God’s Knowing Each Human
In Specific Detail
Doesn’t Give Us Personhood
Any More Than It Gives Personhood
To A Grain Of Sand
To be clear, in this article, I’m not asking if abortion is wrong. The only question here is about murder: “Is abortion murder?” That’s important because something can be very wrong and still not be murder.
There are several categories of wrong. There’s perceived vs actual wrong and minor vs major wrong, major being anything that is absolutely wrong. Murder falls in the absolutely wrong category but if something – for example abortion – isn’t absolutely wrong, how wrong is it?
You may be one of those who consider abortion absolutely wrong and that’s your right. Others may believe it is wrong but not as wrong as murder. Others may believe it is only mildly wrong, if wrong at all. Those shifts in thinking are important nuances but murder is the focus of this article.
I’m arguing that abortion isn’t murder. Where you land in the discussion is a matter of personal consideration, another factor we don’t talk about much but we should. How you “feel” about an issue is important to you but others may feel differently.
There is no scientific proof that abortion is murder and that alone should give us pause. The primary motivation behind the recent court activity and public skirmishes around this topic is belief. People “Believe” it’s wrong and they are acting on that belief.
Unfortunately, Belief isn’t known for its strong connection to facts or logic.
Hence, this post.
Just to restate the basics, things we classify as wrong can range anywhere from mildly offensive – acceptably wrong – to totally unacceptable. And, in some cases, “wrong” is a matter of personal perception. What is perceived as wrong by one person is not considered wrong by others.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe blood transfusions are disallowed by God. No one else sees the problem.
Murder, of course, falls outside the latitude of that discussion but abortion doesn’t.
So, there’s only one question being asked here:
Is abortion murder?
If abortion is murder, there’s no question. We have to disallow it. The opposite is also true. If it isn’t murder, it is a choice. You may consider it a wrong choice, but it’s still a choice.
So, is abortion murder?
Life Definitely Begins In The Womb
Some argue that abortion is murder because life begins in the womb. That’s true but the argument isn’t compelling.
I was once asked if I believed life begins at conception. I was being interviewed for work with a charitable organization and the answer was simple.
Of course I do.
Actually, I believe life begins before conception but it doesn’t matter because that’s the wrong question.
The right question is at what point does fetal life, which is biological, transition to “Living Soul” status. Life is everywhere and comes in all forms. The existence of life is significant but not every form of life qualifies as a living soul.
If the fetus is not a living soul (personhood) then ending the development process (abortion) is not murder.
Ending Life Isn’t Always Murder
There are many different forms of life all of which have distinctive qualities but are also quite similar in many ways.
Pets are not equal to humans but they aren’t entirely different either. They share biology (the need for food, oxygen, and exercise). They also share the need for community and the learning/growing experience.
Life is everywhere. It’s all around us but ending a life is not always murder.
Ending life may be considered wasteful, cruel or merciful (putting a dog down, for example), depending on the reasoning behind it, but it is never considered murder unless the life you’re ending is a living soul.
Chopping down trees randomly is wasteful. Chopping them down commercially may be considered unwise and even illegal but in no case is it considered murder.
Shooting birds with a bee bee gun is mean and definitely kills the bird but it isn’t murder.
Is there life in the womb? Absolutely, no doubt about it, but that question is missing the point.
A Living Soul
What is it that makes human life so special?
There are many ways we could differentiate human life from every other form of life but the answer to the question can be summed up in one brief statement. Humans are “Living Souls.” Those aren’t my words. I didn’t come up with the idea and coin it for public consumption.
Those are the words the Bible uses. That’s how the Bible describes the first human ever created, Adam. It refers to him as a living soul and it clearly says “he became a living soul” (emphasis on the word became).
Adam wasn’t conceived a living soul, he became a living soul.
Whatever egg was involved wasn’t a living soul. Whatever sperm was involved wasn’t a living soul and in the development stage, which didn’t take long in Adam’s case, he wasn’t referred to as a living soul.
Adam was formed in the same way all humans were formed but it wasn’t until he was fully formed that the Bible says God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was only at that point that he became a living soul.
For millennia, sages have believed that a fetus transitions to “Living Soul” status only when it takes its first unassisted breath following birth.
That is the point at which Adam transitioned from a biological, animate being – not significantly different to any other animate being – to a living soul. Taking his life at that moment or at any point afterward would have been considered murder from a biblical perspective but not before.
Life’s Stages
It’s also true that life develops in stages meaning that life itself is in a constant state of flux. Even the eggs and sperm that join to form a fetus (human or animal) are alive before they become an embryo.
You could say that life begins before the womb but as I said, that’s the wrong question.
Life’s Individuality
Every person is an individual. The more evidence we discover supporting this truth, the more fascinated we become.
Basically, that means no two people are exactly alike. All humans, of course, are very much alike in many ways but finger print technology and DNA mapping have proven that no two people are exactly alike.
No one is a clone of anyone else. We’re all individuals and that individuality is reflected even in the fetal stages of life.
Fundamentalists use the science of individuality to argue for the personhood of every fetus but the problem with that argument is the fact that individuality is not a unique quality to humans. Every dog is distinctly different to every other dog. The same could be said for every tree. Even each snowflake is different to all other snowflakes but none of them are considered “living souls” so maybe that argument falls a bit short.
The individuality of a fetus is no more significant that the individuality of dogs, cats, elephants and so on. The argument doesn’t in any way prove personhood.
Formed By God In The Womb
Some argue that God personally forms each human in the womb and the argument seems compelling. On the surface it has a very personal feel to it and there’s truth in that.
- David said God formed him in his mother’s womb, Psalm 139:13.
- Isaiah was said to be formed by God in his mother’s womb, Isaiah 44:24.
But in truth, God forms everything. Every sampling of creation, animate and inanimate (too many to count or classify), was formed personally by God. Every snowflake, tree leaf, grain of sand, ant, puppy, sea gull and more is formed by God.
Most of the forming process involves only the living process we call biology. The difference with humanity is once the biology is fully in place, God adds the crowning touch, the breath that imbues humanity with a living soul, and that’s the point at which the difference is registered. Everything up to that point is the same for every thing and everyone.
The process of formation does not produce a living soul. No tree, obviously formed by God, will ever, at any stage, become a living soul.
Becoming a living soul requires the living breath of God which is applied after the formation process is complete.
A Heart Beat
Some argue that a heart beat indicates living soul status but, here again, the argument falls short.
A dog fetus has a heart beat but is not a living soul and never will be. An elephant fetus has a heart beat but is not a living soul and never will be. I could go on.
Many of the miraculous developments that occur in the process of forming a human being in the womb of its mother can be said about many other forms of life, none of which achieve living soul status during the formation process or after.
Adam wasn’t conceived a living soul, he became a living soul. And he became a living soul only after he was fully formed and it was then and only then that the living breath of God was infused. That was the point at which Adam became a living soul.
We shouldn’t emotionalize this issue. A heart beat is no more remarkable or meaningful in the developments of humans than it is in the development of any other form of life.
God Knows Us Before We Are Conceived Or Born
There are things about God we understand to be true but are far from able to comprehend completely.
We know that God is omnipotent, meaning all powerful, but the more we understand about the power necessary to create and maintain the universe, the more incredulous we become. We recognize the immensity of God’s power but could never begin to measure it, much less have an idea of what it would be like to manage it.
We know that God is omnipresent, meaning he’s everywhere at once and completely aware of everything in real time, but beyond simply recognizing that truth, we have no idea how He manages to be that present and aware.
We also know that God is omniscient, meaning He knows everything past, present and future in the minute details.
He knows every person before they are born. He knows exactly what their abilities and inabilities will be. He is aware of the frustrations each will experience. He knows where and when they will fail. He knows if and when they will get saved. He knows how they will feel every minute of every day.
But what God knows about us He knows about everything. He is fully aware of every blade of grass, every ameba and every rain drop. He knows the number of hairs on each person’s head and the number of grains of sand on every beach.
All of this knowledge is known in real time and before time. He knew when each grain of sand would form, how it would form, how it would shift and where it would eventually settle. But that knowledge did not in any way make a grain of sand a person.
His knowledge of humans is no more particular than his knowledge of anything else. His knowing us in specific detail doesn’t give us personhood any more than it gives a grain of sand personhood.
God’s ability to know all things in great detail isn’t limited only to humans.
The difference between humans and the rest of creation is humans have the ability to recognize these amazing truths and give them voice.
We should never use these truths to make emotional arguments about the personhood of a fetus.
The Bible Isn’t A Factor For Many
I’m writing, of course, from a biblical perspective but that doesn’t always hold sway. Not everyone believes the Bible. They may agree that taking a human life is murder but they arrive at the conclusion using a set of arguments totally apart from Scripture.
That observation illustrates just how complex the discussion truly is.
Among those who do believe the Bible, some would suggest that Adam’s “becoming” a living soul after his formation doesn’t prove anything but it doesn’t have to. All it must do is create doubt.
In fact, even before the argument is offered, any idea you entertain about the living soul issue can’t be proven. Remember, we’re talking about beliefs.
What this argument does is create doubt. The idea that abortion is murder was already on shaky ground before. Injecting a large helping of doubt only further erodes the idea.
If abortion isn’t murder, then it is absolutely a choice. A difficult choice, maybe. An unpleasant choice, always. A socially frowned on choice, possibly but still a choice.
Beliefs Are Personal
We kill cows everyday and those who don’t eat meat may consider it horribly wrong but as far as I know, it isn’t penalized unless you’re killing a cow that belongs to someone else. In that case, it’s theft or the destruction of someones property, not murder.
Hindus consider cows sacred and, therefore, neither kill nor eat cows. They prosecute those who kill cows but not for murder.
The point is, what you believe about taking a life may fall in the category of personal beliefs. But that’s personal. Taking a belief and imposing it on everyone may be just as abusive as the thing you oppose.
Ending life of any kind is always a serious matter even if it isn’t murder but when it comes to murder we take particular care in judging each and every situation and we should. Over zealously prosecuting someone for murder is just as serious as murder.
Murder is always bad. Prosecuting the wrong person for murder or penalizing them too severely or claiming murder unreasonably isn’t an answer. Nothing is solved by an overly aggressive approach.
If you think abortion is murder, you have a right to that belief. No one can force you to have an abortion against your will. But it’s also true that you have no right to impose you belief on anyone else.
Personal Choice
Yes, any person can choose to believe abortion is murder and decline the opportunity to have one. Thankfully, no one is required to have an abortion.
But you also can’t deny any person’s right to choose an abortion. Beliefs are personal. They can’t be imposed.
Rather than turn abortion into the next Prohibition, we must learn to hold our beliefs a little more generously.
THINK!AboutIt
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