Shape-Shifter, not Flip-Flopper

Kerry thinks life begins at conception. But as a legislator, he cannot force his personal, religious feelings on other people. According to Kerry, then, when life begins is a religious issue.

First, let’s give him credit for consistency – 100% NARAL lifetime rating: never a vote against the interests of the most aggressive abortion-pushing organization ever to exist. As I write this, the number of abortions since Roe v. Wade is 46,456,737.

Religion to me is a matter of faith. I cannot see God, but I can look around me and see His hand in all of creation. The line between faith and science is much more easily drawn for me because I start with intelligent design rather than random chance. Irreducibly complex systems don’t frustrate me. Biological systems, for me, are like walking into another kid’s room – even though no one else is present, the toys are already partially put together when I start to play.

It is at that moment, when I begin to observe, to play, that pure science arrives. Anything I do can be replicated. I do not perform miracles. When life begins, when a cell divides, then, is a biological function – not one of faith.

If human life has begun, then the government has a fundamental interest, a compelling interest in preserving that life. That is the United States Constitution. Roe stood for the proposition that life does not begin until the point of fetal viability outside the womb is reached about midway through gestation. Once reached, a fundamental interest has arisen and the government must protect it. This is not religion – it is law.

So Kerry cannot force his personal, legal views on other people? I’m getting confused. Let’s try another direction.

If the beginning of life is religious and not biological for Kerry, then so must be other issues. How about the ending of life? As a Catholic, Kerry must believe in everlasting life in Heaven. So, if one never dies, then one can never be murdered. OK, illogical. Another direction.

If you can’t enforce your personal, religious or legal views on other people, then what can you enforce? The words “cultural,” “politically correct,” and “sanitized” come to mind. They all raise another specter for me – evolving standards. Nothing is immutable. What is acceptable today may be unacceptable tomorrow. The trick becomes when and how to abandon today’s position and adopt tomorrow’s.

And that explains Kerry. “Flip-flopper”? No. Shape-shifter. He is constantly searching for the new curve. Like Woody Allen’s “Zelig,” Kerry becomes like those around him. While Allen’s Zelig grew a beard upon meeting Hasidic Jews, or became pleasingly plump in the company of weight-challenged individuals, Kerry shifts shape in other ways. Introduce him to automakers and he drives an SUV; to environmentalists and he doesn’t even own one. Introduce him to voters seeking revenge and he supports war; to voters seeking enemy victory and he tries to cut funding for the war.

But such evolving cores must come at a cost. Do they manifest themselves in other ways in his life? Does he show elite liberals his manicure, and would-be veep candidates his pedicure? We do know he has said, "Don't you know who I am?" quite often. How about this: introduce him to the press after taking a spill on the slopes and he curses; to farmers and he tells where he learned to curse. Hey, John, I don't mean to get too religious, but it is not what goes into a mouth that will condemn a person to eternity in Hell, but what comes out of it. Don't be so proud of your filthy proclivities.

As a politician, unfortunately, shape-shifting comes at a cost beyond the air he breathes, the food he consumes, and the space he occupies: 46,456,971 religious-sorta-legal-but-not-politically-correct babies since Roe.