The Ten Biggest Lies of My Lifetime

Rational Review ^ | September 27, 2009 | J. Neil Schulman

[NewCenturions]

Nope, Abortion IS murder. No amount of faulty logic can change that.

[TruthInThoughtWordAndDeed]

You lost me at “Abortion is Murder”

[Mr. Lucky]

Sorry, but anyone who feels compelled to post a vanity thread set in oversized bold type under red headlines isn't really confidant of the wisdom of his or her own argument.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Yeah, Neil, 7 out of 10 isn’t bad.

[Hardastarboard]

The statement that a new human life begins with conception is biologically true but not true according to anyone who actually believes in the existence of an immortal soul. If one believes in an immortal soul then a new human life begins the first moment that an immortal soul exists within a human body.

Good article, but the author gets twisted inside out on his own logic here. If you believe in an immortal soul, the soul existed BEFORE the cells combined to start a new life. If you destroy the cells, you destroy the avenue by which the soul would have come into the world. Duh.

[marktwain]

I like Neil a lot, even if I don't agree with him all the time. He is someone who thinks outside the box and who writes extremely well. His novel, Escape from Heaven, is a wonderful, humorous read that makes you think.

[catfish1957]

Ixnay on 3 and 9. Othewise I agree,

[Diogenesis]

11. Obama is a natural born American, certified
by an open birth certificate, the DNC,
the US Congress and, of course, SCOTUS. [do I need a /s?]

[saganite]

Do you realize you’re posting to the author in the third person? Neil is the author and the poster if I read this correctly.

[Sherman Logan]

Per #3. A body becomes “ensouled” when it draws its first breath?

This opens the way to “full birth abortion.” Just put a plastic bag over the baby’s head as he’s being born.

No breath, no soul, no murder.

Why our concepts of when human personhood begins should depend on the pre-scientific musings of ancient Hebrew priests is beyond me.

BTW, the Catholic Church long considered human life to begin at “quickening,” when the mother becomes able to feel the baby moving. Their change of this position was based on better scientific understanding of the pregnancy process.

[Condor51]

So sorry. You fail. Only got a 60%

Study some more and take the test again next semester.

[Sherman Logan]

If you believe in an immortal soul, the soul existed BEFORE the cells combined to start a new life.

So for a soul to be immortal it has always existed? I don't think that is Christian doctrine. Sounds more like some sort of Eastern reincarnation dogma. Or possibly Scientology or Mormon.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

If one believes in an immortal soul then a new human life begins the first moment that an immortal soul exists within a human body.

Your ancestors came here for freedom of worship. Honor them by extending the same freedom to everyone else.

Sounds like a bit of a contradiction. The practical definition of human life, the one that transcends religious questions and applies to all human communities regardless of their religious makeup, doesn't rely on questions of the soul. Unless, that is, you want to impose your religious beliefs on them.

[Sherman Logan]

Per #6.

You seem to be confusing correlation with causation.

Do you really plan to get up an inner-city posse to combat crime? A posse made up of the criminals themselves? Good luck with that.

I agress 100% that cops often get out of hand. In particular, the ongoing militarization of the police is troubling. But very few people will agree that we would be better off without police. If nothing else, a tremendous number of crimes would go unsolved without forensics, which requires a high degree of professionalism.

[Repeal The 17th]

Shilling for your book here on FR?
Is that even allowed?
-
You are wrong on point #3.
I believe that abortion IS murder.
And my belief is not based on a religious reason.
It is a scientific and moral belief.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

As ReleaseTheHounds said, 7 out of 10.

Maybe you'll do better with you next large font posting.

[Sherman Logan]

BTW, kudos for 1, 2 and especially 8.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

3. Abortion is murder....
The statement that a new human life begins with conception is biologically true but not true according to anyone who actually believes in the existence of an immortal soul.

Reason #1 why most Jews are RATs! And also a lie.

I seriously doubt that most of the world's major religions believing in an afterlife, would agree with that baby-killer position...starting with the Pope.

[Cvengr]

The soul is created at the moment of birth, as distinct from the body which is formed and passed genetically and grows within the womb.

There is association with perceptions between body and soul, but too many phenomenon of perceptions in the soul, which are not associated with the body, to identify the body as the soul.

The issue is a classic Creation vs Seminal interpretation of the origin of human life.