January 20, 2016

Obi Wan Kenobi, Alec Guinness, and abortion

Several members of my family and I went to see the mega-hit Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Those of us old enough to remember seeing the very first in the series (Episode IV: A New Hope) recall the list of “iconic” characters—including those are not in Episode VII—which is as lengthy as almost any movie you could think of.

One of those, of course, was Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi (played by the late, great Alec Guinness).

I had not read much about Guinness and did not even know that he had written an autobiography, “Blessings in Disguise.” So it was not until I read Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s “Abortion and Obi-Wan Kenobi” that I learned Guinness’ own back story.

Here’s the beginning to Fr. Longenecker’s great read:

In 1914 Agnes Cuff, a flighty and unstable young woman with few prospects and little money found herself pregnant. The father didn’t want to be involved. She was alone, shamed, poor and pregnant.

Today she would be encouraged to get herself to an abortion clinic and end the unwanted pregnancy.

Instead a little boy was born.

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