Abortion: Philosophical Arguments

INTRODUCTION

What's contained in this post was originally presented alongside with the previous post (Abortion: A Scientific Argument). But for the sake of not making these monstrous in length, we'll break the into two parts. In this one, we'll consider some philosophical elements to the abortion debate.

IS IT HUMAN?

I once had the pro-life versus pro-choice discussion with an atheist. One of the points I made in our discussion was that an unborn baby is scientifically alive. This was his response: "Yes, it may be alive. But it is not human. It is a fetus."

How do we address this?

First, I believe that the burden of proof rests on people who make this claim. In other words, how do we know it's NOT a human? Common sense would say that there's no reason for us to think it was anything else. It's not like it's a cow or a weasel or a plant. It seems obvious that it's a human. Those who think otherwise should consider their reasons and be able to produce evidence to back up their strange claim.

But secondly, this sounds like a cop-out to me. Think about this for a second. If you were a proponent of abortion, but knew that a fetus was scientifically alive, what would you do to keep yourself from feeling bad about your worldview? Well, one option would be to simply dismiss the humanness of the baby, right? If you can explain away the fact that it's a human, you can continue to justify your stance. Thus, this seems to be less about explaining reality and more about reshaping reality to fit a pre-determined worldview.

As my conversation continued with this atheist, he explained to me what it means to be human. What he told me that in order to be human, "you must be able to survive on your own outside of the mother's womb." Now first of all, this is a very convenient definition since it eliminates the possibility of being alive inside the womb since it restricts humanness to "outside the womb." But beyond that, this ideology opens a dangerous can of worms as you may have already begun to realize. For example, some born babies can't survive on their own. Does that mean their not human? People who are on life-support can't survive on their own, are they human? A rhino can survive outside the mother's womb. Is it human? Reducing humanness to the ability to survive just doesn't seem to hold water.

THE DESTRUCTION OF POTENTIAL

Finally, consider this. You may have heard a version of this before.

"The grandmother is an alcoholic and the father spends his evenings out drinking in the taverns. The mother has tuberculosis. She has already given birth to four children. The first child is blind, the second child died, the third child is deaf, and the fourth child has tuberculosis. Now the mother is pregnant again. Given the extreme situation, would you recommend an abortion? If you said yes, you have just killed the famous composer, Ludwig van Beethoven!"

Now, from some things I read, the facts of Beethoven's family mentioned above may not be entirely correct. However, the point still stands. Potential is destroyed when an abortion takes place. Potential family members, friends, teachers, artists, athletes, politicians, and others are lost when you end a person's life.

This is simply another angle to look at this issue. It simply doesn't make a lot of sense to advocate abortions.

CONCLUSIONS

1. An unborn baby IS a human.
2. Abortion eliminates people    people with potential.

Abortion: A Scientific Argument

INTRODUCTION

As we continue with our discussion of abortion, we're going to look at a scientific argument to validate our stance that abortion is wrong and equal to murder.

THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR LIFE

One of the arguments proponents of abortion use is the idea that unborn babies are not even alive and aren't alive until they are born. Last time we made it clear that as Christians, we are to hold life in high regard. However, if a baby in the womb is not alive, then abortion cannot possibly be murder. Consequently, we must know whether or not an unborn baby is alive and at what point it does become living being.

An examination into the biological qualifications for life will result in various criteria that must be met. Some say there are x number of qualifiers while others say there are y number of qualifiers. But when you examine all of them and boil them down to their basic components, I believe there are 6 consistent themes. For a creature to be considered alive, it must
(1) be composed of cells,
(2) have levels of organization,
(3) take in and use energy,
(4) respond to stimuli or its environment,
(5) grow,
and (6) reproduce.

Let's look at these individually and see if they applies at conception.

(1) A living organism must be composed of cells. This one is pretty clear. We know that at conception, the fetus is composed of cells.

(2) A living organism must have levels of organization. Levels of organization would include layers such as tissue, organs, organ systems, etc. Obviously a fetus has distinct organs and organ systems later in development. But what about early in it's development. Well, consider this. We know that single-celled bacteria are alive, right? Right. Even though they are composed of a single cell, they have levels of organization such as the plasma membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, etc. Thus, at conception, a fetus is composed of cells that have levels of organization. Therefore, it meets this criteria.

(3) A living organism must be able to take in and use energy. As you should know, at fertilization, the fetus begins taking in nutrition from the mother and converting that into energy used to grow. If it did not do this, it would never grow.

(4) A living organism must be able to respond to stimuli or to its environment. There are several examples that we can point to that demonstrate that this is true for an unborn baby. First, it has been observed that babies do respond to the pain that comes from some forms of abortion. Second, unborn babies are able to respond to their mother's voice. Thirdly, from day 1, the baby has the ability to protect itself from harmful substances. An example of this would be that if a mother uses drugs while pregnant, the baby does have the ability to protect itself and survive. Does it always succeed? No. But it does have that ability beginning at fertilization.

(5) A living organism must be able to grow. This is clearly true for a fetus beginning at conception.

(6) A living organism must be able to reproduce. Obviously an unborn baby cannot produce viable offspring. Does this mean it fails this last criteria? Let's think a little bit deeper by considering another creature. A mule is the result of a horse and a donkey mating. However, mules cannot produce viable offspring. Does that mean the mule is dead? No. What qualifies it is the simple fact that it's living cells reproduce themselves. This is the case in all large creatures: their cells are continually reproducing in order to grow and/or replace dead cells. When it comes to a fetus, we know that it's cells are reproducing as that is the cause for it's growth. So even though at first glass, this seems to be the killing criteria, a fetus meets this one too.

CONCLUSION

All of these are true on day 1! Therefore, life begins at conception. What does this mean? It means that an unborn baby is just as alive as a full-grown human and therefore deserves the same right to protection of it's life as anyone else.

Abortion: The Biblical Argument

INTRODUCTION

As we begin a new semester, we're going to move from an examination of the foundation of moral thinking to an application of moral thinking. We're going to do this by spending time on various ethical issues that are not just critical issues, but issues that are discussed frequently in our culture.

We're going to begin by spending several weeks on the topic of abortion.

SIGNIFICANCE

Now abortion isn't just a hot-button topic, a lot hangs in the balance: human life. Of course, whether you believe that abortion is killing or not, we can all agree that millions of people don't exist today because of abortion. And obviously, if you do believe that abortion equates to murder, then this topic is of great significance.

To put some of this in perspective and emphasize the fact that a lot rests on how what you think of this issue, I want to share a few statistics.

A report came out recently with some astonishing numbers relating to the issue. You can view details of the report here. Here's some of the numbers that the research revealed.

- There have been 1 billion abortions worldwide in the last 100 years.

- There are roughly 12.5 million abortions every year

- Every six months of abortions is equal to the total death toll of the holocaust (about 6 million).

- Labeled the "greatest genocide in history."

- The numbers do not include abortions caused by abortifacient forms of contraceptives.

These are staggering numbers when you slow down to think about it. To make it more personal, consider this. For the purpose of illustration, let's suppose for a moment that 10 billion people have been born in the last 100 years (considering the current world population and birth rates, this isn't a bad guess). Now, if 1 billion babies have been aborted in that same time period, that would mean that somewhere around 1 out of every 10ish people who are born don't actually make it because of abortion. Since Dinner and Dialogue took place amongst a group of about 20, we were able to suppose for the sake of argument that there were perhaps 2 people missing from our group because of abortion. Obviously such a claim can't be proven, but the point remains: more abortions occur than what we'd normally think.

AN ATTITUDE OF LOVE

Before we derive our opinion on this topic from Scripture, it's important that we make note of something very important. 

Because abortion is a very sensitive issue, and one that many deal with and have dealt with personally, we must be extremely loving in how we talk about it and interact with people who've dealt with it. Why? Because God extends love and forgiveness towards people who have gone through this. Our attitude should be the same.

THE BIBLICAL ARGUMENT

But we still need to know what to believe on the issue. In this first part of our abortion discussions, we're going to address what the Bible says our stance should be. In future weeks, we'll take other approaches to enhance our understanding of this topic.

Let's begin by looking at a few verses that discuss the value of life. Why is life important?

God formed us! Psalm 139:13-16 - "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." This seems to imply a preciousness to life - especially unborn life.

God knew us! Jeremiah 1:5 - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

God made us in His image! Genesis 1:27 - "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." We are created in the image of God. That alone assigns incredible value.

God wants us to have life! John 10:10 - "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." This verse contrasts Satan's efforts to destroy and God's value for life.

Now, none of these verses say "abortion is bad" but they show the sanctity of life and even seem to imply a problem with abortion. But let's look at two verses that address the topic more directly.

Jeremiah 20:17 - "For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever." Some believe that abortion is fine because an unborn child is not alive. However, this verse talks about being killed in the womb. But you obviously cannot "kill" something that's not alive. Therefore, this verse insinuates that unborn babies are in fact alive.

Exodus 21:22-25 - "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

Some translations of this passage are used to eliminate the notion that this is a pro-life verse. Above is the NIV version that seems to be translated to incorporate the original meaning of the text. If you do an in-depth study of this passage, you see that this verse is best understood as written below.

Exodus 21:22-25 (enhanced to emphasize original meaning) - "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury (to the woman or the baby), the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury (to the woman or the baby), you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

John Piper has a great article that breaks down the original Hebrew words and meanings in this passage. You can find it here. But what this passage indicates is that if a baby dies in the womb, God saw it as a LIFE that was lost. Thus, abortion, which ends a life in the womb, would biblically qualify as murder.

CONCLUSION

What can we conclude?

- Abortion is a significant issue with millions of people dead because of it.

- We need to treat this topic with an extra dose of love.

- God values life.

- Abortion is murder.

Come to the Table

Conversation about difficult and controversial issues poses a healthy challenge for the follower of Jesus. On one hand, we want to stand with Jesus for truth, but on the other, we want to walk and talk with the grace He exuded during His life and ministry. As the Apostle John records, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14 (ESV). How can we walk with "grace and truth" like Jesus did? After all, truth is a non-negotiable reality, right? Something is either right or wrong, good or bad. How do we communicate truth with love?

What does it look like to have a difficult conversation about abortion or sexuality or the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ alone when someone who disagrees with us is sitting right across the table? It's interesting how the conversation must be handled with extra grace and humility when you're at the table with people who hold different views than you do.

This semester as we talk about a number of tough ethical issues facing our culture today, we want to make every effort to talk in a way that invites people of varying views to "come to the table."

Here's the bullet points from Thursday's discussion:

It's Advent Season!

This past Thursday was the last Dinner & Dialogue of the semester and it seemed fitting to take a break from the usual discussion to orient our minds toward Advent Season. Advent means "coming" and is intended to be a season of remembering the significance of the coming of Christ into the world. The following is our discussion from last week. Please reply with ideas or questions!

What Does Jesus’ Birth Really Mean?

1.  A     Cure                  for Sin (1 Peter 1:18-20)

2.         Promises            Kept!  (e.g., 2 Samuel 7:16; Micah 5:2, Isaiah 7:14)

3.  It shows that only a perfect       sacrifice             would do to make humankind right with God (Is. 64:6, John 1:14; 2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 9:13-14).

4.  God              speaks                         !  (Hebrews 1:1-2)

5.  It is God’s     love                  shown for all!  (John 3:16, Romans 5:8)

Some ideas for Christmas Traditions to Help You Remember the real meaning of Christmas:

• GIVING (heartfelt giving only, of course) – The Magi’s gifts (Matthew 2) set the precedent, but Jesus came to give!
• READ a daily Advent Devotional – find one in the YouVersion Bible App
• When told “Happy Holidays” remember that Christmas is a holy day!
• Re-enact the Christmas story or at least read it aloud with gusto.
• Have a Jesus stocking. Write a note of thanksgiving and commitment to Him and let them accumulate year after year.
• Sleep on the floor 1 night since there was no room in the inn for Jesus.
• Journal daily about what God is teaching you through His Word as you spend quiet time alone with Him throughout the season.
• Donate food & clothes to the needy.
• Give a gift to a less fortunate child or family.
• Redeem pagan or secular holiday practices (Christmas trees, Santa Claus, etc.) by intentionally overlooking some and by ascribing Jesus value to others.
• Bake a Birthday cake for Jesus – Chocolate with White icing & Cherry pie filling.
• Ask others not to give you a gift but to give to missions or to support the needy on your behalf.
• Tell the story of the candy cane to someone who does not know Jesus.
• Be helpful around the house as preparations are made for Christmas—be involved! Let your family see Jesus at work in you.
• Be loving to family—those who know Jesus and those who do not—so that your love will send a powerful message!

A Response to the Transgender Phenomenon

INTRODUCTION

We transition now to an application of what we've learned in moral philosophy. The next several weeks will be devoted to covering certain ethical issues. Today we will be studying how we should respond to the emerging transgender movement.

We're going to break this down into two primary responses that we should have when it comes this issue: love and truth.

RESPONSE: LOVE

Let's begin with love. First, why should we respond in love?
- We are sinners too. It's not as though we're superior people to transgenders and others who struggle with that issue.
- Love mirrors Christ. Christ extended incredible love to us when we were sinners. And because we are to be imitators of Christ, loving others is what we are to do.
- We must always love the person. We don't have to agree, support, or love the things that people do, but they're still people.
- Love can lead someone to change. If you have a quality relationship with someone, you can guide them in their decision-making and lead them to making a change.

Remember, even though the reality is that people who intentionally mess with the gender issue are sinning, it's not like the ultimate sin. Transgender-related issues aren't some unforgivable, separate category of sin. It's just like lying or selfishness or stealing or disobedience or whatever. Along that thought, if you know someone who has a problem with lying, do you completely shun them? Of course not! You still love them! So, if someone has a problem with gender confusion, do you shun them? Of course not!

A fascinating point that was addressed in a separate message later during the worship gathering had to do with the early Christian church. One of the reasons for their spread in the Roman Empire was that when the plague was devastating the region, it was the Christians who were going in and tending to the needs of the sick - even if it led them to dying from the disease themselves. What if today's Christians had a similar reputation: that we were known for reaching out in love to all - even people that we'd rather avoid and express frustration toward and criticize. How Christ-like would that be!

Nevertheless, part of loving others is being real with people and gently proclaiming truth. I have a weird obsession with cliff analogies so bear with me here for a second. suppose someone is walking unknowingly towards the edge of a cliff and we know it's there and see they're approaching it. We can't be of the mentality that it's "nice" and "good" and "tolerant" and "Christian" to be like "well if you want to, it's cool. I'll accept diversity. I may not agree, but I'm not gonna talk about the fact that you're making a poor decision. You go ahead." No! We warn them. Yes, we do it lovingly, but we warn them. Love cannot stay silent.

RESPONSE: TRUTH

That leads to our second response: we respond with truth.

And what is the truth? The truth is that you're either (and always) a male or (always) a female (and yes, there are some legitimate exceptions that can be hard to figure out, but those are very few and so we won't significantly address them here). but that's the way it is.

But how do we know that? How do you know someone's gender? Their feelings? Their decisions? Their anatomy? Something else? I believe the answer to be simple: genetics! Your DNA and chromosomes determine whether you are male or female. You can't change it. It's science. It's biology. It's just the facts. I'm not speaking in anger or hate here. I'm just wanting to be clear.

So consider, is Caitlyn Jenner a boy or a girl? Some would say a girl because that's his desire, choice and anatomy. But what is he, really? Genetically, he's a boy. He may not like to be called that, but that's doesn't change the truth.

That's the scientific truth. But how can we look at this theologically? Consider this verse: Deuteronomy 22:5 - "A woman must not wear men's clothing, nor a man wear women's clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this." This seems to be a pretty big deal to God. But why? Think of it this way, God has designed us a certain way and if we try to change what He's done, we're elevating ourselves above Him and playing god. In case you forgot, we are not God. God is God and what He's done and what He desires deserve immense respect. And since He's established our gender, we are to honor that.

But do we just yell this fact at people? Absolutely not! We gently discuss it and we pray. 2 Timothy 2:25-26 - "Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." Although this verse is not in the context of transgenderism, it is in the generic context of what to do when we face opposition to our faith. We must lovingly "gently instruct" people, but also hope and pray that they will one day accept the truth.

THE BATHROOM ISSUE

So how do we address the bathroom issues that have been going around?

First, this should never have been an issue in the first place. Up till now, society seems to have had common sense about respecting others and using the proper bathroom. And those who have a legitimately gender-confused anatomy knew what made most sense to use. I think people should still just have common sense and go where it makes sense to go.

Unfortunately, that's not the world we live in today. And here's the problem that I see. When you change the standard to be "whatever you associate yourself with, you can go there," you open up a dangerous can of worms. Why? Because anyone can make the claim that they associate themselves (for no reason at all) with the opposite gender. No one can legitimately confront them, because you've boiled down gender to a matter of opinion. When you eliminate a standard, you can't stop anything because you have nothing to appeal to. And what have we seen?

Unfortunately, we've been hearing stories of issues when people go and use the other locker rooms or bathrooms just because they're allowed to. And seriously, who's going to take advantage of this emerging ideology? Only the pure and sensitive of heart? I don't think so! It's going to be a significant amount of perverts and troublemakers.

I wish people could just use common sense about this.

Consider this argument that I wish I could claim to be my own: this whole "go where you want" bathroom ideology has called into question the reality of the man and woman. Those pushing this are suggesting that since you can choose your gender that "woman" and "man" are nothing but some kind of social notions and political constructs. But as a believer in science, the man and woman are factual and real! And because they are real, they deserve rights like the right to privacy and their own corresponding bathroom.

During the discussion, it was pointed out that we should remember that we've not been placed in a world that abides by our morality, nor should we expect it too. So to a certain extent, we must deal with the decisions the world makes. We can still do what we can to impact this world for good, but there's no reason to throw a fit and continuously whine because this is a fallen world and a world not devoted to Christ. Do we have to just drop all issues then and throw up our hands? No. But we have to find a balance when it comes to our attitude towards it.

CONCLUSION

What can we conclude?
- We must be loving about this whole issue.
- Yet, there is truth involved and we can't ignore it.
- That truth must be gently proclaimed and bathed in prayer.

The Election

INTRODUCTION

We did it! We finished moral philosophy! Today we'll take a look at what has been the hottest issue of the last year and a half: the election.

Rather than spend time discussing the candidates, I'd rather equip you more broadly and long-term by analyzing and comparing the party's platforms. We're not just voting for president this year and so it's more helpful to examine something that will help us make decisions on all candidates and the candidates to come in future elections.

As we do this, please keep in mind Biblical principles. It's easy to separate our political views and religious views and many of us do that. But our view of God and Scripture should directly impact our political stances.

PLATFORM COMPARISSON

Every four years, the Democrat and Republican parties gather to select their presidential nominee. During this time, they form their corresponding platforms which lay out their beliefs and stances on issues. From what I've heard, this year the Republicans released one of the most conservative platforms to date and the Democrats released one of their most liberal platforms to date. You can find the Republican platform here and the Democrat platform here.

It might interest you to compare the preambles of both platforms and notice the differing styles and outlooks. I won't type them out here since you can follow the links yourself.

For now, consider a side by side comparison of the two party's platforms that you can find it here. They do have you put in your e-mail, but then give you access. There's other comparison's that are easier to access, but this one seemed to be very fair and well-rounded. Below I'll give you brief summaries of where each party stands on some of the issues. These are very short and consequently don't encompass each party's entire stance (which is why you should read the platforms yourself), but they highlight key points.

Human Life
- Republicans: strong belief in the sanctity of life
- Democrats: promotion of unimpeded access to abortion

Planned Parenthood
- Republicans: defund it
- Democrats: continue funding

Judges
- R: appoint justices that support family values
- D: appoint justices that support equality

Religious Liberty
- R: promote freedom of conviction
- D: promote tolerance

Education/School Choice
- R: promote utilization of education options
- D: improve public schools

Obamacare
- R: repeal it and reduce government control
- D: keep it and build upon it

Marriage
- R: marriage between one man and one woman
- D: marriage rights to all

Iran
- R: crack down on Iran
- D: Iran deal will work

Foreign Assistance
- R: reverse the pushed agenda of Obama administration
- D: continue spreading a family planning-centered ideology globally

When we discussed how these platforms compare to Scripture, people pointed out what seemed to be a discrepancy between the democratic positions on life and marriage and the Bible's message on those topics.

WHERE CANDIDATES WILL STAND

Now, one of the reasons that the basic platform ideologies are important to know is because in general, candidates will abide by their platforms. When anyone runs as a democrat or as a republican, in general, their worldview and stances on issues will be mostly in line with what the platform says. And granted, this platform is oriented for the federal level, not the state or local level. Nevertheless it summarizes the ideas that local and state officials hold to.

Thus, when you vote for president, senator, representative, state senator or representative, attoryney general, secretary of state, treasurer, or whatever, this platform roughly explains where they'll fall on issues.

Specifically for U.S. congressmen, they vote the party line (their party and platform) about 90% of the time. Some more and some less, but they tend to stick to it.

Though this doesn't apply now that the election is over, but it was discussed that for Trump and Hillary, we all knew that they both had character flaws. So, a reasonable idea would be to cancel those flaws out and look at where they stand on the issues (which is what people should have been doing all along). When you do that, you see that, in general, they abide by their corresponding party's platforms. Consequently, whichever platform a voter most agreed with should have determined which president they should pick.

JESUS IS KING

As always, we must remind ourselves of the reality that Jesus is King. We can find our peace and comfort in Him and in knowing that we're citizens of His Kingdom - a Kingdom that takes priority and will last longer and be better than any kingdom this world could produce. God puts in place the leaders He wants and we need to put our trust and find our rest in Him.