But the World Is So Bad

WARNING: This post contains references (read: major spoilers) to the ending of The Inventor’s Slave. If you have an aversion to spoilers, you may want to consider reading the book first.

Another argument in favor of abortion that I’ve heard is that the world is so bad that it’d be inhumane to bring a child into it. I think this argument is especially appealing in situations where it might be reasonable to assume that the baby may be exposed to poverty, abuse, addiction, and other oppressive elements.

While I agree that those are not ideal situations to start a life, I maintain that once the life has been started we owe it to the baby whose life is in question to give them the chance to see what life has in store for them.

There is a lot of suffering in the world, but there is also a lot of hope.

It is very, very rare when we can know with perfect certainty that things won’t turn around.

That’s part of the point in The Inventor’s Slave. Kayden’s life is so terrible and the violence perpetrated against him is so brutal that it’s easy to believe that things could not get better.

I know from experience, however, that things can turn around, even drastically, in ways no one ever could have imagined. I know that it’s possible to go from what seems like a totally hopeless situation to a place of such beauty and joy it blows your mind.

If you’ve read The Inventor’s Slave, you know that in Kayden’s case things turned around for him at the last possible moment.

Sometimes hope may seem impossible, but just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t coming.

Some of you may agree with the argument that getting an abortion would be merciful in situations where the baby would likely end up suffering throughout their life.

I think that argument is the same as Malphanx’s.

He believes that killing Kayden will be merciful, because there’s nothing but brutality and suffering in store for him. He believes that taking Kayden’s life is the only way to end his pain.

But if Malphanx had succeeded in killing Kayden, Kayden never would have fulfilled his destiny, and Malphanx never would have known the joy that Kayden brought him.

Because Malphanx failed to kill Kayden, an entire city was transformed and Malphanx’s life was turned from dark to light.

Because Malphanx failed to kill Kayden, Malphanx’s own life was saved in many ways and he was able to experience a joy he never could have known before.

Just like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, we all have a part to play.

Every person is made in the image of God, and every person has a destiny.

Only God knows what that baby will grow up to do. If that baby is aborted, no one will ever know the way they would have changed the world.