Wednesday, December 28, 2005
HOT TOPIC: Abortion: Why Christians are Split
Let's put politics aside here for a few minutes and talk about how the religion card plays into abortion. Why is it that some Christians are pro-life while others are pro-choice on this controversial hot topic?
How people see the world has a huge influence on their reaction to different aspects of their religion. Because of this, people belonging to the same religious tradition can vary widely in their views and practices. Christians are no different in this area than are followers of any other religious tradition.
The most common argument heard from pro-life Christians is that abortion is murder. The most common counter to that argument from both Christian and non-Christian pro-choice supporters is that a developing fetus does not yet have life and therefore can not be murdered.
The passages that pro-life Christians use to support their ideas are interpreted differently by pro-choice Christians.
Pro-life Christians may interpret this scripture to mean that life starts at conception because God sees a life as existing before birth. If life were to begin at birth, then the idea that God knew and had written all the days of a person's life before that person was born is irrational. A life can not be planned before it exists. Therefore, life begins before birth and abortion is murder.
Pro-choice Christians who do not oppose abortion interpret this scripture as having nothing at all to so with life at conception or abortion. Rather, they may see it as expression the intimacy that they have with God because He formed them and knows them completely.
This difference in interpretation is one of the main reasons that Christians are split on this issue. There are many other arguments that play into this issue, this is just one of many.
Where do you stand on the issue of abortion and why? Is it a religious reason, or maybe some other factor that shaped your views on this subject? Tell us what you think by using the comment feature below!
How people see the world has a huge influence on their reaction to different aspects of their religion. Because of this, people belonging to the same religious tradition can vary widely in their views and practices. Christians are no different in this area than are followers of any other religious tradition.
The most common argument heard from pro-life Christians is that abortion is murder. The most common counter to that argument from both Christian and non-Christian pro-choice supporters is that a developing fetus does not yet have life and therefore can not be murdered.
The passages that pro-life Christians use to support their ideas are interpreted differently by pro-choice Christians.
Psalm 139:13-16, NRSV, "For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are all your works; that I may know very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them yet existed."
Pro-life Christians may interpret this scripture to mean that life starts at conception because God sees a life as existing before birth. If life were to begin at birth, then the idea that God knew and had written all the days of a person's life before that person was born is irrational. A life can not be planned before it exists. Therefore, life begins before birth and abortion is murder.
Pro-choice Christians who do not oppose abortion interpret this scripture as having nothing at all to so with life at conception or abortion. Rather, they may see it as expression the intimacy that they have with God because He formed them and knows them completely.
This difference in interpretation is one of the main reasons that Christians are split on this issue. There are many other arguments that play into this issue, this is just one of many.
Where do you stand on the issue of abortion and why? Is it a religious reason, or maybe some other factor that shaped your views on this subject? Tell us what you think by using the comment feature below!
Comments:
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My two cents:
I agree with the reasons that Christians see abortion as being wrong. I think that the Christian God whom I believe in would not accept abortion as morally or ethically sound.
HOWEVER:
I do not believe that our goverment should be able to force Christian beliefs upon an entire society. If the society as a whole believes a certain thing is "wrong," then by all means it should outlaw it, but if said society does not believe this, the Christian way of doing things should not preside.
We live in a democracy, not a theocracy, so therefore the people should ideally make all decisions. It is unavoidable that religion will influence these decisions because the people making the decisions are influenced by religion. Even still, though, I do not believe that any religious institution has the right to make decisions for an entire country or state.
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I agree with the reasons that Christians see abortion as being wrong. I think that the Christian God whom I believe in would not accept abortion as morally or ethically sound.
HOWEVER:
I do not believe that our goverment should be able to force Christian beliefs upon an entire society. If the society as a whole believes a certain thing is "wrong," then by all means it should outlaw it, but if said society does not believe this, the Christian way of doing things should not preside.
We live in a democracy, not a theocracy, so therefore the people should ideally make all decisions. It is unavoidable that religion will influence these decisions because the people making the decisions are influenced by religion. Even still, though, I do not believe that any religious institution has the right to make decisions for an entire country or state.
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