tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180497515994941225.post122502498051064296..comments2013-02-10T17:49:48.610-07:00Comments on The Reforming Tulips: A Most Horrific RealityAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04912379550378723615noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180497515994941225.post-9647882446057403792013-01-22T16:18:46.315-07:002013-01-22T16:18:46.315-07:00I really appreciate that, Henderson. I should have...I really appreciate that, Henderson. I should have made that distinction much more clear, but that is definitely a shared feeling. Really glad you read this post-- I very much admire your ability to articulate your beliefs even when they might differ from mine. <br /><br />"This distinction is important and essential because it assures that all sides (regardless of religious affiliation) have an equal voice in the political process."<br />^ Also, this x 1,000,000<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04912379550378723615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180497515994941225.post-4354758955448697242013-01-22T15:50:41.222-07:002013-01-22T15:50:41.222-07:00Tim,
What I really appreciate is the one connect...Tim, <br /><br />What I really appreciate is the one connection that you leave out of this article that so many other people implicitly assume: because abortion is wrong, it is the obligation of the government to ban it. As we live in a society with a secular constitution and rule of law, our democratic institutions are required to reject strictly religious reasoning when choosing how to govern. This distinction is important and essential because it assures that all sides (regardless of religious affiliation) have an equal voice in the political process. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05048715184904194914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180497515994941225.post-46236675953564175602013-01-22T15:36:46.726-07:002013-01-22T15:36:46.726-07:00I totally understand your view, but for sake of br...I totally understand your view, but for sake of brevity in this post, I had to give a general Christian position. I am seriously considering doing another in-depth post in a few weeks that would address the practical considerations (incest, rape, etc) that are much more relevant to real-world living. Thanks for the insights and comments!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04912379550378723615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180497515994941225.post-73019541016669027212013-01-22T15:22:38.024-07:002013-01-22T15:22:38.024-07:00Not addressing difficult issues like rape or dange...Not addressing difficult issues like rape or dangers to pregnant women is practical for the framing of an argument, but not the argument you're making.<br /><br />When you remove the difficult considerations from such a difficult issue, the new argument you're framing is: should all fetuses be aborted, or should no fetuses be aborted? I find both of those solutions empirically impractical, which is why I'm pro-choice (which is the operative word). Different situations, such as the ones set aside in the above post, are what necessitate the ability to make a different consideration in each and every case.<br /><br />Any absolutes in such a non-absolute concern are a mistake. There are abortions that shouldn't happen, of that I'm sure. I also think that there are children born of rape that will serve as constant reminders of the worst moment in some women's lives, or stillbirths that end mothers' lives, that could and should have been able to be prevented.Jack Reickelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10056129935922252130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180497515994941225.post-78705201796931036692013-01-22T14:59:35.795-07:002013-01-22T14:59:35.795-07:00Kevin,
Fantastic article. I do appreciate the w...Kevin, <br /><br />Fantastic article. I do appreciate the well-reasoned, logical tack he takes. It is so easy to get polarized and emotional about this issue, but ultimately, one needs to examine the evidence on both sides and make a conclusion. Great reference, for sure.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04912379550378723615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2180497515994941225.post-75918524632448949672013-01-22T14:28:33.415-07:002013-01-22T14:28:33.415-07:00Great thoughts, Tim. I appreciate your both candid...Great thoughts, Tim. I appreciate your both candid and respectful take. The statistics you mention are truly mind-numbing and should break our hearts. My wife and I were firmly pro-life before we had our two children, but that conviction has taken on a new life as we journey through the whole child-raising process.<br /><br />I found this article recently and commend it to you and your readers. Peter Kreeft is a theologian/philosopher I have always admired, and he mounts a pretty convincing case for the pro-life position.<br /><br />http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics-more/personhood_apple.htm<br /><br />tl;dr version:<br /><br />"There are four possibilities:<br /><br />1. The fetus is a person, and we know that;<br />2. The fetus is a person, but we don't know that; <br />3. The fetus isn't a person, but we don't know that;<br />4. The fetus isn't a person, and we know that. <br /><br />What is abortion in each of these four cases?<br /><br />In Case 1, where the fetus is a person and you know that, abortion is murder. First-degree murder, in fact. You deliberately kill an innocent human being.<br /><br />In Case 2, where the fetus is a person and you don't know that, abortion is manslaughter. It's like driving over a man-shaped overcoat in the street at night or shooting toxic chemicals into a building that you're not sure is fully evacuated. You're not sure there is a person there, but you're not sure there isn't either, and it just so happens that there is a person there, and you kill him. You cannot plead ignorance. True, you didn't know there was a person there, but you didn't know there wasn't either, so your act was literally the height of irresponsibility. This is the act Roe allowed.<br /><br />In Case 3, the fetus isn't a person, but you don't know that. So abortion is just as irresponsible as it is in the previous case. You ran over the overcoat or fumigated the building without knowing that there were no persons there. You were lucky; there weren't. But you didn't care; you didn't take care; you were just as irresponsible. You cannot legally be charged with manslaughter, since no man was slaughtered, but you can and should be charged with criminal negligence.<br /><br />Only in Case 4 is abortion a reasonable, permissible, and responsible choice. But note: What makes Case 4 permissible is not merely the fact that the fetus is not a person but also your knowledge that it is not - your overcoming of skepticism. So skepticism counts not for abortion but against it. Only if you are not a skeptic, only if you are a dogmatist, only if you are certain that there is no person in the fetus, no man in the coat, or no person in the building, may you abort, drive, or fumigate."Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12425202517209891181noreply@blogger.com