This was inspired by a conversation with a friend of mine. If you're offended by the blog title, feel free not to read this, but i'm doing my best to get through an entire book with an oposing view, so you'll probably survive my blog entry.
i'm currently reading Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America, an Evangelical's Lament.
The book is interesting. Some of it is lacking in thought. It's a typical uber liberal who doesn't understand the conservative mindset at all and has made no real effort to see things from that perspective. It's just as frustrating from the opposite side too. He goes on and on about how the Bible has nothing to say about abortion. He says this because he doesn't consider abortion killing or murdering someone. If you're a super conservative, you see it as exactly that. So then the Bible has lots to say about abortion. It's all in how you define it. i am probably more frustrated on this topic than any other topic. NO ONE in the medical field can precisely determine when a fetus becomes a "person." There's no exact day or moment. For practical purposes, they define an early stage and late stage and when it's legal to "terminate/kill" a fetus. However, every doctor will tell you that there's no magical day they SUDDENLY become a "person." Just like no sudden day you're no longer a kid or no exact moment you become elderly. It's developmental. So from a purely secular stand point, there's no way to determine when a baby is a legal person because you can't declare when they suddenly become a person and stop being a fetus which apparently is not alive.
Some medical experts will say it's when the baby can live without the mother's help. Well excuse me, but that's not until a kid is 5 or 6. No 3 or 4 year old could survive alone in the forest or on the street. They'd be killed or starve to death. What about being able to breathe on its own or biologically survive outside the womb? Well, many full-term babies are unable to do that. And many premature babies need the same care. As medical advances get better, babies can survive younger and younger. Does an advance in medicine change the definition of when someone is a person?
Ugh. If the medical profession can't agree on any magic moment, then the best you can do is say conception, at least as a secular person. And the Bible says that God knits us together in our mother's womb. So from a faith-based point of view, the same is true.
This is usually the point where an anti-pro-life person will launch into all the practical reasons why it should be legal. They'll talk about incest and rape and teenage mothers, etc. These are all tragic cases and the require compassion and sympathy and more than a firm no. They'll talk about back-alley abortions, etc. The same people who think that we can solve war and racism and sexism and genocide homophobia with words and societal pressure and discussion and love and compassion and understanding don't think we can do the same for mothers of unplanned pregnancies. They don't think maybe a society open and accepting and supportive of adoption could change all that. Why would it work for problems as big as abortion and hatred and genocide and not for unplanned pregnancies?
Mostly, these arguments come up when they don't want to discuss how tricky it is to label a fetus and when it becomes a person. That's too hard to accept. They want to discuss how it's a woman's choice and a woman's body, etc. Well, we live in a society that believes your rights only extend as far as they don't hurt or infringe on the rights of others. We are a society whose very first amendment is the right to free speech, and YET we limit it. You cannot yell fire or bomb in a crowded theater because it would endanger people or incite a riot. We don't even have the freedom from harm or danger or fear in our constitution or amendments, but we uphold it OVER one person's right to yell a particular word. Is not protecting the rights and life of a baby more important than the right or choice of someone to a certain lifestyle or body choice?
i know it is not easy for anyone deciding about abortion. i have had friends face those tough choices. But when you think about all the issues, it's much much harder, although maybe it's harder because the right thing to do is easier to see. i think most people try to avoid that. i think my own responsibility as a Christian is to help build a Church and a society that accepts, supports, and loves the mothers, families, and children of unplanned pregnancies. i think THAT's what Christ calls us to do.
i'm currently reading Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America, an Evangelical's Lament.
The book is interesting. Some of it is lacking in thought. It's a typical uber liberal who doesn't understand the conservative mindset at all and has made no real effort to see things from that perspective. It's just as frustrating from the opposite side too. He goes on and on about how the Bible has nothing to say about abortion. He says this because he doesn't consider abortion killing or murdering someone. If you're a super conservative, you see it as exactly that. So then the Bible has lots to say about abortion. It's all in how you define it. i am probably more frustrated on this topic than any other topic. NO ONE in the medical field can precisely determine when a fetus becomes a "person." There's no exact day or moment. For practical purposes, they define an early stage and late stage and when it's legal to "terminate/kill" a fetus. However, every doctor will tell you that there's no magical day they SUDDENLY become a "person." Just like no sudden day you're no longer a kid or no exact moment you become elderly. It's developmental. So from a purely secular stand point, there's no way to determine when a baby is a legal person because you can't declare when they suddenly become a person and stop being a fetus which apparently is not alive.
Some medical experts will say it's when the baby can live without the mother's help. Well excuse me, but that's not until a kid is 5 or 6. No 3 or 4 year old could survive alone in the forest or on the street. They'd be killed or starve to death. What about being able to breathe on its own or biologically survive outside the womb? Well, many full-term babies are unable to do that. And many premature babies need the same care. As medical advances get better, babies can survive younger and younger. Does an advance in medicine change the definition of when someone is a person?
Ugh. If the medical profession can't agree on any magic moment, then the best you can do is say conception, at least as a secular person. And the Bible says that God knits us together in our mother's womb. So from a faith-based point of view, the same is true.
This is usually the point where an anti-pro-life person will launch into all the practical reasons why it should be legal. They'll talk about incest and rape and teenage mothers, etc. These are all tragic cases and the require compassion and sympathy and more than a firm no. They'll talk about back-alley abortions, etc. The same people who think that we can solve war and racism and sexism and genocide homophobia with words and societal pressure and discussion and love and compassion and understanding don't think we can do the same for mothers of unplanned pregnancies. They don't think maybe a society open and accepting and supportive of adoption could change all that. Why would it work for problems as big as abortion and hatred and genocide and not for unplanned pregnancies?
Mostly, these arguments come up when they don't want to discuss how tricky it is to label a fetus and when it becomes a person. That's too hard to accept. They want to discuss how it's a woman's choice and a woman's body, etc. Well, we live in a society that believes your rights only extend as far as they don't hurt or infringe on the rights of others. We are a society whose very first amendment is the right to free speech, and YET we limit it. You cannot yell fire or bomb in a crowded theater because it would endanger people or incite a riot. We don't even have the freedom from harm or danger or fear in our constitution or amendments, but we uphold it OVER one person's right to yell a particular word. Is not protecting the rights and life of a baby more important than the right or choice of someone to a certain lifestyle or body choice?
i know it is not easy for anyone deciding about abortion. i have had friends face those tough choices. But when you think about all the issues, it's much much harder, although maybe it's harder because the right thing to do is easier to see. i think most people try to avoid that. i think my own responsibility as a Christian is to help build a Church and a society that accepts, supports, and loves the mothers, families, and children of unplanned pregnancies. i think THAT's what Christ calls us to do.
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