Worthwhile articles, odds, and ends collected this week.
10 Absurdities of Atheism
A brief but cogent critique of the major weaknesses of atheistic belief.
When I Die Young (or Old)
A beautiful reflection on how the author hopes she and her those who knew her will respond to her passing.
The Economics of Abortion by Kevin DeYoung
We’ve all heard the claim, “abortion is not desirable, but it delivers many women (and aborted children) from a life of poverty.” DeYoung dismantles the argument. Here’s an excerpt,
The presence of widespread, legal, easily accessible abortion reinforces the narrative that men do not have control over their sexual appetites and that men should not be expected to fulfill their responsibilities as fathers. Far from empowering women, abortion empowers men to expect (if not outright demand) that sexual activity should be free from any consequences. This in turn disincentivizes men from considering marriage in the first place, which is the surest way to impoverish women. […] Overwhelmingly, abortions in America are procured by single women—85% of the women who had abortions in 2019 were unmarried. This may seem like a reason women need abortion access, but that argument fails to address the larger ways in which abortion cheapens sex, undermines marriage, and puts pressure on women to acquiesce to a male-centered perspective that views sexual intimacy as centered on physical gratification rather than ordered to family formation and child-rearing. If abortion looks like a socioeconomic “cure,” it is only first because it is a major component of the disease. And this is to say nothing of the lost economic activity that comes as a result of removing millions of potential American workers from the labor force and tax base.
Recommended book of the week:
The Ten Commandments by Thomas Watson (free online) is a great companion to our present section of the Heidelberg Catechism.
