Today, June 29th, 2020, The Supreme Court handed a victory to Pro Choice advocates.
So again, we’re hearing about how godless our Country has become.
“Abortion is wrong because God says so!”
Except, of course, God doesn’t say so.
“But the bible says, ‘You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.’ (Psalm 139)”
Um, OK. But where does it say God says abortion is wrong?
“Well, the bible also says that John lept in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:41).”
Um, OK. But where does it say God says abortion is wrong?
Now, you can go back and forth like this for a long time. But here’s the thing: They’ll NEVER show you where God says abortion is wrong, because, well, IT’S NOT THERE!
Some dude named Jared Moore stated “John the Baptist did not leap over what Mary’s fetus would become; he jumped for joy over what her embryo already was.” Again, that is clearly not in the bible. It’s conjecture.
And that is the only way anti-abortion people can even begin to make a case. Find some scripture to quote, read additional meaning into it, engage in conjecture, create a doctrine and declare “God Said So!”
One of the the big, and necessary, manipulations is to change the word “abortion,” to “murder” and go from there. But again, these “I just believe the bible” folk prove once more that they don’t. That is a simple, repeatedly verifiable fact.
There is a place, actually, that the bible gives the reader instructions on how to cause an abortion!
Numbers 5:11-31. It says to make a woman believed to have committed adultery consume “bitter water” which would cause a miscarriage.
There are other voices within the broad spectrum that is Christianity. Millions hold that life (or the “soul,” if you will) begins at 1st breath, rather than at conception. And, like their counterparts, they have plenty of scripture to back up that belief. Probably even more.
A couple of examples are:
The bible says that God breathed life into man. (Genesis 2:7)
The breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4)
Clearly, they contend, the bible teaches that Life Is In The Breath!
While I’m firmly in the 2nd camp of believers, the bottom line is this:
America is a Democracy, NOT a Theocracy. We don’t have folks put their hands on the constitution and swear to uphold the bible!
So, even if these right-wing fundamentalist evangelicals could show us their “God said so,” which they can’t because it’s not there, it wouldn’t matter. They do not own America!
But the fact remains, at least going by the Christian bible, God didn’t say so.
So for anyone to say “God said abortion is wrong,” one of 2 truths must be in place. Either they are deceived, or they are liars.
That’s it. Those are the choices, because it’s provably untrue.
Now, I’m not saying you don’t have the right to believe abortion is wrong.
Of course you do! Believe what you want. But if those beliefs translate into laws, especially laws not based in fact, then we need to put a stop to that.
So go ahead. Believe as you will. But PLEASE stop lying by saying “God said so.” I mean, “All liars have their place in the lake of fire,” right?
– Dave Foreman
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[A little extra.]
Will McLeod points out that Jesus basically stated you can’t take all the Bible literally:
“Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Matt. 13:13)
He also states “The bible is a very difficult book to understand and to use because it is not internally consistent, it does not claim to be perfect, and it is mistranslated. So we Methodists have a Method (that’s how we got our name) for understanding the world:
1. Scripture
2. Tradition
3. Reason
4. Experience
[THAT sounds like a good place to start.]