September 2026 Newsletter
Featured article: "Behold, a Man"
Annabella Salvucci
The whole pro-life argument revolves around the question, "what is a human?" We have been given very many definitions of humanity, from rational souls to a featherless biped (thank you, Diogenes, for debunking THAT one.) What a human is ties into the question of what existence is, the central question of the Enlightenment. However, it is impossible to explain existence without knowing what (or who, truly) God is, but then what is goodness if God is that? What is truth? What is knowledge? What is the nature of the universe and what is its purpose? The world has been asking "what?" since its dawn, and we can only answer one if we answer all the rest. Each era, each time has its own "what." Classical Athens asked what justice is, Rome pondered on courage, early America asked what true freedom was like and the civil war challenged that question further. Our what is, "what is a human?"
This question is not limited to abortion by any means. Brain death, A.I., ethics, just war theory, racism, transgenderism, even some aspects of vegetarianism are tied into this question, and they are the pivotal topics of our age. Is an animal sentient? Is a robot alive? We can only answer those using the cornerstones laid down by previous philosophers and thinkers which have all but been abolished on the left for being too offensive and on the right for being too pagan. How do we expect to answer new questions without using the answers we have already made? Beliefs matter little if the guy told the truth.
What is a human? Imagine all the arguments could be solved if we only were collectively sure of the answer. Is it just an intelligent animal? A being with a body and rational soul? A conscious homo sapiens? A featherless biped?
The strange thing is that part of us already knows what a person is. Not in a way we can explain, but the understanding is there. Only a distorted mind has a distorted view on a concept so intrinsic to us. The reason we can look at a plucked chicken and say, "that is not a human," is because we already know. Sometimes it is philosophy that gets us the wrong answer, rather than instinct. So then why do we ask this question at all?
Perhaps because we all are, in some way, distorted...
Regardless, the question continues: "what is a human?" It will continue until some disaster or another answers it, and then we shall move on to the next question. For now, we must contend with this one.
P.S., the whole featherless biped thing refers to when (I think it was) Plato defined a man as a featherless biped, upon which Diogenes presented him with a plucked chicken and said, "behold, a man."
Prayers
Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me, O Lord, a correct faith, a certain hope, a perfect charity, sense and knowledge, so that I may carry out your holy and true commands --St. Francis
Quotes
"For in truth lust is made out of a perverse will, and when lust is served, it becomes habit, and when habit is not resisted, it becomes necessity." – St. Augustine
"The most dangerous ideas in a society are not the ones being argued, but the ones that are assumed." – C. S. Lewis
"There can be no community, properly so called, unless it be regulated by a combination of rights. And by this definition it appears that a multitude of men may be just as tyrannical as a single despot and indeed this is the most odious of all tyrannies, since no monster can be more barbarous than the mob, which assumes the name and mask of the people." – M. Tullius Cicero
Memes
Monthly Challenge
Hey guys! I thought it would be fun to have a monthly pro-life themed challenge. The winner of each challenge will be posted in next month's newsletter.
This month's challenge is to write a short story based on the following:
It doesn't need to have an exact quote of it, but can just be regarding that idea. Submissions are due on the 24th of this month. You can send it to hscstudentsforlife@gmail.com or if you are on the Student Cafe you can post it in the main SFL topic.
Good luck!
Upcoming Events
Rosary for Life: September 11th @ 7pm ET
Apologetics Night: September 17th @ 7pm ET
Monthly Meeting: September 21st @ 7pm ET
Members - Please Consider Submitting Content:
This newsletter relies heavily on the contributions of group members. There are a number of items we are looking for:
- Creative content: We have implemented a segment of the newsletter dedicated to the topically relevant artistic contributions of group members, regardless of medium. If you have anything to share, please send it in. We'll accept most mediums, including (pictures of) paintings, graphic design pieces, songs, videos, poems, etc.
- Articles: We are accepting topically relevant articles from group members. Please note, however, that the newsletter editors reserve the right to modify articles in order to make them suitable for publication. Such modifications may include grammatical corrections and removal of potentially offensive content.
- Quotes & Literary Passages: We are also looking for any topically relevant quotes or literary passages to fill a segment of the newsletter. Anything from a simple sentence spoken by a saint to a paragraph from a book can be accepted.
If you want to submit anything from the above categories, or you simply want to provide feedback or suggestions, please email us at hscstudentsforlife@gmail.com and we will get in touch with you shortly.
