Comments on: mourdick https://sorrywatch.com/mourdick/ Analyzing apologies in the news, media, history and literature. We condemn the bad and exalt the good. Wed, 05 Aug 2020 23:47:12 +0000 hourly 1 By: sumac https://sorrywatch.com/mourdick/#comment-355 Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:30:52 +0000 https://sorrywatch.com/?p=348#comment-355 Frances, thank you for that analysis. It makes sense to me. And hurray for the voters’ action!

]]> By: Frances https://sorrywatch.com/mourdick/#comment-289 Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:29:57 +0000 https://sorrywatch.com/?p=348#comment-289 I have to disagree with this analysis. I don’t believe that Mourdock actually had anything to apologize for, so therefore he wasn’t actually sorry, and that is why his “apology” was not a real apology. Let me explain: What he actually said was, “I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
This is actually a morally consistent statement, unlike those hypocrites who are anti-abortion, believe “life” begins at conception, and yet somehow make an exception in the case of rape. What *that* position says is that they don’t really think killing a fetus is murder (otherwise why would it matter how the fetus was conceived?) Rather, they see pregnancy as a just punishment for a woman who has sex for reasons other than procreation. Therefore rape victims can have abortions because they don’t need to be “punished.”
Mourdock, on the other hand, sincerely believes that all human life, created under every circumstance, is a gift from God and therefore it is not up to us humans to decide when to end it. He explicitly states that rape is “horrible”, the rape itself is not God’s work. But in his view, the creation of life is always up to God and therefore if a woman gets pregnant during a rape that life is God’s work.
Now, to be clear, Mourdock’s view is not *my* view. I am a feminist, pro-choice, atheist who believes that as long as a fetus requires a woman’s body to survive that fetus has no rights at all, and that a woman may choose to terminate the pregnancy for any reason whatsoever. But I was not at all offended by Mourdock’s statement. It seemed to be a clear and heartfelt depiction of a consistent moral position. I am sure he was genuinely surprised that people thought he was somehow saying God endorsed rape. But he wasn’t sorry for what he said, so there was no way he could apologize.
And I personally did not need to hear an apology from him. I just needed voters to be clear on what his position was and vote him out of office, which is what they did.

]]> By: artlife https://sorrywatch.com/mourdick/#comment-128 Sat, 27 Oct 2012 02:31:59 +0000 https://sorrywatch.com/?p=348#comment-128 good thing the body knows how to shut down pregnancies from rape, so no worries

]]> By: Anita https://sorrywatch.com/mourdick/#comment-125 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:49:56 +0000 https://sorrywatch.com/?p=348#comment-125 It is indeed a sorry excuse for an apology. His arrogance boggles the mind…

]]> By: sumac https://sorrywatch.com/mourdick/#comment-124 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:43:02 +0000 https://sorrywatch.com/?p=348#comment-124 Glad that’s all cleared up!

]]> By: macoyote https://sorrywatch.com/mourdick/#comment-123 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:39:31 +0000 https://sorrywatch.com/?p=348#comment-123 McCain’s communication director Brian Rogers issued a statement Thursday saying McCain was traveling and did not see Mourdock’s full news conference before taping the interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “Senator McCain is glad that Mr. Mourdock apologized to the people of Indiana and clarified his previous statement,” Rogers said. “Senator McCain hopes the people of Indiana will elect Mr. Mourdock to the U.S. Senate.”

Oh, my.

]]>