[syriacus]

I once heard a debate between John Rankin of The Rankin File and Kate Michelman. John asked Kate if she knew when a fetus became a human being. She answered that she did not, and that she did not want to know because she didn't want to be in the business of deciding that for someone else.

Michelman can refuse to think about the timing, but she might as well stick her head in the sand. Her position reminds me of the position taken by a woman who ran a problem-solving column in our local paper.

Someone wrote her and asked how putting larger tires on his car would affect his speedometer. He wondered if his speedometer would show his speed to be slower than it really was, or if his speedometer would show his speed as faster than it really was, or if it would still register the actual speed.

Various people replied with their opinions and explanations. Since the opinions contradicted one another, the woman who wrote the column decided that there was no correct answer.In effect, she made it sound as though believing all answers are equally correct, could make them all equally correct. She didn't bother to investigate further to see which answer was right.

In reality there IS a correct answer for what will happen to that man's speedometer.

[MHGinTN]

Depending on the size of the tire difference, at 70mph, if the highway patrol is ticketing anyone going 5mph over the posted speed limit, the guy would be trolling for tickets every time his speedometer read 70mph. Kate Michelman, on the other hand, will spend eternity in torment, though she would say she doesn't believe in Hell so she can't possibly go there.

[ArGee]

Various people replied with their opinions and explanations. Since the opinions contradicted one another, the woman who wrote the column decided that there was no correct answer. In effect, she made it sound as though believing all answers are equally correct, could make them all equally correct. She didn't bother to investigate further to see which answer was right.

This is the faith fallacy and a statement of incredible arrogance. If we can not know an answer with certainty the answer must not exist. After all, if the answer existed, the exalted human mind would be able to find out the answer.

We refuse to accept that there is a truth whether we can determine it or not. Our job is to continue to try to find it, even if we know in advance we are doomed to fail. The idea that we may be doomed to fail really upsets the arrogant among us.

There is a truth about whether G-d exists. It is a fact, not a matter of opinion. No human being will be able to find more proof than we have now without dying. But our inability to see Him has no bearing on whether He exists.

In the same way, there is a true point at which cellular material becomes a full fledged human being. We may or may not ever be able to figure out that point. But that doesn't change the reality. The point is a matter of fact, not opinion. Anyone who kills a child after that point has committed murder.

For myself and my nation (law), as long as there is doubt, I would rather err on the side of too soon rather than too late.

Shalom.