What if I told you abortion was OK in the Eyes of YOUR God?

Question

http://www.elroy.net/ehr/abortion.html

If you don't read the article, then don't bother giving an answer. I will choose the best answer based on how well thought out it was, not on whether or not you share my side of things. Responding without reading reveals you as an ignorant, unintelligent fool uncapable of reading anything that doesn't agree with their opinions.

Now then, I found this article extremely interesting. Especially the fact that its true purpose is to show religion should not be used to prove abortion wrong or right. Religion, the article says, should be kept out of this hot-button issue.

My question is this: Do you agree with what the article is saying? That we should not decide whether or not abortion is ok by using the Bible? Should the rights to abortion be decided purely with logic?

If you post something simple like: Abortion is murder! Or anything like that, you'll quickly be written of as an idiot. I want long, thought-out answers.

Excerpt from the article: "In Ezekiel 37:8-10 we watch as God re-animates dead bones into living soldiers, but the passage makes the interesting note that they were not alive as persons until their first breath."

I promise the rest of the article has even better, more concrete examples I bet none of you have even noticed before in the bible.

I figured I'd have 20 responces from people who didn't bother to read the article. Convenient, hm, the reasons you give not to?

Just read it. I can almost guarantee that since you're all set in your ways, it wont change your mind anyway. I don't care if your opinion differs, but I want a good answer. And in this context, a good answer can only come from reading the article. I want informed answers.

I'm not trying to change your mind, I'm trying to get you to see that there are two sides to everything. Not everything is black and white.

Answer 1

First, let me say that I am answering this as someone who is not a Christian. I want to make that viewpoint clear.

Now, my answer:

I believe that there is no way to leave religion out of the abortion issue, and I don't believe that women (or their partners) should even try to. On the otherhand, I don't think that Organized Religion should be making laws.

Abortion is a complicated issue, filled with fear and hope and pain and confusion, and there is no time that a spiritual person will more need to be in comunion with God/gods. A woman (or her partner) needs to find a personal sense of what God is telling her to do and be at peace with that.

To do this, I think that people should be well informed. I think that people who are Christians should read the Bible. How can you claim a faith without knowing the foundations of that faith. Read it for yourself and see what you find it says about abortion. Pray. Meditate. Ponder and discuss. Do what you need to find a personal solution that you feel is in sync with what God needs for your life.

As for organized religion and people who take verses out of context, thus is the way of the world. It is not right. It is not good. However, it is the way it is. Organized religions will always pick and choose the pieces that give them the most power, because power is what keeps them alive.

It is the duty of humanity to scrutinize the goals of Organized religion and determine whether those goals are just and true and good, and if they are not, to fight to change things.

Answer 2

The author of the article did not think through what he had written. Yes there are several verses in the book of Job where he had wished that he had not been born, but he doesn`t really say why Job would make such a statement. It is very simple, Job was experiencing difficult times, and he recognized that those who are not born will not have to endure similar difficulties.

The verses also point out that it is well for the child who is still born or miscarried, but it does not include those cases where the pregnancy was deliberately caused.

If God thought that it was such a good thing, then why wouldhe allow punishment for a pregnancy that was terminated as the result of an accident?

You can plainly see from the verses presented, that the Bible does not codone deliberately terminated pregnancies, and that it requires punishment of accidentally terminated prenganncies. Since the author stresses that the Bible be read in context, we should not kill and unborn child, nor harm the body of the mother wbecause it serves as the temple of God, and rather than getting pregnant, a woman should exercise her power of choice to not have sex becuase it is an activity that naturally results in pregnancy. It is better to know what the Bible says than to twist the verses to mean what you want it to mean.

Answer 3

I agree with not taking scripture out of context. I agree that no where does the bible say "do not have an abortion". I have a personal preference that my children were my children at conception not birth. I would not have an abortion based on my personal belief not religious beliefs. If my life were in danger because of the pregnancy, I would consider abortion. If I was told my child would be born deformed, retarded, or dead I would not consider abortion. I say this with the most confidence because I have been told that my child would be born with a defect and would only live a couple of hours or maybe a few days. That child lived 6 days with his family before he went home to be with the Lord. Abortion should be a personal choice, but not freely given as a form of birth control. It should be a medically decided choice made by both of the parents if possible. No, a woman should not be forced to jeapordize her health and/or life just because the father does not want to lose his child. But a father should not be forced to lose his child just because a woman thinks she doesn't need a child right now. Abortion is good when used correctly, but will be one of those issues that every one argues over because religion has been brought into the picture. I do not teach my two daughters that God said "Abortion is wrong". I do teach my two daughters to make wise decisions and to realize they have to live with the consequences of bad decisions. Abortion is not birth control , so if you are willing to have sex you should also be willing to be a parent. I also think that underage girls should have a legal guardian or parent (again of both the male and female involved if possible) help them with their decision and sign consent forms if permitted to abort the pregnancy. Underage girls often think they are better off just not having the child based on their age. Very seldom are these teenagers told that they may never be able to have a child later on in life after an abortion is performed. I also know that there are circumstances where a child is so young that having the pregnancy go to full term could jeapordize future hope of having children. So, in short, I am a christian who thinks that when all facts are presented to all parties involved in the pregnancy, and it is medically better off to abort a pregnancy, it should be allowed. But this then raises the issue of who decides what is medically necessary, and who can prove before a child is born that they are the father and should have a say so in the decision. Abortion is much bigger than just wether or not it should be legal, or wether or not it is moral. Abortion is a choice that everyone has differing opinions on and always will.

Answer 4

I read the article. I think people can change versus of the bible and interpret them to mean whatever they want them to mean
But, if the leading people of a religion see that abortion is wrong then people who follow that religion should agree with it
The article even says reading those specific passages in the bible begs more questions then the one originally asked such as "is a fetus the same as a full grown human being?" And to that a Christian would say yes it is the same
There is no right or wrong answer here it is all in how people interpret the bible. Now whether or not I approve personally of abortion or not is irrelevant, I just think it's all in how people are interpreting the bible to mean what they want it to

Answer 5

I read the essay. His point seems to be that the Bible is taken out of context, and then he makes an argument by taking verses out of context. If you think that it is unclear from the Bible that abortion is immoral, then don't use it just to top someone else.

I don't think abortion policy should be based on any religious text. I think that it is wrong for a host of reasons, even if it is not illegal. Even Roe v Wade gives the government the right to protect the unborn after the fetus is 3 months. I think that if you put a mother in prison for killing her one day old child, that doing it 48 hours earlier is immoral. It has nothing to do with the Bible. I think that women suffer from the consequences of abortion.

I believe that neither a specific religious opinion nor a court case should decide an issue that ought to be determined by the people and their elected representatives.

Answer 6

I appreciate the author's point about how futile it is to lift Bible passages out of context in an effort to make a point - though I find it curious that the author spends the last third of the article doing that very same thing. Passages of Bible are best understood in their proper context, there's no doubt about that.

The author does not, however, argue that religion should be kept out of the abortion debate, as you suggest in your question. The author made it quite clear that the Bible should not be used to denounce abortion, but he does not address whether religion ought to have a legitimate voice on the question.

I believe that it should. Religion can inform the abortion debate in a couple of ways:

- Christianity, and Roman Catholicism in particular, leans heavily on the principle of natural law. On the issue of homosexuality, for instance, the church (not the entire church, mind you) rejects homosexual acts as sin because - to put it succinctly - God didn't design our "parts" to fit together that way. I think a similar appeal to natural law is powerful on the abortion question, as well. Since procreation is clearly the natural order of things, and since the natural way to bring a human being into this world is to unite egg and sperm and allow the infant to gestate in the mother's womb, then it follows that doing anything to disturb that process destroys life. That seems like a tough argument to crack.

- Christianity informs the debate in calling for a higher view of humankind. The article you linked spends a great deal of time immersed in the Law and Poetry of the Old Testament, which admittedly does not expound a very egalitarian view of humankind. But Christians believe that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets and that Christ blazed a new trail in human relations, making a point of exalting the poor, the humble, the lowly, the sick, the sinners, women, and other outcast groups of society. The innocent, helpless, blameless child in the womb, then, is just the sort of person whom Jesus would stick up for.

There are no doubt other important contributions that a Christian worldview can offer to the debate over abortion without getting bogged down in a battle of Bible verses. I think both of these are compelling, though you of course are free to disagree. I hope this answer has been sufficiently long and thought-out for me to avoid your idiot list.

Answer 7

I have better things to read then that article. And I don't have time to write a book of an answer so here it is honey...I don't think we should decide if abortion is right based on the bible alone. I also don't think you should decide purely on logic. I think when a person is in a situation where they need to make a decision of such caliber they should first pray and ask God to guide their decision, whatever it may be. the bible doesn't have the answer to this question though because it is not meant to be used in that manner. if you based the decision of abortion purely on the bible then you are not using it right. the bible is a guide, it is there to offer assistance in making decisions. yes there are some direct answers but most of it is left to your own interpretation, so it almost depends on who you ask.

making the decision based on pure logic will always leave you wondering what God would think and whether or not this is sinful, why not pray and ask him what he thinks first. you have to talk things over with Him first.

Answer 8

The article does make some good view points. I am a christian and before I was saved I had an abortion. For me I feel terrible now, but back then it was all I knew I could do. I don't judge others for what they do. I think if they are willing to hear your side of thinking then all you can do is say why you feel a way about something and allow them to make their own decisions without ridicule. I am a prime example, at the time it felt right for me to do. Now I don't feel this way, but only for me. Someone else will have their thought on this in their difficult situation and it is up to them to decide. I definately have an opinion on it when it is used as a birth control. I think it is awful for a birth control method. I knew a girl who did that in h.s. She had about 6. It ultimately depends on the person and situation.

Answer 9

OK. I read the article. The writer goes to great lengths to muddy the waters. And he fails miserably.

The simple fact is this: Since the earliest days of the Christian church there were people who were procuring and performing abortions (yes, even back in the 1st century).

There was no new testament scripture in existence at that time, so the church, exercising its' God given authority, determined that abortion is always wrong, simply by using common sense.

Abortion is a crime against nature, and against the natural law that is written in the hearts of all men, by God.

Similar acts of brutality had been practiced by various cultures since the beginning of mankind. God never failed to condemn every single one of them.

Since the early church also personally knew Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, and had just recently received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, it had excellent support for all of its' teachings.

Ultimately, it is the church, not the Bible, which determines true moral imperatives.

The fact that abortion is murder is one of those constant moral imperatives that God's church has always taught with authority, from the very earliest days ... and rightly so.

Answer 10

God created marriage of a man and a woman with a few purposes. The first was to model the unity and diversity in the Triune God-head. The second was to bring forth children. By making Man in His image, God spreads his Glory throughout the Earth. By procreating, man is fulfilling God's creation mandate (Be fruitful and multiply; I am giving you dominion over the Earth, fill it and subdue it). When a person chooses to abort a child in the womb, they are marring God's image, disregarding His mandate, rejecting His gift (Children are a gift from the Lord), and murdering an innocent life. Not one of those things can be blown off and called "right" when it is clearly "wrong" and a sin. What the author of the article is doing is EXACTLY what the serpent did to Eve in the Garden of Eden... Did God REALLY say.... and for that offense, every Christian should be in the Word deep enough to know what is true and what is false about God's teaching for us. Sadly, many will let themselves be led astray by articles like this. That is why Paul warns us so many times, Be on your guard for false teachers who will lead you astray.