Morality Cannot Be Calculated

My wife and I have three children between the ages of 1 and 5. 

Warning: The following statement includes a high dose of sarcasm.

Now here’s the thing, if we had less children then I’m sure we’d be better parents.  We’d have more patience, more compassion, more time on our hands to take care of the remaining child.  We’d be able to take time for ourselves more, do the things we want, live the lifestyle we desire, and thus be happier.  And of course, we’d have more money, which everyone knows equals happiness! 

So my wife and I have calculated the morality of the issue and decided that the best thing is to put a hit out on one or two of our children.  It sounds harsh, I know, but we’ll be better parents for it, and if we don’t then we’ll have nothing left inside of us to give to the other children, which just isn't right. 

No one would agree with that logic.  Yet, the New York Times ran a story about a couple who decided to eliminate one of the twins in their pregnancy for some of these same reasons.  Here’s a snippet from the article: 

Jenny’s decision to reduce twins to a single fetus was never really in doubt. The idea of managing two infants at this point in her life terrified her. She and her husband already had grade-school-age children, and she took pride in being a good mother. She felt that twins would soak up everything she had to give, leaving nothing for her older children. Even the twins would be robbed, because, at best, she could give each one only half of her attention and, she feared, only half of her love. Jenny desperately wanted another child, but not at the risk of becoming a second-rate parent. “This is bad, but it’s not anywhere as bad as neglecting your child or not giving everything you can to the children you have,” she told me, referring to the reduction. She and her husband worked out this moral calculation on their own, and they intend to never tell anyone about it. Jenny is certain that no one, not even her closest friends, would understand, and she doesn’t want to be the object of their curiosity or feel the sting of their judgment. This secrecy is common among women undergoing reduction to a singleton. Doctors who perform the procedure, aware of the stigma, tell patients to be cautious about revealing their decision. (All but one of the patients I spoke with insisted on anonymity.) Some patients are so afraid of being treated with disdain that they withhold this information from the obstetrician who will deliver their child.

The article can be found here.

Morality cannot be subjectively calculated.  It’s not something that any one of us comes up with on our own.  It's given to us.  There are already objective moral rules in place for dealing with human life.  Rather, once you begin to operate as if human life is based on a personal decision of pros and cons then you have reduced the issue to the realm of utilitarianism (i.e. what’s best for most people).  This may work in some areas but not on the issue of life.  I have no right to say to my wife, “Well, the 3-year-old isn’t pulling her weight around the house.  She just seems to want to play and skip around all the time. So the way I see it, it’s just best for everyone if we call the hit-man.”

Morality has already been injected into the fabric of human existence.  When you go against such Natural Law, then you will naturally bear the guilt that comes with taking a human life to satisfy your own personal convenience. 

If you are in a situation where you are considering terminating a life, please go with adoption instead.  
If you suffer from the guilt of taking a human life in this way, please see your Pastor, that he may absolve you of that sin and guilt, which can only be taken away under the cross. 
And for the rest of you, don’t remain silent on the issue of human life.


Thanks for reading.