Amnesty is granted?
I’ve always admired the work that Amnesty International does. It highlights the plight of those that otherwise would be left to suffer terrible atrocities in many different countries.
So it was interesting to read this week of the disagreement that exists between Amnesty and the Catholic church in relation to abortion.
Amnesty reacted to recent reports of rape in war zones such as Darfur and urged governments to provide safe abortions when women conceive after rape or incest or when a pregnant women’s life has been threatened.
At an annual meeting in Mexico Amnesty stated that it would work to:
support the decriminalization of abortion, to ensure women have access to heath care when complications arise from abortion and to defend women’s access to abortion … when their health or human rights are in danger.
Naturally the Catholic Church who have always considered abortion as murder, and never justified, disagree with this view. The Vatican even went as far to state that Amnesty had “betrayed its mission”, while (In July of this year) Bishop William Skylstad, head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated that the group’s decision “undermines Amnesty’s long-standing moral credibility”
I realise Amnesty International was founded by a Catholic layman and therefore should adhere to some basic guidelines that the church have. However is this not just an opinion? Should the Vatican really be so worked up about a group that doesn’t agree with them?
I, like many others, stand on the outside while rape and pillage take place every day. I can read about it, see it on the news but I would never get a genuine understanding for it unless I was there to see the long lasting effects on a culture or for that matter on any one person.
Amnesty International did not make this statement just for the sake of it or just to annoy the Vatican. The work they do for Human Rights is nothing short of incredible and they are constantly working to improve in more countries. China has made promises that they will improve their Human Right record before the start of the Olympics In Beijing and one look at Amnesty’s official site will show that they are closely monitoring the situation.
I wonder should the church be more worried about the suffering that takes place in these countries and less about what the original rules and regulations are? As I’ve discussed before about rape it must be a horrible experience to have to go through, even more so when considered that the person in question might be a victim of incest.
Amnesty has had it’s fair share of criticism; some feel that it chooses to ignore Israel’s Human Rights record. The only thing I can offer for that is that, largely, America tends to ignore Israeli acts when matters against Palestine arise. Amnesty relies on help wherever it can get it so I would suggest that they focus on where best they can get the best backing. They alone cannot save the world.
As for the church, I admire the majority of their beliefs, that’s not to say that everything they do is right, but neither do Amnesty.
There must be a way to meet in the middle about this situation instead of both sides being torn about by stubbornness. Otherwise the suffering will continue when there was a small window of opportunity to change it.
Sunday, August 19th, 2007 and is filed under GOD, Pain and suffering, Views on News.
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