Woman Between Islam and Western Society
4. The Problems Facing Modern Civilization
~ 221 ~
THE EXPERIMENT OF UNRESTRICTED
FREEDOM
On the question of abortion, Americans have now
divided themselves Into two opposing groups, one
unreservedly upholding abortion, and describing
themselves as “pro-choice” rather than “pro-
abortion,” while the other is against abortion and
calls itself “pro-life.” The American magazine
Newsweek
illustrates the current mood with a
photograph of a procession of American women,
whose leader, a young woman, is holding aloft a
placard bearing in bold lettering the orders: “Keep
your laws and your morality off my body.”
33
Modern western thinkers hold their greatest asset to
be freedom. But the experiment in the West of
having fewer and fewer restrictions on freedom has
demonstrated that personal liberty cannot be the
highest good. Had it been so, it would never have
resulted in the ugly extremes which the above
example suggests.
There is no disputing the fact that freedom as a
quality of life is something of great value. But, for
man, the highest good is freedom within limits,
