Posted on 06/13/2014 4:11:21 AM PDT by rhema
Casey Mattox, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel, wrote the following open letter to Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Dear Ms. Richards:
I recently learned that Planned Parenthood has published a "Pastoral Letter" which tells women:
"The truth is that abortion is not even mentioned in the Scriptures—Jewish or Christian—and there are clergy and people of faith from all denominations who support women making this complex decision."
It appears that this letter is no longer available on your website, but an archived version can be found here for your reference (page 3). While I disagree with Planned Parenthood's exegesis of Scripture, I am not writing to debate that point. Instead, I write to express my agreement with Planned Parenthood, reflected in the publication of this pastoral letter, that for many women their religious beliefs will be very relevant to their decision about whether to have an abortion.
On that common ground, on behalf of Alliance Defending Freedom, I would like to offer Planned Parenthood one free copy of the Bible for every Planned Parenthood facility in the country. Planned Parenthood could place these Bibles in their waiting rooms and permit women the opportunity to explore for themselves what the Jewish and Christian Scriptures have to say about abortion. There is no doubt that we are on opposite sides of this theological and moral question. But as we are in apparent agreement that Scripture and its teachings (or lack thereof in your view) on abortion would be relevant to many women's abortion decisions, making these Bibles available to those women would certainly benefit your potential customers.
To allay any concerns you might have, the Bibles Alliance Defending Freedom would provide to Planned Parenthood would be new unmarked copies. For instance, we would not highlight Psalm 127:3 ("Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward"), Psalm 139:13 ("You knit me together in my mother's womb..."), Psalm 22:10-11 ("You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother's womb you are my God") or Jeremiah 1:5 ("Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart").
We would not dog-ear Exodus 20:13 ("You shall not kill"). Nor would we even place a bookmark at Luke 1:41, 44 (where the "baby [John the Baptist] ... leapt for joy" in his mother's womb when the baby Jesus was nearby in Mary's womb).
Rather, we would make these Bibles available, unedited and without emphasis of any kind, allowing those women visiting a Planned Parenthood facility to review them themselves.
We look forward to assisting you in this effort to ensure that women are empowered to decide for themselves what the Bible teaches on this important question. Please let me know at your earliest convenience the addresses to which each Bible should be sent.
Sincerely,
Casey Mattox
Clever.
How about "Thou shalt not Kill"
I don’t see abortion as a religious or “Christian” issue. I see it as just plain morally wrong to kill a baby.
That's actually thou shalt not murder.
The taking of innocent life.
We do find killing occurring in the Bible through wars, etc when the Israeli's were moving into the Promised Land.
Obedience of the midwives: Exodus 1:15-22
Command against shedding of innocent blood: Deuteronomy 19:8-10.
Abortion is premeditated murder. What don't they understand?
It’s actually ‘Thou shalt not kill’.
It’s in the Bible. ‘Thou shalt not murder’ is not.
I don’t know that PP can take the chance. It’s already tough enough to find baby butchers to staff their murder mills; they can’t afford to lose any due to spontaneous combustion of these killers when coming into the presence of the Word of God.
With all due respect, it matters what translation you happen to use. The proper direct Hebrew translation is specific to murder.
http://www.devotedservants.com/commandments.htm
It is a translation issue, and “murder” is the better translation.
I believe the literal Hebrew translation of that commandment is “Thou shall not Murder.”
But that is semantics...
The idea that these murder farms will have Bibles in them is almost laughable...IF it weren’t for the seriousness of the issue...
I suspect (a solid guarantee) these Bibles to be mostly tucked away in a box somewhere in a closet, or up on an administrators shelf collecting dust...
It’s in the Bible. ‘Thou shalt not murder’ is not.
Are you one of those who believes the original Biblical text was given in the King James English? Hebrew is a little more complex than 15th century English. There are several different words in the Hebrew that are all translated simply as "kill" in King James English. The Hebrew word for "kill" in the Ten Commandments is not just a transitive verb meaning to end a life, but is a very specific word meaning "murder". So while technically the phrase "Thou shalt not kill" is the verbatim phrase found in the King James Version and most familiar to us, a more accurate translation is "Thou shalt not commit murder."
You shall not murder. NIV, NLT, ESV, NASB, HLCB, ISV, NET Bible, Jubilee Bible 2000, Young's Literal Translation Word English Bible.
I believe these are using the more accurate Greek texts we have available where as KJV is pulled from texts not considered to be as accurate.
KJV, KJ 2000 Bible, American KJV, ASV, Darby, Websters
In the NT when this commandment is quoted the word translated as murder in most of the passages in the greek.
The intent is not to take innocent life.
If it were kill, then the wars of the OT when the Israeli's were taking the Promised Land would have been in violation of this commandment. God doesn't contradict His Word.
Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..."
Proverbs 6:16-17 "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood."
Bibles
No, blockades!
Why is it that only our Muslim friends seem to have any GONADS left in this world?
Amen.
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