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Christians: Examining Holistic Alignment With Sources Of Authority On Abortion

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Pro-Life or Pro-Choice Christians: Examining Holistic Alignment with Sources of Authority on Abortion
Religion and politics have historically been at odds with respect to each other, and nowhere is this conflict more visible than in the moral discussions surrounding abortion. Christianity, one of the oldest and most established religions in history, has a complicated relationship with abortion. Within that tradition there are two distinct viewpoints to the debate: pro-life Christians, who believe abortion is wrong regardless of the circumstances, and pro-choice Christians, who believe it should be legal if certain requirements are satisfied. This essay will analyze how these two sides of the debate use the same sources of authority from within …show more content…

While pro-choice Christians recognize the value of human life, they also believe that women’s autonomy and agency should be respected. In Mark Chapter 12 of New American Standard Bible, Jesus discusses how one should not only love God with all of one’s “heart, […] soul, […] mind, […] and strength,” but one should “love [one’s] neighbor as [oneself]” (Mark Chapter 12). Christians who support abortion rights frequently use the idea of “loving [one’s] neighbor” as evidence for their position because they view abortion as a personal decision that should be made by women while considering her own specific circumstances and her relationship with God. They view this as a personal choice that should not be influenced by outside influences such as government or religious leaders. Along these lines, pro-choice Christians on abortion may interpret the commandment “Thou shall not kill” in a more nuanced way. In the book Abortion and the Christian Tradition: A Pro-Choice Theological Ethic by Margaret D. Kamitsuka, the author suggests that abortion is a complex issue with nuanced moral considerations, and that the Bible does not present a single unified opinion on it. She argues that various Bible passages can be interpreted in different ways, and that the commandment “Thou shall not kill” can be interpreted as …show more content…

Psalm 139:13-16 in the Bible indicates that life begins at conception and highlights the sanctity of human life. In the passage, it states, “For you created my inmost being;/ you knit me together in my mother’s womb./ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;/ your works are wonderful,/ I know that full well./ My frame was not hidden from you/ when I was made in the secret place,/ when I was woven together in the depths of the earth./ Your eyes saw my unformed body;/ all the days ordained for me were written in your book/ before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-16). The passage expounds how God is deeply involved with the creation of each human being. God “knit[ting]” together the individual in the “mother’s womb” highlights how God truly cares about how everyone is created. The passage also indicates how God knows each individual intimately, even before they are born. Pro-life Christians interpret the Psalms passage as recognizing individual life to be highly valuable; hence, abortion desecrates God’s purpose for the unborn being’s life. While pro-choice Christians may argue that the passage portrays God’s personal relationship with each individual rather than when life exactly begins for each being,

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Don Marquis, on the other side of the abortion debate begins his essay “Why abortion is immoral” through the frustration of little support being given to the thought. This essay was written to show the falsified belief that an anti-abortion stance is nothing other than irrational religious dogma or a conclusion generated by a seriously confused philosophical argument. The argument is set forth throughout that abortion is, except in rare cases, seriously immoral. This essay sets forth the belief that abortion is in the same category as killing an innocent adult human being. Don Marquis argues with rare exceptions such as a life-threatening pregnancy, all cases of abortion are seriously wrong and are not much different than killing an adult

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The social impact that this ruling had was considerable. Whilst the religious right was slowly gaining steam throughout the seventies, Roe invigorated this movement and they became a noticeable force in American politics. Sanford explains how for conservative Christians “truth is something absolute, contained in inerrant texts or teachings…containing such moral axioms as “life begins at conception.”” In essence the decision in Roe was counter to fundamental belief in the personhood of a foetus, thus the Supreme Court endorsed what was considered to be murder. Roe v Wade gave the religious right a reason to wage war against the court’s socially progressive agenda and the broader struggle against the waning influence of religion in public life.

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All three denominations are sensitive to the complexities of the issue, and the ELCA, after much deliberation, held a vote amongst laypeople and clergy in order to make a final decision. Much like the UCC, the ELCA’s decision allowed “room for moral ambiguity” and ensured that the “final decision about and abortion is left to the individual” (388). In these circumstances, it is the individual’s personal relationship with God which can best help to inform them of what decision should be

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Within the recent events of the overturning of Roe V Wade the opinions on abortion have been at the forefront of political conversations. Especially among the people who are pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life believes that an unborn fetus is a life and killing it is killing a person, meanwhile pro-choice is the belief that someone who is carrying the fetus has the right to choose whether they keep it or not. The article “3 Compelling Reasons I am Pro-life” by Tim Counts on the website erlc is about the reasoning behind this man’s point of view. The article uses three points religion, science, and “human flourishing and love”.

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Abortion remains one of the most controversial issues in our society today. Pro-life supporters are those who are against abortion and who believe abortion is in all cases wrong. Pro-choice supporters are those who are in favor of abortion and who believes that whatever a woman does with her body is her choice. Patricia Bauer and Don Marquis are both scholars who wrote in depth articles explaining their views on abortion in an effort to spur their audience into action. Even though the both share same views, they use different and strong rhetorical strategies, mainly logos, ethos, and pathos, to get their message across their audience and to show the effectiveness and seriousness of their arguments.

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This, however, does not mean that she agrees that in all situations the choice to have an abortion wouldn’t be self- centered or callous. To begin, she gives examples for why the right to life of

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The article Red Letter Christians is very informative and offers plenty of background information on what the pro-life stance on abortion is about. This article is written by Tony Campolo who is a well-known sociologist and former spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton (Campolo). So as you can see he is well accredited in his field. I will be analyzing Campolo’s main arguments and strengths throughout this essay to get a deeper look inside this article. Of all the articles I have read through so far this one seems to be the most reliable and detailed of them all.

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With almost half the nation divided among their views, abortion remains one of the most controversial topics in our society. Since Roe v. Wade, our views in society as well as following court cases have been progressing toward the woman’s right to choose. The precedent set by Roe v. Wade made the Supreme Court acknowledge that it cannot rule specifically when life begins and it also affirms that it is the woman’s right to have an abortion under the 14th Amendment. In the 1st Amendment, the Establishment Clause forbids the government from passing laws “which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another”. Many Christian pro-lifers use their religious beliefs to dispute when life begins.

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While abortion starts as a sensitive topic throughout the government, it develops quickly. With its ideas originating from Roe v. Wade, New York’s Reproductive Health Act allows more abortion-based freedom than ever before. This caused lots of controversy throughout society. There are constant ongoing arguments based on the value of a child and how much control a mother gets over her own body. Consequently, while New York’s Reproductive Health Act creates many questions about abortion, the Bible clearly states that it is wrong.

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Religious freedom assures that, “Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public” (2106). Rather than giving themselves the misnomer of a pro-choice Catholic and inaccurately representing the Church, pro-choice individuals have the capability to step down from the Catholic faith due to the rights imparted by religious

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There are two sides to this debate in which individuals identify themselves as either “pro-choice” or “pro-life.” Supporters classify themselves as pro-choice, and argue “that choosing abortion is a right that should not be limited by governmental or

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On one side of the argument people believe that it 's wrong to kill an unborn child because all life is important regardless of if there born or not. Often the people who are “pro life” are also Christian or belong to another

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Background There are ongoing debates about abortion and they are very interesting because people come up with different worldviews. For Instance the Christian worldview abortion is forbidden, because it is against the commandments of God. In the postmodern worldview laws which are against or not supporting abortion are not acceptable. People who are against abortion are protecting lives of the unborn babies and the Christian worldview. Those who are for the idea of abortion are protecting women rights to choose and the postmodern worldview.

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In Carol Gilligan 's essay, "Concepts of Self and Morality," a college student answers the question of what morality should be by stating, "The basic idea that I cling to is the sanctity of human life" (171). When a woman decides to have an abortion, she overlooks the sanctity of human life and she forgets her morals. Therefore there should not be a question of choice in the matter of

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(Tanner) Pro-choice defenders also say that it is the woman 's right to choose to have the baby or not, forgetting the baby 's rights. The life of a human being begins at the moment of conception, and it is not the fetus´s fault if the mother wasn 't ready to have a baby or if the situation in which baby was conceived wasn 't ideal. For example, if the baby is conceived by rape, the baby should not pay the consequences of other people, he or she has not done anything wrong .”Compassion for the mothers is extremely important, but it is never

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