an evidence-based christian approach to abortion
I find it fascinating when people post their frankly atrocious opinions about the world on public blogs, then remove the right to comment. It’s understandable that many Christians out there are aware they have no manner in which to defend their words, but it is frustrating that their potentially harmful ideas linger online without challenge.
Take this post, “What does the Bible say about population control?”. Here we learn the author believes that a meaningless assertion that the entire world population could squeeze within the space of Texas (clearly no need for roads, rivers, lakes, factories, shops, animals, farms, trees, flowers, parks, landfills, power plants, water treatment, sewerage, schools, hospitals or in fact anything other than tightly packed dwellings) is an indication that the world isn’t overpopulated. The author then goes on to say:
Schemes such as forced abortion directly conflict with the Bible’s teaching that human life is sacred.
Schemes like forced abortion, should they exist (but we can’t get further information because the author doesn’t want to talk about it or clarify her/his words) clearly go against the rights of women. The fact that respecting human life is important, given that it makes the world a nicer place to live in for all of us, and is a natural ‘need’ most of us feel through empathy, doesn’t make an undeveloped organism ‘human life’. If these Christians wish to classify undeveloped living organisms as human life, they need to start harvesting all the un-used eggs from women and wasted sperm from men.
Apart from all this, as my best blogging buddy John Zande so eloquently points out, their holy book doesn’t actually provide such clear teaching that human life, or even undeveloped human life, is in any way sacred. As he says in his post here:
Indeed, if one actually reads scripture (something the vast majority of Christians never actually do) it’s perfectly clear that the particular Middle Eastern god they idolise is not only an prejudiced, insecure and jealous mass-murderer but also a definitive advocate FOR abortion; personally and passionately performing many terminations and ordering countless more.
Finally, my other best blogging buddy, Rautakyy, provides a detailed analysis of the ridiculous nature of the Christian pro-life argument here, and makes the most salient point of all:
We know that the number of abortions is best lessened by sexual education and by social welfare, that supports the mothers in dire situations. But most of the so called “pro-life” advocates are against any of those really effective ways to cause abortions to be lessened.
It seems that most of the Christians in this anti-abortion camp do not realise that, at the end of the day, no-one in their right mind actually likes abortion. It is usually a desperate action, and an action with consequences that each woman must ultimately face on her own. What these women do not need, is other people telling them an interpretation of an invisible male deity’s opinion: an invisible male deity that loves a spot of killing, indulges with gusto in ripping open pregnant bellies and whose almost exclusively male acolytes made up the rules whispered in their ears. Anyone truly concerned with cutting down the numbers of unnecessary abortions within their community, should consult the evidence available on what actions actually achieve this – and campaign for, or provide access to, birth control and decent sex education.
The most effective weapon against abortions are contraceptives in combination with adequate sex-ed. I am strongly in favour of a system in which every person can get sterilized for free, on a voluntary base. This in combination with modern reproductive technology (storage of eggs/semen, ivf etc.) people will get pregnant only when they choose so.
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How thoroughly modern!
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Thank you Mordanicus for reminding me. I usually do not edit my posts, because I like to reflect on my older posts, on what I honestly thought about stuff. But now after reading this I had to add something I meant to be there all along. I forgot to mention such an obvious thing as easy access to contraception. Silly me.
Thank you Violet. I was deeply moved and honoured to be qouted.
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Mord…. my wife had this fantastic Swedish thing inserted in her arm; perfectly safe (a little expensive, though) guaranteed no pregnancy or one million dollars. No shit, that was the promise. It was effective for 5 years. It could be removed at any time and normal menstrual cycle would resume. This little wonder should be made freely available (and free, or at least heavily subsidized) to any woman who wants it.
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I understand there have been forced abortions, to enforce the Chinese one child rule. But perhaps Obamacare is really a vile plot for this purpose…
More irritating than the “Comments are closed” blogs are the ones which edit my comments to remove bits the blogger finds offensive. These can leave me spitting blood. It is irritating when I cannot tell someone the truth, but if I wrote it he would not recognise it anyway. How many people, do you think, would read the post and have a Eureka moment: “At last I understand! God said, go forth and multiply, and that command applies to me today!” The post is polarising, and those who agree with it probably agreed with it before; and if they need it to articulate their beliefs, they are rather inarticulate.
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Do people edit comments?? You’re right, that would be even more irritating. Actually … now that I remember (veeeery useless brain), I think that’s how we met, isn’t it? Someone edited my comment on a post you read.
I know what you mean about people agreeing with the post, but it’s irritating that there’s not even a challenge to some of the ‘facts’. Some people who read posts must be undecided.
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You can always report the blog and raise such issues?
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The blog that edited my comment? By the time Clare had explained what had happened the post (and perhaps the blog) had been deleted.
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I meant the one you r are referring to where the comments are closed. I know this blog. He is a dickhead.
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Ah, I hadn’t seen that blog before. Is it always closed?
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Can’t remember.
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Are you talking about the “nincompoop” who visited Clare’s blog to make insults and then returned to his own blog to make accusations about Clare banning him? Boy, is that dude a hypocritter, or what? I commented his blog, he answered me and after a brief exhange, he first banned me, and then deleted my comments alltoghether. Sure enough he deserved to be called a nincompoop and to be banned from Clare’s blog.
It is because of episodes like that, that I really do not comment much blogs of the more fanatical religious types. It seems like a wasted effort either way. If the religiously inspired fanatic bans me, or outright deletes what I have put my time and effort into (even a little time and effort), the time was wasted. I never thought I could influence a fanatic anyway, I just thought that some more impressionable mind would benefit from the other, or even opposite point of view, but since they so often run out of ammo in the middle of an argument, they usually retreat to banning me before I could make my final point. However, even if they do not ban me, the conversations often end up feeling like I have just been violating someone helpless, just because it is such an effort for them to defend a very low level of morals achieved by the society, that produced the “holy scriptures”, or because there is really no actual evidence for anything supernatural and I really do not enjoy such experiences either.
On the other hand there are also some well versed mildly religious people who are able to give good conversations and whith whom one can end up on some small piece of common ground. Sadly these are rare jewels.
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I had forgotten that too. I was thinking of a woman who took my beautifully crafted, erudite and apposite sentence, and replaced it with the words Blah, blah.
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Ouch! That is seriously rude!! Where is she? 🙂
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Someone who really hates trans people. No publicity for that one.
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Did you say evidence based approach by christians or a different group? As far as I can tell, for most of them, if it goes against the good old book it is immoral! So you think they are going to accept yours? unless you have a way of inserting it into the good book, you are out of luck
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Yeah, sorry, my rambling rants aren’t very clear, or indeed precise. It was a sarcastic dig at the fact that the mainstream Christian view isn’t based on any sort of evidence. As John points out, it’s easier to interpret that the god God is totally for abortions than it is to arrive at the conclusion that such a deity would be against it. Everything about their stance and attitude infuriates me, in spite of the fact that I too would like to see a drop in the abortion rate. There are sensible and evidence-based ways of reducing the need for abortion. Branding the women who find themselves in that unenviable position as murderers, and campaigning for the closure of legal and safe clinics, is about ignorant and unhelpful as it gets.
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Oh dear, I understood you very well, I am sorry my comment appeared as if you were not precise. I meant to say the last thing the christians consider is evidence even if it is facing them in the face and as John points out, that is clearly the case.
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Phew, I feel better! 🙂 I guess they only look for evidence to back up their misogynistic opinions. And there’s lots open to interpretation in their big book.
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