Does functionality define our value as persons?

No!

We have inherent human value, whether we are highly functioning or whether we are small, different, or dependent on others. Just because someone is of small size, at an immature level of development, located in a certain environment or dependent on others for life sustenance does not disqualify a human being from being valuable, nor place limitations on our 'unalienable' right to life in the US Constitution. The 'unalienable right to life comes from God by virtue of the fact that we have been created in His image and are thus imbued with a unique worth and dignity not found in the rest of creation.

Lessons in Logic

The "Moral Relativism" Fallacy

"If you don't like abortion, don't have one."

This argument employs the "moral relativism" fallacy, which twists a moral belief into a personal preference. The moral relativist says it is wrong for anyone to "force" their moral absolutes on others. They take our moral statement, "abortion is wrong" and make it into just our personal preference. There are two flaws with this argument. First, the moral relativist is himself trying to impose his views on us; and secondly, civilized society is structured around basic moral beliefs, one of which is that killing innocent human beings is wrong. We are not saying we don't like abortion, we are saying it is wrong.

"Personally, I'm against abortion, but I don't think I should impose my views on others so I think it should be legal."

If you believe this, let me ask you a question. Why do you oppose abortion? If your answer is that you oppose abortion because it kills a human baby, are you really sure that you believe that baby killing should be legal? Do you oppose slavery, kidnapping, and genocide? Would you say that you oppose them, but that they should be legal? We hope not! Abortion is in the same category. Abortion ends the life of an innocent human person, and it should be illegal - not a "choice" to be made at the personal discretion of individuals.

The "Ad Hominem" Fallacy

"Men should not have anything to say about abortion . . . it's a woman's issue."

"You don't care that unwanted children will be abused. We believe every child should be a wanted child."

"It is hypocritical for pro-lifers to be against abortion unless they are willing to adopt all the unwanted babies that would be born."

These are examples of rhetorical personal attacks against the pro-life advocate designed to sidetrack the discussion from the central question, "Does abortion kill an innocent human person?" The pro-abortion advocate claims they are against child abuse, but since when is it logical to kill a person in order to prevent the possibility that they might someday be abused?

The "Begging the Question" Fallacy

"Making abortion illegal forces women into dangerous back-alley abortions."

This logical fallacy begs the question by pre-supposing that the unborn baby is not a human person. Before a woman goes to a "back-alley" she first needs to determine if she is committing murder by aborting her baby. Their argument also assumes that abortion is the only option for women in a crisis pregnancy. She could choose parenting or adoption for her baby. Contrary to popular belief, it is now well known that the number of deaths due to "back-alley" abortions was greatly exaggerated during the period prior to Roe v. Wade.

"A woman has the right to choose to do whatever she wants with her own body."

This statements begs the question by assuming there is only one body involved in an abortion - the mother's. But what about the baby's body? The unborn baby's body - although connected to and sustained by the mother - is at the same time unique, with its own brain and central nervous system. The baby's gender and blood type may be different than the mother, and he or she has a unique DNA fingerprint. Historically, civilized societies have rejected the idea that men and women can do whatever they want with their own bodies, especially if their actions will harm them or another person.

"Women shouldn't have to carry a child conceived through rape."

Rape is a terrible crime and its victims deserve our deepest sympathy. But, would it be right to abort a child conceived in rape simply because the child may remind the mother of the painful event? Does the mother, as a victim of a violent crime, have the right to victimize an innocent person - the child in her womb? It is wrong to kill a baby based on the circumstances of the baby's conception.

First, I want to add to the latter that no person has any control over the circumstances of their own conception, are not culpable for it, and it is therefore unjust to make them accountable for that sin. In other words: two wrongs don't make a right. Don't punish the baby because of the sin of the father!

Secondly, although the baby was conceived by a sinful, horrible act, that baby is still half of the mother genetically speaking! It is like killing part of yourself!

Taken from a pamphlet of The Gwinnett County Chapter of GA Right to Life

Ectopic Pregnancy? Don't panic!

I just recently read an interesting, informative blog post on ectopic pregnancy. Apparently it's more common than people think and it's not a death sentence to both baby and mom in every case! Oftentimes, when trying to balance a biblical worldview on the sanctity of life on this issue we opt to save the mom's life because the baby will die regardless. But that is not always true.

Head on over to Life in a Shoe and read Ectopic Pregnancy & the Sanctity of Life and her follow-up post, Ectopic Pregnancy Clarifications.

Great Video Documentary

40 Days for Life

Last Tuesday, we attended the kick off rally for the 40 Days for Life Campaign hosted by GA Right to Life, Silent No More Awareness and other pro-life organizations in Gwinnett County & Lawrenceville. This is a time to pray for the closing of abortion clinics in Lawrenceville & Gwinnett County and to pray that this holocaust would come to an end in the United States. The rally began at 6:30 p.m. with prayer, singing hymns, a testimony and a talk/speech/sermon about the evil of abortion. Then it concluded with another hymn and prayer. The woman who gave her testimony had aborted two of her children and spoke of how she could only find hope, forgiveness and peace through Christ. Many of the women who abort their children are crushed under intense guilt, depression & despair. They start taking drugs, begin drinking heavily or attempt suicide.

This issue of abortion, pro-choice vs. pro-life, is not just a political debate, it is a moral injustice in our nation. In the Constitution our fore fathers recognized that people are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights: the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since 1973 in the US, the right to life for unborn babies has been unprotected and ruled by the liberal mob. Some parents and the legal system have become bullies, throwing around their larger size, physical strength, and medical technology to deny this right to children who are fully persons, created by God in His image for His glory.

Let us pray for the end of this evil, wicked, horrific and bloody massacre of the next generation of human beings. And don't just pray, do what you can to fight it.

Fight by:

• having children
• loving & disciplining your children
• teaching them the doctrines of God
• teaching them that we are created in God's image
• teaching them that babies are just as much human as the rest of us
• teaching them that babies are fully formed in the womb by 7 weeks gestation
• showing them ultrasound pictures
• teaching them the truth about Creation and the deception of evolution
• giving money to pro-life organizations and crisis pregnancy centers
• voting pro-life
• volunteering time to counsel
• going door-to-door with pamphlets
• standing outside clinics with signs
• articulating an educated pro-life position with those who oppose
• write about it on your blog, facebook or twitter

God will not bless the United States if we forsake His laws. I'm not endorsing that we become a theocracy - we should not. But if we don't acknowledge our Creator in repenting of our sin and seeking His will in every area of our lives (I'm specifically speaking to the Church) then we cannot expect this nation to recover economically, morally, civilly, spiritually, etc.

Murder She Threw

This is unbelievable! Highlights from a post by R. Albert Mohler on the case of Katrina Efferts and her "fourth trimester" abortion! Read the two original articles HERE and HERE. Now there is nothing to stop parents from brutally murdering their own children at any age. We cannot look to legislation to determine what is morally sound - only the Bible can provide the foundation for truth and teach us how to view God and treat each other. We must also look to God for retributive justice, because we will not find it in this physical realm.

Mark Steyn hit the nail on the head when he accused a Canadian appeals court of allowing for a “fourth-trimester abortion” — that’s right, the killing of a baby that is already born!

The case emerged from the Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta, where a judge faced the fact that a woman had been convicted of strangling her newborn son and then throwing the baby’s body over the fence into her neighbor’s yard.

A CBC News reported, the woman was given a three-year suspended sentence and will spend no time in jail for the killing of her baby. Katrina Efferts “will have to abide by conditions for the next three years but she won’t spend time behind bars for strangling her own son.”

The moral dishonesty of the entire tragedy comes down to the fact that, in legalizing abortion, liberal societies claimed to be making a bargain. We will not protect unborn life, but we will defend all those who make it to birth. Of course, the dividing line was always dishonest. Are we seriously to believe that human personhood is a matter of mere location, inside or outside the womb?

Now, this judge [Justice Joanne Veit] has simply extended the logic of abortion, and catastrophically so. If the “onerous demands” of parenthood justify killing one’s own child, there is no logical reason to confine permissive infanticide to newborns, or even to younger children.

Legal Not Ethical

Just because something is legal doesn't make it ethical.

Ethic, a definition: the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation; a set of moral principles, the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group, a guiding philosophy, a consciousness of moral importance.

Only God can determine what is good and bad. We have only come to have knowledge of good and bad through our creation after the image of God and in our experience of rebellion and disobedience. We have the infallible Word of God to understand how to apply this knowledge to our everyday encounters.

It may be legal to murder infants, sell products that are solely used for illegal drugs, or to steal three weeks of research that someone else did and pass it off as your own. But if the Bible is to be "our rule of law and morality in civil society" we must do what we can to abolish such laws and return to the principles set forth by our God and Creator who has disclosed for us those things that are right and wrong. The further our legislators get from a fear of the Lord, the more and more necessary it becomes, as a Christian to discern what is ethical, what we should accept or reject at the ballot box, in our homes and business practices, and what to do when we are the victims of unethical practices.

Is It Really Black & White?

In some ethical issues it can be tough to discern the best course of action that will glorify and please God.

The sanctity of life is taken from the Ten Commandments. Life is given by God and should only be taken by God, as a consequence of the Fall. The intent of the sanctity of life is to preserve it whenever possible. That's why abortion, euthanasia, etc. are so horrendously evil.

If in an attempt to create new life while putting that very life and the existing one to sustain and develop that life at greater risk, is it really preserving life?