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Posted on 01/22/2003 5:58:42 AM PST by meandog
The Bible never mentions abortion, but it does offer support for choice.
By Marjorie Brahms Signer
The 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, has created a huge amount of misinformation about the nature of being pro-choice. Starting with President Bush’s new proclamation of National Sanctity of Human Life Day, the purpose seems to be to portray those who are pro-choice as godless and heartless. But being pro-choice is firmly grounded in the Bible.
Who is pro-choice and religious? Denominations with official and long-standing pro-choice positions include the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and Reform and Conservative Judaism. These organizations have a diversity of views about abortion and recognize it as a morally complex decision that must be made by the person most affected--the woman.
Among religious groups, the pro-choice position is nuanced, recognizing that most people believe abortion--as well as bearing children—are matters for individual conscience, not government or religious mandate. Pro-choice denominations don’t seek to impose their views on others or to make them law. They recognize that in our pluralistic society, politicians must not be allowed to impose laws about childbearing based on any particular belief about when life begins. The notion that life begins at the moment of conception is a belief held by some, but not all, religious groups.
In fact, the Bible never mentions abortion and does not deal with the question of when life begins. Genesis 2:7 (God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being”) refers to the specific, unique event of the creation of Adam out of the earth. It says nothing about the process of conception, pregnancy, and birth.
The Book of Exodus clearly indicates that the fetus does not have the same legal status as a person (Chapter 21:22-23). That verse indicates that if a man pushes a pregnant woman and she then miscarries, he is required only to pay a fine. If the fetus were considered a full person, he would be punished more severely as though he had taken a life.
Religions have many different--and changing--tenets about abortion. Some oppose abortion in all cases because they believe human life begins when an egg and sperm meet. They hold this belief even though medical science defines pregnancy as beginning with the implantation of the fertilized egg. Others believe abortion must be allowed in cases of rape and incest. Some believe abortion is required in certain circumstances, such as when a woman’s life is in danger.
Many religions believe the decision must be the woman’s because she is the person most affected.
Christians and Jews agree that all life is sacred--the life of a woman as well as the potential life of a fetus. Many Protestant Christians emphasize the New Testament’s teaching of the priesthood of all believers, meaning that everyone has direct access to God and therefore the ability to do God’s will.
The Bible tells us that God acts within human beings to set us free and enable us to assume responsibility for ourselves. If we make wrong choices, God forgives us. Humans, by the grace of God, have developed medicine, surgery, and psychiatry to prolong and enhance life. These same medical approaches can be chosen to prolong or enhance the life of a woman for whom a specific pregnancy would be dangerous.
(Excerpt) Read more at beliefnet.com ...
Try Luke 1: 26-38:
The angel said to Mary, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you ... Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son ..."
Good thing it was about 2000 years before Margaret Sanger.
OK, so is the author going to posit her own theory as to when life begins? No? Didn't think so.
Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ah, yes. The denominations famous for picking and choosing Bible doctrine that isnt offensive to the 2003 PC crowd and calling the rest "out of date".
They need to rely on these Christian "denominations" (mutations) to prove their immoral and un-Christian act as spirtually admisable.
Therefore no barf alert.
Again, the "biblical" aspect of this story is A JOKE!!! The story should have a BARF ALERT!!!
Wow, so you can pretty much decide for yourself what's right and wrong. That's some squishy theology.
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