Abortion: A Religious Issue
June 21st, 2007The “Right to Choose” movement has failed miserably in its attempt to convince America that Abortion is a protected right to privacy under the Constitution. On the other hand the “Right to Life” movement has steadily gained support for life beginning at conception. But that is a religious belief, and while a growing number of Americans are buying into that Christian heresy, it pits what is essentially a Catholic religious belief against the more traditional religious belief that life begins with the “Breath of Life.”
When government passes laws that touch on when life begins, or when government officials espouse life at conception, it puts the weight of their religious belief over those of us with different religious beliefs. It tells us that our religious belief is not worthy of government consideration and that government prefers the Christian religion over all other. But even more repugnant is the de facto imposition of those religious beliefs on the entire nation; and, it compels the entire nation to accept their religious belief, whether it is “life at conception,” or worshiping only the Christian god as required by the Ten Commandments. The First Amendment’s prohibition against the establishment of religion means nothing to the religious right. After all, the current president has established religious governments in Afghanistan and Iraq, so why not establish a religious view in America?
The right to life movement argument that “life at conception” is not a religious belief, but is supported by scientific evidence is belied by the fact that animals, not just humans, undergo conception, and their lives are without value, not for scientific reasons, but for religious reasons.
The problem with this Christian heresy is it is a not supported by Jewish or Christian scripture. Catholics base their belief on life at conception on tradition, antidote and not scripture. The Protestant reformation was in no small part fueled by the paradox of the salvation they claimed Jesus brought to mankind, through “faith” and baptism and the doctrines of the roman Church. Christian doctrine holds that one must “be born again… of water and spirit” in order to “enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-7). That is, one must be baptized.
Roman Catholic doctrine holds only three possibilities for a spirit after death, Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Heaven is for those who were baptized and lived saintly lives in accordance with the Catholic god’s doctrines. Purgatory is reserved for those who were baptized, but who have shortcomings which must be overcome in a state less than heaven. Any un-baptized spirit (soul) goes to Hell. The cacodoxy of Limbo arose within the Roman Church to mollify those who found the doctrines of Jesus too harsh, and for centuries many Roman Catholics held to the false doctrine that the unborn that died in the womb would go to Limbo.
Protestants have neither Purgatory nor Limbo, but like the Roman Church, they have a Heaven (or paradise), Hell, and some in between a nebulous “prison” (Peter I 3:18-20) where disobedient spirits are kept. However, since Protestants, until recently, believed that the spirit was created with the Breath of Life, the problem for them was in what happens to un-baptized infant who die.
While each Christian has his or her own belief, they are compelled by scripture and doctrine to believe (unless they are Mormons) that every embodied spirit must not only be baptized, but “born again.” If the spirit enters the body at conception, then every fetus (or embryonic stem cell) is a living being with a spirit, and every living soul must be baptized. But that presents a paradox for the unborn, because according to the Jesus every living person must be “born again,” and if it was never born in the first place, it cannot be born again. Thus, if a fetus suffers a natural abortion, that is, when all functions terminate at any time after conception, and the fetus is reabsorbed by the mother, as happens quite often or where there is a miscarriage, and then the spirit, according the Christian doctrine, will go to Hell. There is no Christian salvation for that spirit. “Christ’s blood” cannot save it regardless of what the mother might want to believe. After all, according to Jesus, one must be born again, and the “unborn” by its very nature has never been born the first time, and therefore cannot be born again. There is no salvation for that spirit. It goes to Hell.
We must assume that because the Christian god is just, because the unborn died in the womb, that spirit must have been so evil that the Christian god would not permit it to be born. That spirit will certainly go to Hell, and only question is whether that evil spirit is sent immediately to Hell, or whether it remains in the mother awaiting exorcism.
Thus, not only does “life at conception” as a government policy, require non believers to accept a so-called Christian doctrine, but by extension, it requires non believers to accept as religious doctrine that every pregnant woman is inhabited by a foreign spirit, which may be so evil that it will go to Hell without being born.
Because conception is a matter of conscience those who believe life begins at conception can act accordingly, but only for themselves, while those who believe otherwise must be allowed the right to terminate a pregnancy if they so choose.
As for those who seek to impose their beliefs on others, we should show compassion when their women suffer a miscarriage. We might want to console the grieving mother and express our sorrow at the death of her unborn, and our sorrow at how she must feel in having sent her unborn child to Hell.