May

Living the Life of Tolerance

Posted by greg Published in Life Lessons, On My Mind

Abortion

Every year there are approximately 1.37 million abortions in the United States and about 3,700 abortions every day in the United States. Abortion is a very controversial issue that has two extreme sides to it. The two extreme sides of the issue are the views of pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life is the idea that a fetus has a right to live and should not be aborted. Pro-choice is the idea that a fetus is not yet a human life and that it is the mother’s choice whether or not she wants to kill the baby. Abortion is a greatly debated topic that may never reach a conclusion. To see views on both sides of the issue, click here.

What does tolerance mean today?

I am hurting for some reason these days. I can’t put it into words. I understand where Tolerance has gone from being OK to hate the wrong but accept the wrong doer to if you not only don’t accept the wrongdoer but the wrong also then you are a member of an extremist hate group. This post may come across as one sided and close minded. I hope you understand that I am genuinely struggling here. I guess I am just so much in the dark on how anyone could claim it is their right to deal with an unwanted pregnancy literally choose to eradicate a life from inside them. I don’t want to be labeled a fanatic just because of my beliefs in this area. Please hear me out.

I am struggling a little with the shift taking place in our country. This is not unprecedented. I learned what Partial Birth Abortion was during the Clinton days. President Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t want the ABORTION debate to go away, while giving a captivating commencement address at Notre Dame. I think it is a good thing. My fear is that his rhetoric of saying, “We are no longer a Christian nation” will end up putting those who, like the Catholic Church, consider life to begin at conception, on the most hated haters list somewhere. In other words, Obama can easily say, “I don’t want it to go away” on the one hand, but on the other, set the cultural tone in this country that anything but Pro-Choice is nimwitted.

Joe Biden seems to be in a very difficult position. On NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, a Roman Catholic, said he is “prepared to accept the teachings of my church” that life begins “at the moment of conception.” But he stressed that “there are an awful lot of people of great confessional faiths…who have a different view.” I can see that, although those numbers are dwindling. What links would I need to go to that will give me a reason why this debate is even ocurring? For instance and I am naive, do people still consider a fetus a mass of tissue and not a life? It seems to bme it would be like someone saying, “I still believe that Evolution is true.” There is so much scientific evidence against such a notion. If the issue hangs on that…should there still be a debate? I mean really should there be? If I was able to write and not be misunderstood I would. I have seen at least 4 ultrasounds live. I have heard heart beats. Someone please tell me (i want to be teachable) what are the other arguments that someone gives who wants to end their pregnancy. I heard someone on Fox News say that Obama is toning his rhetoric down and wants to pursue how to stem the tide of unwanted pregnancies. My ears perked up. So another issue is, “it is an unwanted pregnancy.” In other words, it will get in the way of what I want to do with my life. It is like a nail on the highway of my life, just stop the car and kick it out of the way. I guess the more I write, the more I get confused with a Pro-Choice perspective. Understand I totally want to understand, I am not sure if I can be convinced. But I would love to be able to build a bridge and find common ground. Please help me. I don’t agree with most Pro-Lifers that all abortion must be illegal. I would be OK and probably would not be liked by Pro-lifers if abortion was OK in the case where a doctor with support of another doctor says, “the mother’s life is in grave danger.” I would even go so far as rape…I understand that these numbers are so low that it doesn’t even hardly register on the stats. I am simply struggling with a heart full of questions and a mind full of pain.

Just google ABORTION and see for yourself…check out the images. One image showed a full fledged young kid sitting there dead. I remember when my nephew had to be delivered still born. I still remember holding him in my hand (not hands). I remember performing the funeral ceremony. I remember seeing the almost 200 people (a large gathering for a still born funeral) standing there celebrating a LIFE that didn’t quite make it to term but nonetheless lived. My sister and brother in laws already developed dreams, were feeling the sense of emotion, etc. IT WAS A LIFE!

Then I was watching a critic explain how inconsistent pro-lifers are. He said something like, “here are a group of people that are pro-death penalty on the one hand but pro-life on the other.” Is he serious? Is that really an argument? Someone who has lived through the birth process, grows up and makes a choice to take another’s life and choosing to put that person to death is the same as killing a person who hasn’t gone through the birth process. Chances are some of the babies, if they had a chance to live, would kill but not the majority.

I am heart broken right now…I am struggling. If you don’t know me, then you don’t know that I tend to ask the hard questions and truly want to hear another’s perspective. I have been changed before. I am reading what prominent Christian “emerging” Leaders are saying about this. They are urging evangelicals to consider how to find common ground. I am with them. I am simply struggling with Evangelicals who are simply setting this debate aside in order to trumpet the Green Debate on recycling. I once heard someone say, “the important issue today is whether we are recycling and taking care of Greenhouse gasses, not abortion.” I do understand that in order to get to a place where Roe v. Wade is reconsidered a ton of concessions have to take place. I just can’t see how a person thinks they have the rights that they profess they have with a life inside of them. Please help….:::….

I don’t intend to sound all seminarianesque here with these two questions, but I would like to hear a Biblical argument vs. a personal feelings argument.

CAN ANYONE ARTICULATE A CLEAR BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO THE PRO-LIFER THAT SHOULD CONVINCE THEM NOT TO BE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THE ISSUE FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE?

CAN ANYONE ARTICULATE A CLEAR BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO THE PRO-CHOICE PERSON THAT SHOULD CONVINCE THEM NOT TO BE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THE ISSUE FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE?

Links of pics and other thoughts: (warning: graphic at times)

PRO-CHOICE Articles-

Abortion Rights are Pro-Life- Do you agree with this article?
Abortion is Pro Life- Check out the FAQ section

Is abortion murder?
Murder is the taking of the life of another human being through the initiation of physical force. Abortion is not murder, because a fetus is not an actual human being—it is a potential human being, i.e. it is a part of the woman. The concept murder only applies to the initiation of physical force used to destroy an actual human being, such as when “pro-life” terrorists bomb abortion clinics. This is from the link above.

It is sounding like it is the woman’s right to do what she wants with her body. The embryo has no rights since it is connected to the woman’s body. Abortion as Pro Life is really saying, “If the woman doesn’t want this series of cells in her that will complicate her life, her liberty and her pursuit of happiness, then she can dispose of those cells.” Those cells are not human only potentially human.

If a woman chooses to have sex with a man, and she becomes pregnant, then doesn’t a fetus have a right to be inside her?
The essential issue is not a matter of ones sexual history, but a matter of rights. As there is no such thing as the right to live inside another, whether the fetus is removed, because of incest, or rape, or “convenience” does not matter politically—whatever the reason, it is the woman’s inalienable right.

Some Pics that are interesting:

Click here to go to the official pro-choice website designed to help women make educated decisions.
Since 1973, there have been 48,589,993 abortions and counting in the United States. Is this ok?

WOW! THIS TURNED INTO SOMETHING BIGGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD!

Abortion: an issue that will probably never be put to rest.