We come into this world a tiny bundle and mass of helpless, feeble
flesh, utterly unprepared to meet the requirements and fearful
conditions that lie in wait for us. We are in need of immediate, urgent
and constant help from those who were responsible for our birth,
imperatively so from our mother.
The child does not ask to come, and knows absolutely nothing about its
welfare. And the mother often does not want to bear it, as she knows
absolutely nothing about maternal cares. And yet that mother must go
through the "shadow of the valley of death" before she can deliver this
tiny bundle and helpless mass of feeble flesh. And how often, aye, only
too often, does the mother _enter_ the valley of death when making
delivery of this living form, never to see the face of the child that
Nature imposed upon her to bear!
What a despicable arrangement!
What an unfair bargain!
Can you imagine a more outlandish, ridiculous, awkward, complicated,
cruel and fearful system of reproduction than that which we are under
yoke to pursue? Without the elaborate details of the perilous stages of
life's development, this is the method of incubation Nature imposes upon
us. Before the birth of a human being, one male and one female--that is,
one man and one woman--must have sexual intercourse. Whether this
intercourse is prompted by all the finer impulses of life or is
accomplished by the savageness of rape makes no difference to Nature's
purpose. To Nature the end justifies the means, and she continues to go
about her business.
The male--that is, the man of this pair--can strut and parade with the
utmost freedom from his responsibility for the result of his act that
Nature has made to be pre-eminent among his desires. But the
female--that is, the woman of this pair--_must for nine months_ (just
think of it!) carry and develop the germ of this child in the fertile
field of her womb, and be subjected to the innumerable terrifying
dangers accompanying such a carriage, and then suffer a superhuman
torture to make the delivery, through a very meager channel of her body,
of this living plant which she has never seen, does not know and quite
often does not want, _but must absolutely bear_!
Provided Nature has not made the creature too deformed and mutilated and
unable to survive, the mother must, during a period of constant care and
_outward carriage_, bear this feeble infant for another period of nine
months or more!--suckling at her breast for _food_!
So you see that woman is not only a human being, but a fertile ground
and pasture.
I have not gone into the misery of child bearing and caring, nor of the
ingratitude that is so often received. I ask for what reason has Nature
imposed this terrible penalty upon woman? _Why?_
Would you, reader, were it in your power, formulate such a method of
reproduction?
I'll answer for you:
No!
But that is not all. For years to come, this child that for nine months
was carried inwardly and for a much longer period outwardly, by its
mother, must now be fed, washed and clothed for an indefinite number of
_years_, and guided through a thousand perils and dangers that Nature
has set before it, with disease as Nature's agent, crouching and ready
to destroy the child's life, not in open combat, but invisibly concealed
by the limitation of our senses. This is one of Nature's unspeakable
crimes; one of God's despicable impositions.
It is not sufficient that a mother should subject herself to such a
dangerous and perilous mission, but she must also withstand the cruel
savageness, the cold, callous death piercings, of Nature's invisible
tyrants and destroyers. Life holds but one real attraction, one instance
that can be classified above all others. Without this attraction it
would be a blessing to choke the life breath from us all. With it we are
helped to bear the _Tyranny of God_.
There comes a time to some of us when the heart of the one man beats for
the one woman, and there alights and resides in their breasts that spark
of devotion that we call "love." When there is born to that union a
child, even though in Nature's stupid way, then a bond is created more
precious than anything else in this world. Without this little circle of
loving joy, the earth is a prison and life a grave injustice for those
who must bear it. But think of the damnable rule of Nature that strives
and delights in working destruction of the only condition worthy of
life's living!
Oh, if only the life of our offspring were more stable, more secure!
If only the bosom of our family were guaranteed to us! Just think! The
child the parents would not harm, Nature tortures and God kills!
Looking back upon the path we have trodden, with its continual fight
against disease, its manifold combats with obstacles of life, and with
its inevitable portion of sorrow we all must bear, we should think
seriously and consider the result of our act before we deliberately
bring another human being into this life.
You, yourself, do not consider your life worthy of reliving, so why
bring a human being here to go through the same, if not more, suffering
and misery than you have borne with no resultant good?