Comments on: Is Religion Dangerous?

By: Maybe Religion is Okay After All | The A-Team Blog

Maybe Religion is Okay After All | The A-Team Blog — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 01:26:24 +0000

[…] wrote last week about the fear that many on the Left have of religion. Would eradicating religion from our society make this […]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 07:29:32 +0000

“I don't have time right now to look up any possible scriptures to support it”
If not the time, perhaps you can direct me towards resources that argue for permissible abortion?
“this just seems to me to be a moral dilemma to pick one of two difficult choices, both choices would theoretically take the life of a precious human person; and both choices would save the life of a precious human.”
Hmmmm….who makes the choice? Should the mother make the choice for her baby to abort the him/her? (Mr. O'Brien brings up good questions concerning such a scenario.) The baby is a life separate from the mother, therefore is protected under Law as any other life. So if the baby is protected under God's Law, is there any circumstance for which the baby can be executed? If one wishes to look at it in the perspective of sacrifice, under what circumstance under God's protective Law is it allowable for someone to sacrifice someone elses life?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 14:54:48 +0000

Victor,
I don't have time right now to look up any possible scriptures to support it, but this just seems to me to be a moral dilemma to pick one of two difficult choices, both choices would theoretically take the life of a precious human person; and both choices would save the life of a precious human.
I am not talking about preserving quality of life (I do not think that is always a good measure for making difficult moral decisions); I am talking about life.
The Bible, from my understanding does not talk a whole lot about abortion, but neither does it speak too much about child abuse, so in a sense it seems we are left to extract principles, talk to other wise folks, etc. to help us make difficult decisions and sharpen our Christian worldview. I could be wrong about this, but these are my too sense.
Derrick

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 03:59:58 +0000

Frankly, I have not found any reasoning from Scripture that would allow a mother to abort her unborn child. It's been said here that it is permissible if the mother's life is in danger. Is there any justification of that from Scripture, or is that a pragmatic solution?
Scripture does show that there is justifiable killing, such as execution for criminal punishment and in times of war, but neither is sufficient reason for aborting a baby. If there is Scriptural justification for advocating abortion under the circumstance to save the mother, I'd like to see this. Otherwise, to do such a thing would liken it to the euthanizing of the baby in order to give quality of life to the mother.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 14:44:49 +0000

Hmm, I thought I was discerning, not judging
Anyhow, clearly we differ on some terms and conditions. I leave the argument with a reference to Romans 14:1-12.
+Vicky

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 08:26:22 +0000

I consider myself niether Dem or Rep. I think both parties have serious flaws. I usually vote the lesser of two evils which usually but not always leans towards the Rep side of the board.
As for the acceptance of abortion in cases of the health of the mother. hmmm. shouldn't we be looking at this from both perspectives of the mother and the child. Should a mother kill her child to protect herself? If we truly trust our lives to God should we be worried about dying for the sake of the life of a child? Which life is of more value? Which life should we be protecting first? Wouldn't a good parent give his/her life for his/her child? Should we treat the unborn child any different?
just food for thought

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:16:31 +0000

Hey Vicky,
I think you have fairly characterized the extremes of abortion.
You said: “I think it's wrong to take a human life unless circumstances are extreme (self-defense, or the defense of loved ones, comes to mind as an example of circumstances where killing might be just). Another kind of extreme situation, ventured by other thinkers in the past, involves fighting an enemy (in war) who seeks to destroy you or to kill others. Advocates of moral war say that, for example, fighting Hitler was justifiable and killing an enemy attacking our country is just. I agree with those positions, and I feel that there are times when abortion is necessary or good–such as when the mother is in danger. ”
I think this is why one of the 10 Commandments says that murder is wrong/not killing. I would probably agree that abortion is permissible (I would be hesitant to call it good) when the mother's life is in danger. At this point you are not necessarily choosing to end a life, but rather choosing to save one.
I would say the only compelling reason to have an abortion is to save the life of the mother. However, it seems that most folks who support the “woman's right to choose” are not as concerned about a life or death situation for the mother, but almost any reason can be given (I have $500 and I don't feel ready/I feel it will be too much for me to handle, etc…) to have an abortion. The Democratic Party (as a whole) does not support any restriction on the mother's right to end the life of an innocent unborn human. The “woman's right to choose” is much better sounding than to “woman's right to kill your unwanted unborn baby”.
You said “In between these two parameters, or extremes, that I've described, there sits a grey area, a territory where human judgment may err. In that area, I wish people would make prayerful and educated decisions about unborn children.”
I would say that in that grey area, if we are not sure, we should err on the side of restraint and not kill it even if there is only the slightest chance it may be a human fetus (therby killing an underdeveloped human being)
You said: “People's decisions can only be legislated to a point.”
I like what MLK had to say about legislation. He said the laws/government can't make the white man like to negro, but it (gov't) can make it so the negro doesn't get lynched/hung. (my paraphrase) Perhaps one day, more people will realize what they have been doing to 40+ million lives. And may God have mercy on those of us who have aided in their destruction even if only by doing nothing to change people's minds. I know I have some blood on my hands…anyone else?
Derrick

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 04:25:49 +0000

Hi Derrick,
From what I've seen, thinking about abortion ranges from one extreme–abortion is never right under any circumstances–to another extreme–abortion is a woman's right at any time, no matter what the circumstances.
I think it's wrong to take a human life unless circumstances are extreme (self-defense, or the defense of loved ones, comes to mind as an example of circumstances where killing might be just). Another kind of extreme situation, ventured by other thinkers in the past, involves fighting an enemy (in war) who seeks to destroy you or to kill others. Advocates of moral war say that, for example, fighting Hitler was justifiable and killing an enemy attacking our country is just. I agree with those positions, and I feel that there are times when abortion is necessary or good–such as when the mother is in danger.
I don't think it's right for a woman to have casual sex and then abort the child because she did not think, or know, to use contraceptives. I don't feel it's right for a man to tell his wife or sexual partner that he doesn't want to care for a child, and therefore to tell her to seek an abortion. I don't think it's right to have a late-term abortion (I won't go into all possible definitions here, but those can be read about in other fora) unless there is a compelling reason of health.
In between these two parameters, or extremes, that I've described, there sits a grey area, a territory where human judgment may err. In that area, I wish people would make prayerful and educated decisions about unborn children. People's decisions can only be legislated to a point. I do make choices, in voting, based on my values, since I'm passionate about my Christianity and I try to be thoughtful about it also.
I'm not sure I've been clear. Please ask questions if you have them. I am interested in reading anyone's latest thinking about abortion!
+Vicky

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 03:09:47 +0000

Face, thanks for responding. I think we're on the same page here. There's no way I'd confuse a vote with a judgment. When I write of judging, I'm referring to the regrettably habit, amongst some liberals and some conservatives, of calling names, labelling, making offensive comments against those with whom they disagree. I'm not proud of the excesses of liberals, and I'm sure you might flinch from time to time at egregious comments by some conservatives. And I think liberals and conservatives feel judged by one another. My motive in opening this dialogue is to create a Christian bridge–even though we won't be voting alike, we can at least engage in respectful exchange of views.
+Vicky

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 20:29:40 +0000

Vicky, I just want to add that I think it's important to remember that we don't have to judge a candidate's relationship with God in order to vote for him or her (though Peter, John, Paul, and Jesus all spent time explaining how we can recognize false Christians, and they expected us to express some measure of judgment in this area–even Jesus said to make a “righteous judgment” in John 7:24). However, we certainly have the ability and the responsibility to judge positions held by the candidates in the light of revealed truth.
We don't need to confuse judging positions with judging people's hearts. Do I think a person is very wrong if he believes it's okay to kill an unborn child for any reason other than saving the life of the mother? Yes. Now, that person may have the best of intentions for holding that position, or he may not. I can't always see that. But the fact remains that his position is wrong. I will therefore speak out against his position. Saying he's wrong isn't judging his heart or his relationship with God, it's only judging his position. What I won't do is assume that he doesn't love God because he holds that position. That issue is irrelevant since the state of his heart has no bearing on whether or not his position is correct. Can you see how these two things can be separated?
Ironically, though people on the left often cry out against “judging,” I think they confuse these two things (judging hearts and judging positions) more often than people on the right. I don't know if you have observed this, but this is what I have seen. They disagree with conservative positions, therefore they conclude that conservatives have evil motives, they're selfish, greedy, racist, etc. I see heart judgments often coming from the left against conservatives (e.g., Kanye West's recent comment, “George Bush hates black people”). I agree with you that we need (most of the time) to avoid judging motives and hearts and only judge what we can see by analyzing the principles behind the positions and the results of those positions and determining whether they will bring about good or hurt.