{"id":8532,"date":"2003-01-19T20:51:31","date_gmt":"2003-01-20T01:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/2003\/01\/19\/abortion-and-christianity\/"},"modified":"2003-01-19T20:51:31","modified_gmt":"2003-01-20T01:51:31","slug":"abortion-and-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/2003\/01\/abortion-and-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion and Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interesting article<\/a>
\nabout the variances in statements about abortion in various Christian
\nChurches.<\/p>\n

The Episcopal Church, 1994
“While we acknowledge that
\nin this country it is the legal right of every woman to have a medically safe
\nabortion, as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it
\nshould be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a
\nmeans of birth control, family planning, sex selection or any reason of mere
\nconvenience. . .<\/font><\/p>\n

Right? This certainly concedes a lot on their part. The word right is bandied
\nabout by a lot of groups but the definition seems to be all over the map. The
\ndeclaration of Independence says “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
\nall men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
\ninalienable rights.” Inalienable rights are those rights that can not be taken
\naway, and in this reference those given us by God. If rights are only given by
\nthe government then they can be taken away. If you believe in the governments
\nability to create rights then pro-abortion groups shouldn’t complain if the
\nso-called rights are taken away. If you don’t believe in God-given rights, then
\nwhat becomes the source of rights in a random universe? If your chances for
\nexistence are a massive improbability then how does this associate with rights
\nthat pertain to every human being? Because you are a more highly evolved
\norganism then other you then automatically have rights assigned to you? In a
\nsociety where morality is more and more subjective why are rights, especially
\nabortion rights, seen as absolutes?<\/p>\n

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 1992
“We affirm the
\nability and responsibility of women, guided by the Scriptures and the Holy
\nSpirit, in the context of their communities of faith, to make good moral choices
\nin regard to problem pregnancies. <\/font><\/p>\n

“We call upon Presbyterians to work for a decrease in the
\nnumber of problem pregnancies, thereby decreasing the number of
\nabortions.<\/font> <\/p>\n

I really don’t like the choice of the words “problem pregnancies.” Pregnancy
\nis not the problem but the acceptance and support by family members and friends.
\nHow many abortions would there be if family members and friends were very
\nsupportive of that person and were helping them out?<\/p>\n

Southern Baptist Convention, 1984
“Be it further
\nresolved, that we deplore the practice of performing abortions, as well as
\ndispensing to minors without parental consent or even notification,
\ncontraceptive medications which have potentially dangerous side effects, and
\ndeplore also the use of tax funds for such activities; and<\/font><\/p>\n

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2002
“Abortion
\nis a violation of human rights incomparable in magnitude and an atrocity for the
\nwhole human family. . . . We are committed, no matter how long it may take, no
\nmatter the sacrifices required, to bringing about a reversal of this tragic
\nSupreme Court decision. We will speak out on behalf of the sanctity of each and
\nevery human life wherever it is threatened, from conception to natural death,
\nand we urge all people of goodwill to do likewise.”<\/font> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Before becoming Catholic I thought I was pro-life. I was an increasingly
\npro-life atheist, even though I wouldn’t have been able to defend my beliefs
\nwith my belief system. I didn’t believe in the existence of souls, but I
\nbelieved in human life at conception. It would have been more consistent if I
\nbelieved that the development of thinking processes built up to a point where it
\nthen wouldn’t be right to have an abortion, that would have been more in line. I
\nalso had no problems with contraception and sterilization. It seems to be a
\nstate secret that some forms of contraception can also act as abortifacients ,
\nwhere they don’t prevent conception but starve to death the embryo or don’t
\nallow them to implant. Now the absence of this information isn’t to surprising
\nfor most of the major media, yet I have heard thousands of hours of conservative
\ntalk radio and I never heard this mentioned. This information also seems to be
\nmissing from Protestant churches (and also in Catholic parishes), where even if
\nthey don’t believe in abortion they support it through those forms of
\ncontraception. I was also for the rape and incest exemption. I might not have
\nthought that the death penalty should be used for rapists, yet as a result I was
\nfor the death penalty for a child as a result of rape. On my way into the Church
\nthe Pope’s encyclical The Gospel of Life<\/a> was
\ngreatly influential to me. This was a consistent across the boards message on
\nthe sanctity of human life, from abortion and contraception to the death
\npenalty; this was a cohesive overview of the Churches teachings. When I hear the
\nlabel on politicians of being 100% pro-life I wonder if that includes
\nrape\/incest exemptions, embryonic Stem Cell research, cloning of any form, and
\nIn Vitro Fertilization? A real 100% percent pro-lifer is very rare in political
\ncircles, yet I am glad for those who are pro-life in any way. Whether that
\nperson is an atheist who is against partial birth abortion or someone who is
\nagainst abortion in most cases, I am thankful for those of goodwill. The
\nBishop’s message and the Pope’s encyclical were both addressed to people of
\ngoodwill, not just those who support 100% catholic beliefs and I hope those with
\nsome pro-life convictions will grow in them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interesting article about the variances in statements about abortion in various Christian Churches. The Episcopal Church, 1994“While we acknowledge that in this country it is the legal right of every…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pro-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splendoroftruth.com\/curtjester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}