tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29179803.post8081303519773295012..comments2024-03-23T13:45:19.208-04:00Comments on Serene Musings: A Christian View of the Death PenaltyScotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10535260741343975445noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29179803.post-38614898714704438232009-03-18T23:12:00.000-04:002009-03-18T23:12:00.000-04:00Mike, thanks for reading. Sorry it's taken me a f...Mike, thanks for reading. Sorry it's taken me a few days to respond.<BR/><BR/>I didn't really talk about abortion in this essay, but I did allude to "consistency" in my beliefs in the opening of the essay. It is extremely common, of course, for conservative Christians to be patently opposed to abortion, but to support the death penalty. They care deeply for the sanctity of life - except in the case of convicted criminals. As I did in this essay, I like to remind those people that by the law of his day, Jesus was a convicted criminal too - someone who had committed a crime for which death was an established punishment. <BR/><BR/>I am anti-abortion. I can think of no circumstance in which I would encourage a woman to have an abortion for reasons of birth control. If a woman has an unwanted pregnancy, I would encourage her to deliver the child and then give it up for adoption. My reason for this belief is that I believe in supporting life, not the destruction of life. This is the same reason why I am against the death penalty.<BR/><BR/>However, many times abortions are necessary not because of an unwanted pregnancy, but because of other complications: the fetus is not developing properly, the pregnancy has become dangerous to the mother, etc. I believe women should have the choice to terminate a pregnancy in those circumstances, even late term. Since "pro-life" tends to mean "all abortions should be outlawed," I do not call myself pro-life. Instead, I say I am anti-abortion but pro-choice.<BR/><BR/>Those who are against abortion frequently point to cases where a mother has been told her life is in danger, or that the baby is going to have serious things wrong with it, but they choose to continue with the pregnancy anyway. Many times, everything turns out okay. Other times, either the baby dies, or the mother dies, or both. In any case, the mother is frequently lauded for her choice not to end the pregnancy. I agree with supporting a mother who goes ahead with a dangerous pregnancy because the alternative is too unthinkable. However, I cannot *hold it against* a mother who does not want to put her life in jeopardy. An analgoy is supporting someone who willingly signs up to enter the army despite the risks, but you wouldn't *condemn* someone who chose not to do that.<BR/><BR/>Another aspect of the abortion issue is the rights of women. Does a woman have a right to make her own decisions about her own body, or does she forfeit that right when she chooses to have sex? I believe that the sexual urge is one of the most basic urges of humanity, and no matter how aware a person is of the potential consequences of the sexual act, the sexual urge is always going to trump any fears about an unwanted pregnancy. I don't believe it is compassionate or life-supporting to condemn a woman to an 18-year sentence simply because she chose to do what is natural and normal. Now, having said that, I still would encourage such a woman to give the child up for adoption, but I cannot, in good conscience, support taking away her *individual* right to choose what is best *for her*. I may not agree with her decision if she chooses to abort, but I simply can't support taking her right to choose away from her. <BR/><BR/>A lot of what it comes down to is when you define the beginning of life. Unlike most pro-life people, I do not think life as we know it begins at conception. A clump of fertilized cells in the uterus is not "life" in any way that we understand that term. For me, it is probably reasonable to say that life begins when the fetus is fully developed and capable of surviving outside the womb on its own. That means about the 6th or 7th month at the very earliest. Before that, the fetus is still as much a part of the mother as her heart, lungs, or brain. Take any of those things out of her body, and they will die. Same with the fetus. So even though I am morally opposed to abortion-as-birth-control, I can't define an early term birth-control abortion as "murder."<BR/><BR/>Everyone realizes that many early pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion (i.e., a miscarriage). Some experts suggest that as many as 50% of pregnancies end this way, with the mother not even knowing it many times because the miscarriage is undistinguishable from her period. Pro-lifers will say that this is "God's choice," and that we shouldn't suppose that it's okay to abort a fetus simply because "nature" does it all the time. But for me - even as a Christian - I don't identify with that concept of God. I think miscarriage happen because of the precariousness of life; I don't believe God has anything to do bringing a fetus to term, or allowing it to miscarry. The idea that God is intricately involved in the day-to-day physical well-being of humans is, to me, an ancient tribal concept of God that simply cannot stand up to modern knowledge. We know that people get sick because of germs and the failure of the immune system, not because they've done something bad and God is punishing them. We know that people die because they get old or they get into an accident or they get sick. God doesn't make them die anymore than he makes them stay well. When someone recovers from a terrible injury or disease, we call it a miracle, but when they die from that terrible disease or injury, we say that it was God's time for them to go. The God I identify with and worship is much bigger than the God of illness and health that many Christians believe in. I say all this because this sort of worldview alters my feelings about abortion. I don't think it's murder, because I don't think a fetus is a human being the way that you and I are human beings, and I don't think it's taking anything from God, because I don't believe God is involved in sickness and health, life and death. I think God is about transforming life, changing the world, making the world a better place, spreading love and joy and a compassionate heart - I don't believe God is a cosmic doctor. <BR/><BR/>So, to sum up, I am against abortion as birth control, but do not believe it is the same as "murder," and therefore I do not believe that my own personal moral feelings about abortion should be legislated and therefore forced on everyone else. I also support any woman's right, at any time in her pregnancy, to end the pregnancy if her life or health comes into jeopardy. I also support her right to abort at any time in pregnancy if it is discovered that the baby has serious mental or physical disabilities that will keep it from having any quality of life. I congratulate and laud any woman who chooses not to abort in those cases, but I don't hold it against others who don't think they can handle that.Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10535260741343975445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29179803.post-28238852478703532622009-03-13T18:09:00.000-04:002009-03-13T18:09:00.000-04:00I am a conservative Christian who has been doing s...I am a conservative Christian who has been doing some reconsideration about the death penalty. I have a related question. What is your take on abortion(something I have always considered similar to the death penalty, save the executed is always innocent)?americana83https://www.blogger.com/profile/00774627116656563374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29179803.post-76289888528443420712008-12-11T10:52:00.000-05:002008-12-11T10:52:00.000-05:00Each of us can punish ourselves better than anyone...Each of us can punish ourselves better than anyone else. So, is the death penalty an escape from conscience, guilt?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05679659752311221694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29179803.post-57330499656000943102008-12-11T08:54:00.000-05:002008-12-11T08:54:00.000-05:00What were you doing up at 2:00 am? Aside from that...What were you doing up at 2:00 am? <BR/><BR/>Aside from that, you really should be submitting essays like this for publication. <BR/><BR/>SERIOUSLY!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com