tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post8475795050663974912..comments2023-09-11T07:34:37.635-07:00Comments on Shared thoughts: Renewal.Andrew Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14685970347404504083noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-44990216936534729322008-09-27T20:45:00.000-07:002008-09-27T20:45:00.000-07:00I have to add a summation here, because it's good ...I have to add a summation here, because it's good to get ALL the comments people have left here. As Randy jo says, you could not tell who's life would have not been if a pregnancy had been ended by human intervention. It might come as a shock to know, if that were possible in this life. It seems right to me, as Marshall art points out, that there are TWO victims, the unborn child as well as the mistreated mother. And there are persistent items of medical evidence that abortion can do damage to the woman. In any event, would anyone like to guarantee that there was never a case of rape or something else in their ancestry that should not be held against them, only the person responsible for it. God help us - we can't take the responsibility for some decisions ourselves because mere human creatures just can't know all there is to know.Andrew Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14685970347404504083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-59517127167086073662008-09-27T20:40:00.000-07:002008-09-27T20:40:00.000-07:00I think you're absolutely right, Culpster. As you ...I think you're absolutely right, Culpster. As you say, the fetus is a person with rights, not just a part of the mother. And yet it's in the nature of human procreation that the mother has to endure the pregnancy which can be terribly hard even when she wants the child. That's a thing men do not have to endure personally in the same way. As you say, we have to keep on reflecting on these issues because if we do not, and start simply resorting to cut-and-dried answers, we become ethically lazy and hidebound by tradition. "Deep thoughts", another blogger I know, wrote a good comment on that recently. We have to keep thinking, not just assume it's settled. <BR/>Interestingly, our press recently reported that a prominent Australian sportwoman found out that she was conceived when her mother was date-raped. That is what it comes down to: looking at a living person and knowing what the implication could be of ending the pregnancy.Andrew Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14685970347404504083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-15263585800960865742008-09-27T11:12:00.000-07:002008-09-27T11:12:00.000-07:00One of the things we constantly hear is that a wom...One of the things we constantly hear is that a woman should have the right to do with her body as she pleases. I don't know why it is so difficult to understand that we are talking about the rights of the child or fetus and not the rights of the woman. <BR/><BR/>But I also am in no position to understand the situation of a person who has been raped. It's a terrible thing and if there were another way for life to born, it would solve all our problems. <BR/><BR/>But we are stuck wrestling with these ethical dilemmas and somehow must judge right and wrong when wrong has already taken place. As you’ve stated, it’s important we do so because we are perhaps the product of this ethical wrestling.Culpsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04307796686789663547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-38704471111474530092008-09-27T00:50:00.000-07:002008-09-27T00:50:00.000-07:00Ah, now I know where the reverse discimination com...Ah, now I know where the reverse discimination comment came from! LOL! Good post.<BR/><BR/>God agrees (I think Ezekiel is one place) that sons are not to be held accountable for their fathers' actions, but they do sometimes suffer from the consequences. Ultimately, we all have the same offer of salvation, which is what really counts. Jesus' sacrifice on that cross is indeed the great equalizer. :)Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01028914792240238768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-9451371975692082202008-09-26T21:09:00.000-07:002008-09-26T21:09:00.000-07:00I agree. One thing that came to mind is our situa...I agree. One thing that came to mind is our situation here in the U.S. with Native American Indians. We have something called Indian Reservations, which is land we have given to tribes to live by their own laws. We do this to help pay them back for the atrocities we committed against them in the past. The problem is that they have taken advantage of the situation by offering services and products that are illegal elsewhere. For example, I knew people who would go there to purchase illegal fireworks around Independence Day. They had a booming business. Of course, people would purchase them and then take them back home to shoot them off illegally. Another example is their casinos.<BR/><BR/>We have given them this land so they can live by their heritage. But this is unrealistic. Of course, they are incorporating modern conveniences into their lives that everyone else has...benefiting from the rest of the country. And yet, they are free to have their own laws which they can use to generate business by selling things not allowed in the surrounding areas. To me this seems to be a bad idea. I am sad that they lost their land way back 100 years ago, but I don't think the answer is to let them have their own little pieces of land with their own special set of laws. It just doesn't make sense to try and repay people for past mistakes on a large scale like that.<BR/><BR/>I am also against reverse discrimination. I don't believe minorities should get jobs, scholarships, etc. just because they are minority. I believe they should earn those things by working hard and having good skills, just like everyone else. And believe me, I am not prejudiced. I got a college scholarship for being a minority, and I never felt right about it.Farrahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14274760327802884251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-88073494788467068102008-09-25T00:35:00.000-07:002008-09-25T00:35:00.000-07:00Great food for thought.....no matter how you feel!...Great food for thought.....no matter how you feel!~*~toni~*~https://www.blogger.com/profile/16279068467837668090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-13351958327986496082008-09-23T20:18:00.000-07:002008-09-23T20:18:00.000-07:00Indeed. Very thoughtful.George H. W. Bush (Bush 4...Indeed. Very thoughtful.<BR/><BR/>George H. W. Bush (Bush 41, not 43) made a comment when asked a hypthetical about rape and abortion. He said (paraphrasing here), "Seems to me in that case there are two victims." He still didn't go for abortion.<BR/><BR/>I wonder if Goering is suffering from a common malady from which too many Americans suffer. This sickness is that which leads to talk of reparations to the black race for the suffering of their ancestors by white slave owners. Many whites feel guilty about slavery, or even the treatment of indigenous tribes, as if they were there taking part in it. Some people feel guilty because they have more money than poor people. In each case, the victim of this disorder wants to be punished on behalf of those who suffered at the hands of other people of means. It's a pathological level of empathy that can't be healthy. I feel sorry for the downtrodden, too. I just don't hold myself responsible for it.Marshal Arthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054268632726520871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-409139071628002101.post-59579298255456568212008-09-23T09:35:00.000-07:002008-09-23T09:35:00.000-07:00what a great entry ----- to think about our family...what a great entry ----- to think about our family lines and how many wouldn't be born if we ourselves were not born --- and then to parallel that to Jesus' line. WOW! And the significance of Rahab in His line is awesome. <BR/><BR/>Who else isn't getting the chance to live here on earth because of terminating pregnancies? <BR/><BR/>great entry! :)Randi Jo :)https://www.blogger.com/profile/10455815193915058855noreply@blogger.com