Tea at Trianon: Pregnancy ban

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Pregnancy ban

Forced abortion and contraception in the military? Share

3 comments:

Alexandra said...: Ach, even though my SIL is a retired Col. with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, I don't agree with women in the military serving in combat zones. It is unnatural for women to kill/fight as a nurturer of human life. Of course, I tend to be a bit of pacifist. I pray we never see the day when women are drafted.

Sadly, my SIL is married and childless having waited too long for motherhood...a sad situation for her. She may adopt, but I think she has reconciled herself to a life filled with other things...by habit of her lifestyle - the ultimate birth control.; December 22, 2009 at 11:46:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: I agree, women should not be in combat zones. It certainly is not going to impress the Moslems with the value of freedom and democracy.; December 22, 2009 at 12:06:00 PM EST
Brantigny said...: The question is this, can the US legislate morality? We can't legislate homosexuality. What if a couple are married catholics and they sleep together? If they are good Catholics they will not contracept, the result could be a baby. Requiring a couple to use condoms or other abortificiants is a sin. Therefore this general is violating their 1st amendment (Religion) rights as well as their 4th (privacy). This is not as we would say a moral order. Immoral orders do not have to be followed.; December 23, 2009 at 12:25:00 PM EST