Customer Reviews

The Sacrament of Abortion

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a book that challenges you to think and to open your mind. I still don't know precisely where I agree and disagree with her, but many years after reading "The Sacrament of Abortion," I am still thinking about what Paris had to say still agreeing and disagreeing and that makes this book far more valuable to me than most books I have read.

Ginette Paris goes right to the heart of one of the scariest and most difficult issues in the world today: abortion. She shows a courage, bordering on recklessness in confronting the issue. Paris doesn't glorify abortion as a ritual sacrifice, she sees the decision about whether or not to carry a child as a sacred decision which involves life, death, love, motherhood, sexuality and the origins of each humans' existence on earth. Paris suggests that no one should take the decision lightly. Having an abortion without truly considering the weight and significance of the decision is wrong, a violation of a sacred bond - but so is taking the decision away from a woman. Abortion is not a sterile choice. When a woman has an abortion, something sacred - something of value is destroyed. Yet, sometimes abortion can be the right choice. For Paris, a woman who chooses to have a child - when that child will clearly and obviously suffer a damaged, limited and wounded life has made the wrong maternal decision. No one should decide for the woman according to Paris, but there is a moral obligation for the woman to choose wisely.

Paris says that debates about the viability of the fetus are far too materialistic. Viability means more than just the ability to live outside the womb, viability should be seen socially and relationally. If I am to be a mother, I should consider: is there a community ready to embrace this child? Is there a world that I can prepare for this child so that s/he will thrive? Who will name and love the baby?

Ginette Paris also comments on how comfortable many of us are with singing the praises of men who fight and kill in war, or fights for honor. Society honors wise men who decide when to kill another and when to spare a life... yet we are so uncomfortable with the idea that a pregnant woman might make the same kind of decision about the life growing within her that we can't think straight about it. It is either an evil murder of an innocent, or a choice about a minor surgical procedure. Paris says it is neither. The reception that her book received shows how hard it is for us to think straight about the issue.

This book deals calmly with an emotional subject. Too often through the media, we are led to believe all women suffer greatly if they have an abortion- for whatever reason. Dr. Paris understands and validates that for many of us, it was a sacred act ( a sacrament) to make both a rational and conscious choice not to create a child that could not be cared for properly. One's own spiritual philosophy is a factor certanily, but yes, there are many of us who have made such a decision and are very much at peace with this and life itself.

I am a man who read Ginette Paris's The Sacrament of Abortion because I wanted to understand the `passion' of a woman in the trying time of choosing to have an abortion. The subject was obviously outside of my personal experience, but living in the Bible belt I witnessed the injustice of pseudo-moralistic institutions attacking abortion clinics and pregnant women who have accepted the choice of abortion.

Ginette Paris has written a book of profound sensitivity for women in a trying and emotional time. It is a book that cuts through the pretenses of imbalanced people who vent rage and hatred at vulnerable women as their `religious' practice. Ginette offers many examples of women's experiences with abortion to display the fullness of the range of that experience. Paris is a sensitive listener. Her book is a meditation on empathy and compassion. It is a meditation on a connection to greater mysteries and experiences through this rite of ritual significance. It is a book abut acceptance, both self-acceptance and Life-acceptance. It is brave in its clear-sightedness and profoundly empathic in transmitting the depth and range of female experience.

I enjoyed reading this book. It seemed like there wasn't as much talk of abortion as there was of Greek mythology. It was still interesting, but a more accurate title might have been something along the lines of, "My Thoughts on Greek Mythology"

It seems like a lot of reviewers (many of whom don't strike me as having read the book) get hung up on the title, and seeing sacrifice as any ol' gift to a deity, like you kill a goat, you call it a sacrifice, then you have a feast. You win and your deity wins. The author takes pains to convey to the reader that abortion can be a heartbreaking choice, and thus the meaning of the sacrifice is in giving up something that is deeply desired - that is, to continue a particular pregnancy - for a greater purpose. Traditionally that greater purpose is pleasing your deity. In this case, it's the individual taking a long-view of their life: will I still be able to provide for my existing children if I continue this pregnancy? Will I be able to care for myself?

This is possibly one of the worst books on abortion I have ever encountered.

Her metaphors of Artemis, etc. are lovely, but her facts are all over the place. She makes comments about religious beliefs that are so overgeneralized they are quite insulting, and her wonderful facts about the children of the world come from 1989... this edition at least was published in 2007!!!! Beyond that, she makes outrageous claims such as that overpopulation is singlehandedly to blame for war and the abuse of children, with nothing to back this up and nothing to explain this link.

Don't waste your time.

Anyone who could say that abortion is a choice to not create a child has blindly missed that by the time abortion is being executed, a child has already been created. Anyone who could deem the killing of a child as a sacred act lacks the necessary understanding to write a paragraph on the subject, let alone an entire book!

The author is suggesting society would be better off to regress back to paganism, archaic morality and behavior. Has she never heard of adoption as an alternative to killing a baby?

It is clear why so many women have flocked to abortion clinics. Abortion truly is a sacred thing, when viewed from a satanic perspective, it is quite clearly an offering to satan himself. Good men and women have nothing to fear from these pagans. Our enemies it seems, are killing themselves off.

I believe that it is the choice of women to have abortions if necessary however, I don't believe that using as a means of sacrifice is right. Modern day pagans and wiccans should have better morals than this. I am pagan myself and I find it offensive. True wiccans, if they go by the basic principals believe that you shouldn't kill. I think that it is an immoral and mis-informative book as far as the view on modern day wiccans and pagans. Personally I wouldn't use this book for firestarter. Don't Buy it. Please also note that real wiccans and pagans in today's socieity look down on this and that we don't believe in that or in satan. Thanks.