Because the annual March for Life normally occurs in January, there has been a plethora of online chatter about "the unborn," praying for the unborn, marching for the unborn, supporting the unborn, saving the unborn.
You
know, honestly, I've never liked the sound of that: the "unborn." It
always has sounded a little creepy to me, like some kind of unholy
foreign creature or a zombie or something. "The Unborn." I can just
hear the ominous swell of warning music in a "B" horror movie. "The
Unborn!" (*shiver*)
Has anyone else ever thought that?
(....listening for revelatory yes's or crickets here....)
"Unborn"
just sounds so...final. Like it refers to a creature which has NEVER
been born AND never will be born. The creature *IS* an unborn. Period.
Of course, I realize that "unborn" babies in utero simply are not born YET. I realize that. But, language matters and I wonder if we (including and perhaps especially those who are not already pro-life) have become too accustomed to hearing "the unborn," so much so that the preliminary condition of infants in the womb awaiting and preparing for their birth seems unimportant, unrecognizable, unreal.
Those aren't REAL babies. They're unborn. They're un-babies.
Mmmphf....
What about "the pre-born"? What about referring to those who are preparing to be born -- actual, whole, beginner people!
-- as "the pre-born"? They already possess an inherent human dignity
and simply are preparing for and awaiting their next stage in human
development, being born. They are pre-born, pre-birth, pre-natal,
pre-arrival-party, already authentic human beings preparing for their grand entrance into the world beyond their mother's womb!
Why can't we call them the "pre-born?"
It sounds so much more like a "getting ready" or preparing stage of life, rather than the fixed and final one of those who won't be allowed to be born, the unborn. To me, "pre-born" creates an infinitely more complete impression of a distinct individual, a human being who already has such uniquely human characteristics that s/he actively is preparing to show up here! Being born is a given, because if one is "pre-born," then it implies that this is the time prior to when one *WILL* be born.
I don't know. It's late. I'm rambling here. Clearly. And yet....
I guess just wanted to share with you the fact that God put this nagging thought in my head about the importance of language, even and especially for the pre-born. Maybe I'm not the first one to come up with this. But, please know that I now will be referring to infants in the womb as "pre-born." I hope you might consider doing so, too!
(...could've made a looooong story a lot shorter right there with just that, couldn't I have?) ;- )
