Abortion?

Hades wrote: Why does God himself hurt children?

Whoa, way outta line...have you no faith? Have you ever touched a bible?  Evil and original sin cause the problems in our world.  God has perfect justice and mercy, beyond our comprehension, and will give judgment at the end of our lives.  He allows evil because it is our duty to fight it and choose righteousness.  If that is your belief,that "God himself hurts little children," God help you. 

   And on abortion, how is the baby part of her body? He/she has a unique set of DNA from the instant the "two cells" (you get the idea )join.  And why is the child's blood type often different than the mothers?  It is a different life, at its most vulnerable stage of development with no voice of its own.

And for those who say that abortion should be allowed for instances such as rape, where has the value of life gone? That is tantamount to implying that life is good only when its convenient. The life of an innocent child is always important, no matter what the extenuating circumstances.  The child can always be put up for adoption.  The only instance in which abortion may be justified is when the lives of both the mother and child are in danger and all possible methods to save both lives have been exhausted (i.e. uterine cancer).  However rare this is, it does occur.

A few last notes - 1.) the difference in complexity of humans versus viruses is unbelievably vast.  2.) For anyone who wants to know, all nerve parts necessary for the child to experience pain are present at 12 weeks into the pregnancy, so the child does often feel pain during an abortion. 

     OK, so say I want to go around killing people because they look funny. I look at you, I think you look strange, so I blow your head off.  Who would not agree that my killing people for such trivial reasons is wrong? There are certain moral truths bound into our nature, namely the sacredness of life.  If we are all just "chemical accidents," why is it so that certain rights and wrongs exist? It is not just because "a lot of people say so."  The basic ability of reasoning and distinguishing right from wrong is part of our nature.

     Look at the complexity of the universe and our world; if our planet were a few hundred thousand miles either closer or further from the sun, the climate would make the planet virtually uninhabitable. The right equilibrium of gases exist in the atmosphere, allowing for respiration and photosynthesis. It seems difficult to believe that such an intricate balance which supports life occurred by accident, and that life, as complex as ourselves, formed from lifeless matter and "evolved" to create human life, none the less with properties of reasoning, self-awareness, and free will.  What creator would enable us with the ability to show such love and compassion and then play a cruel game of fate with his creations killing some for fun and manipulating others for amusement?  It takes a mind, willing to reject all reasoning  logic, to whole-heartedly embrace such a theory. 

      To me, it seems clear that some all powerful guiding force is behind the creation and maintenance of the universe.  We have free will, but it is our duty to choose right, and not, as in the above example, blow people's heads off.  What then, is the difference between you and a developing human in the womb?  Nothing but the stage of life.  He/she has unique DNA, signature brain waves, functioning organ systems, ect...just as everyone else living outside the womb. Of course, it requires time to fully develop all aspects of an adult human and humans change throughout the life cycle - who looks like the 80 year old geezer they will become at age five?

Religion is only a copout for those who know little about their beliefs. Much of it is grounded in sound reasoning.

EDIT - to pmoney

Nope.

So-called "intelligent design" theories are grounded in a fundamentally flawed application of scientific theory.

And even if we accept ID, that does still not lead to a necessary morality.  Natural law and all of its relatives are unsupportable and meaningless, not to mention contrary to human history.  Religious law has some logic, but is subject to severe epistemological flaws.