39
October 2012 from
Hill, pg. 36
laws – not capital crimes like the murder of an Israelite, which the unborn would surely be if it were possessed of humanity. But the Bible is clear, in its description of the creation of Adam, that God does not cause the soul to enter the body until the first breath, until birth. God reiterates the point, in more detail, to Ezekiel, in the Valley of Bones (Ezekiel 37:5-10), where God says: “I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life....” ...there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in
from
Leitzel, pg. 36
trumps the right of the woman carrying the baby to abort. The question of when a developing baby is really a human being often comes up, but there is little question scientifically or in most religious traditions that a new, distinct human being is present from the moment of conception. With separate blood flow, separate DNA, and a separate nervous system, even the early embryo is clearly a separate person. Obviously, there are situations in which a woman or couple is not at a stage of life to take on the formidable job of properly providing for and raising a child. There are lots of options once that baby is out of the womb and capable of being taken care of by someone else. That’s when there should be a full range of choice as to the best situation for the child. But for nine months or so, there is only one person who can sustain that child. Of course, there were two people involved in the actions that brought about the pregnancy, and the father should always be held responsible to hold up his end from day
them....So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet— a vast army.” God, with His own voice, repeats Genesis' description of the creation of life, of the formation of the body by God followed later by the entrance of the soul, simultaneous to the first breath. Then, to drive the point in, Ezekiel describes watching the process in those exact terms, as God explained through visions the resurrection of the nation of Israel. While the arguments of pro-life Christians take circuitous routes or even ignore a passage's context entirely in order to make it fit, the Bible's direct references to both the destruction of fetuses and the gifting of life by God strike directly to the point: Before its first breath, a fetus has no soul, and is not a human being, and the Bible treats it accordingly. one. If there is a question of paternity, DNA testing can now take care of any uncertainty. I haven’t broached situations involving rape or incest, the mother’s health being at serious risk, or the knowledge of severe birth defect. Those are very real complicating issues, but in the vast majority of pregnancies, it is a matter of “oops, now what?” I truly believe that the life of the unborn child has to be looked at on its own merits and then everything else dealt with as secondary. And leaving that decision to each person’s conscience and moral code seems like a cop-out by us as a society. As nice as total freedom to do as we like sounds, there are many issues we decide on as a group and hold one another to. Our Constitution wisely confirms from the outset the rights of all Americans to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Just as we have worked hard to widen that net of protection to include all races, genders, and classes, I believe we need to remove the current exception for gestational age.
from
Cosmo, pg. 37
by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims — as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions," the statement read in part. It went on to say that the U.S. "firmly rejects the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others." “This craven statement that the Obama administration has disavowed was issued before the embassy attack in Cairo where a mob stormed the compound, tore down and burned the U.S. flag and replaced it with an al-Qaida banner. Our weakness once again invited terror.” That puts the “aw” squarely into “awesome.” You can do your own research on the greatness of Breitbart. I agree on the “late” part. You know it’s the gold standard of deeply grounded historical canon if it appeared in a tweet. “Famously” tweeted, no less. I agree with him that we needn’t apologize for free speech in democracy. Especially not in apologizing for specific time-honored concepts such as “this and that.” But street riots in the Middle East, probably wasn’t the democracy he had in mind, and foaming the runways for a fast-descending incendiary fatwa isn’t exactly an apology. I’m sorry – that is, I apologize -- but I can’t see is anything even CLOSE to an apology anywhere in the embassy’s
statement. Then again, maybe the phrases like “condemns continuing efforts by misguided individuals,” and “firmly reject the actions” by “those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others,” are what pass for apologies around the teapot. My bad. The authors state that this censure was a “craven statement,” and better yet, that the Obama administration disavowed it. But even so, issued by the Egyptian embassy, and disavowed by the President, it’s this type of “weakness” that has once again “invited terror.” Yep, “we condemn it” means we’re sorry, and “knock it off” means “you’re invited.” That dog don’t hunt. What’s more believable is that your overblown sense of uprightness has invited my anointment. But if you enjoy that kind of trickle-down ergonomics, I’ll make sure it’s aimed to benefit the right class. I’m sorry you guys are crazy, but I don’t apologize for it. That’s your job, if you ever replace your fear-based paradigm with a truth-based one and actually grow a pair. Want some extra fun at home? Search the internet for “Penn State Apology” and see how that butterfly metamorphoses into a slug between June 20, July 12 and July 25. I’m sorry to put you though it, but you’ll thank me later.