Oppressors and murderers

I responded to a post on twitter yesterday, someone made a generalization of the Pro-life community that I thought was unfair so I tweeted a challenge to it...the responses started mild, I was an "anti-choice zealot." Later I was told that I thought it was better to rape and murder a child already born than to abort a fetus. Then I learned that I wished to chain all women up by their vaginas. My indignation was short lived as I thought back to the numerous generalizations I had heard from the pro-life side, a couple I may have even made myself. One of these conversations continued on past a few points and counterpoints and is actually still in process today. As I tried to convince these folks that I did not wish to punish women for having sex it became increasingly apparent that I had as distorted a view of them and they had of me. These people were not standing in line with their chainsaws, bent on cutting fetuses into tiny pieces!! I was amazed as I began to recognize the sincerity of their belief that women are second class citizens in our society and that the religious world from which the pro-life movement has it's strongest base is among the worst offenders. So have I converted? Am I now Pro-choice?....HELL NO!! But I am beginning to understand that both groups have, at their heart, what they perceive to be a noble mission. One to defend the oppressed and one to defend the unborn!! When we stop viewing them as murderers and they stop viewing us as oppressors, maybe we can have a constructive dialogue. But what is more likely is we will continue to vilify each other because another thing I learned yesterday is that both sides are more interested in winning the argument than solving the problem!