Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[mlsoft]

Zeev...

On enacting laws banning abortions, I do not think we are in as much disagreement as you think.

I agree that before enacting any laws banning abortion (or any other law) the consequences of its enactment should be considered. Prior to Roe V. Wade most states had laws that prohibited abortions except in some circumstances yet illegal abortions were relatively infrequent, especially in comparison to what we see today. Would we return to that equation if abortions were once again made illegal? Probably not - once the practice has become widespread and acceptable in the eyes of much of society it becomes almost impossible to take us back to the way it was.

If the vast majority of the populace agreed on the reasons for banning abortions, enforcement would not be a problem but that is not the case - those who do not look at abortions as "the taking of a human life" would look for ways around whatever anti-abortion laws were enacted. For that reason I do not think that making abortions illegal is a viable solution at this time in our nation and that will probably remain the case. As a practical matter, laws that are not agreed with by a large part of society simply become unenforcible. In a perfect world I would support a ban on abortions, but we are far from being in a perfect world. Until such time as laws banning abortion have much more public support, my opposition to abortion will have to be confined to attempting to persuade others to alter their support for it.

That does not mean that I believe abortions are acceptable - I do not. As I have posted to you before, for myself the question comes down to "when is the fetus imbued with the breath of life" and I do not know the answer to that question. I have been looking into the Judaic position based on Genesis 2:7, and have found it equally unconvincing as a proof text. Adam was created from the dust of the ground in his fully adult state, never going through the normal stages of gestation and birth, so to take his case as the norm seems to be reading into the text more than what is there. So far, I have not found any other support for the position, but I am still looking.

I have never advocated making homosexual behavior illegal, and feel the same way about that as I do abortions (#msg-787044). I continue to believe that homosexual behavior is a sin before God and is wrong as very clearly stated in numerous passages of Scripture, but passing laws to criminalize the behavior would be a waste of time and effort. Like for all sins, the ultimate Judge will be the Lord.

While I am at it, I also would not want this to become a "Christian nation" by fiat (#msg-787217).

mlsoft