin is in a zone, much like any fundamentalist, where nothing penetrates.
I posted a comment, but deleted it. I said something like, "If parents in Victoria want to have more control over the images their children view, they need to subscribe to a newsletter you promote?" then something else, and then I realized it was happening again. I was becoming insane. =D
I felt Jared's blog today was an unwittingly appropriate description of Mr. Tasin's illness, or for that matter, any religious zealot.
"In this case, it is a type of self-prescribed medication to deal with pain in another part of the human person. If the human person does not find happiness through the proper channels of otherness, it is likely that the person will seek self-fulfillment to replace the void and many will choose objects or subjects that can be harmful to the self."
Kyle
I went back to read Jared's blog and I agree,Tasin is missing something in the normal world and he tries to make to make up for it by taking center stage and this cause gives him the platform.
I remember when I was a zealot. (I want to make a joke like, "I put the dim in fundimental" or "I put the mental in fundamental.) I was pretty good at being a fundie. I wasn't the best at it. My cousin wouldn't allow her children to watch Scooby Doo because the show always featured a ghost. You know, a monster ... a demon. Even though those darned kids always proved that the ghost was a person.
I remember, at the time, if anyone tried to reason with me I would see them as bad. So, you can't talk to people who are neophytes or zealots. Common sense, reason, or logic - any form of compromise (to your thoughts) is a heresy.
I would call myself a recovering fundie.
Oh! Something else I remember: When you really believe that everything you are doing is of God (after all, you are praying and getting direction from God) then anyone who would counter you (your goals, beliefs, ideas), directly or indirectly, would be going against God. And that is what Tasin would think of anyone who does not agree with his tactics. In Tasin's mind, when you argue with him, you are going against God.
Rebecca
It's all beginning to make a lot more sense because when I first started blogging I would isolate myself from negative responses. I found myself calling into question all their resources because they usually came from questionable websites. In a way I was a political zealot. I don't like in- your -face; my way or the highway discussions but I struggled to find a level playing field because I was outnumbered by at least 10-1.
I've actually had civil discussions with Tasin and Kenneth Schustereit . Could it be by that they recognized another zealot, so they realized my mind could not be changed?
I wonder if Tasin thinks the pro- life movement is losing the battle and his tactics are necessary? He knows he offends people but he doesn't let the " perfect be the enemy of the good.".... I still think he lacks something in his personal life; I would like to know what his family thinks because I'm still persuaded by family perception. I would hate for my kids in grandchildren to be ashamed of me.
Rebecca
When you described zealots;it reminds of a book I read about al Qaeda...The author said they are programmed with propaganda to a point of no return.
Maybe. I think that people can condition themselves to feel (or believe) anything - like, to feel more emotion and empathy for a newly fertilized egg than for a walking breathing child or adult.
My mom, when discussing life and choice, identifies the "pro-choice" movement with the doctor who delivers babies and THEN kills them. You have two sides who focus on the negative extremes of the other. Isn't that kinda crazy to engage in discussions with that mindset? It's like people fight at the same time, but on different channels.
I'm sure Tasin's family is proud of him. They probably believe just like him. After all, he's saving "children" from a modern day holocaust.
About respecting a fellow zealot. That's an interesting thought! LOL
Dr. Daley offered two examples that test our instincts about the value of early human embryos. To his credit, he admitted that these may not be very solid philosophically. His first example was “the acorn vs. the oak tree.” He asserts that thinking people feel worse about an oak tree falling over than an acorn being carried off by a squirrel. His second example is called “the fireman’s dilemma.” In this hypothetical situation, a fireman is in a burning IVF clinic, and has the choice of saving a baby, or 1,000 frozen embryos. Who should he save? Most of us would instinctively save the baby.
Fortunately our instincts about something’s value have nothing to do with its intrinsic value. Hitler’s instincts told him that Jews were less valuable than blond-haired, blue-eyed men.
We would probably save a 30-year-old gall bladder patient over someone hooked up to a respirator from a hospital fire for the same reason, but that doesn't mean one is more valuable than the other.
Those are some of the hypothetical I used in my previous life but I no longer argue the pro-choice versus pro-life .
Very interesting! I've never thought of it that way. And I wanted to say that I got what you and Kyle were saying about Jared's blog. I didn't get it at first. This is slightly different, but I always tell myself when I meet someone who seems very critical or judgmental that the criticism and judgment serve to balance out some feeling of insignificance. We are all trying to live in balance. If I am always pointing to other's sins, I might be trying to get people not to see mine.
P.S. What happened to Rossv?
Rossv was deleted but I don't know why...He believed in a lot of conspiracies but he was civil and harmless...I've heard that sometimes it's your reply to their warning that gets you deleted....Same here, I didn't understand Jared's blog until Kyle gave me some guidance.
I have always called the tactic of always being judgemental " blowing out someone's candle to make yours shine brighter."
If Wm. Paul Tasin even came close to showing this much concern for ALL human life, I could tolerate his stuff a bit better, but he doesn't.
If Wm. Paul Tasin would stop spreading misinformation about the abortion and cancer link. I truly hope it never happens, but should his wife ever be diagnosed with breast cancer, does he understand that the rest of us will assume she'd had an abortion?
I don't think so.
If u had my way WM Paul Tasin would be in jail for Child Porn.
Couple of thoughts here.
Kenneth Schustereit is a certified wingnut. He is exactly the kind of person we are going to see ont he nightly news because he's gone berzerk. If you just glance at his blog on blogspot, you will see how very scary he is. Religious zealot+extreme political views+endless internet to other whacky folks=serious concern.
Tasin believes he is on a mission from God. He does not care what the rest of us think. It doesn't matter. He hasn't thought this through because if he had, his plan of attack would be more effecive. It is crude, i.e., rough, because of his ignorance. What would make his little scene complete would be for him to stand there in sandals and sackcloth.
Edith Ann
I do agree that Kenneth Schustereit is a right wing ideologue who is on the far edges in his beliefs but I think he's harmless..I've read his blog and it's pretty much what you see everyday on Worldnetdaily,FreedomPress and Glenn Beck... I hope he doesn't do anything to prove you right..:-)
I also agree that Tasin is a one trick pony and I wish our newspaper would at least place a disclaimer on a bottom of his letters- to- the- editor... Some naive readers will think his statements are true because it was printed in our newspaper.
BigJ
That's a good question and I realize I'm not an authority but I think porn is something that stimulates sexual desire.... A picture of a fetus doesn't fall into that category..IMO
I've seen that graphic picture up close and it is my opinion that young children don't even know what it is.
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