For a page summary:  Page Six --Abortion & the Three Religious Assumptions . 

To understand the context of this discussion:  Summary  &  Index . 

If you have not already done so, please see:  The Editors Note . 

Big D   There are five general categories of belief regarding the abortion issue.   Each has its own set of assumptions.   First, consider the two atheistic positions.   Remember, atheists believe a human being is merely physical matter that has magically and mysteriously acquired consciousness.   A common position for atheists is to stay out of the abortion controversy.

Regarding those who do get involved, they are usually humanitarian atheists.  These are people who have a loving concern for the overall best interest of all involved.   For them, the value of the fetal tissue usually takes a back seat to the care, the concern for the woman, herself and to her right to make her own free will choice.   So most humanitarian atheists, if they expressed any opinion at all on this issue, almost always honor the woman’s right of self-determination.

The ego atheist, on the other hand, doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the embryo, the potential-mother or anybody else.   Self-interest is his/her only interest.   He/she will express whatever stance on this issue best serves his/her personal interests in the moment and will shift that position whenever the value of holding the position changes.   Ego-atheist view this issue from two points of view.  First is to have no interest at all, and second, is to realize the vast  potential the abortion issue has for good con artist, but that's another story for another time. . 

T.L.C.   So what’s the bottom line if atheism turns out to be the correct one of the three assumptions?

Big D   In terms of its religious significance, aborting or not aborting is a non-issue for atheists.   Atheists believe that the embryo is only earth matter – that a human being is merely conscious earth matter – that consciousness ceases when the body dies -- that there is nothing beyond death.

T.L.C.   From an atheist's perspective, how and when does a physical body acquire it's consciousness?

Big D  Nobody knows and nobody seems to be interested in talking about that question.

T.L.C.   What about Reincarnation?

Big D   With regard to the reincarnation assumption, the body is merely a vehicle which the eternal soul temporarily uses.   The soul is not the body, but merely comes into the body, similar to a tenant moving into a house.   When it’s time to leave, the soul simply sheds the body as easily as one would shed a set of clothes.

T.L.C.   And, like the tenant, simply moves out of the house?

Big D   Yup!   In the reincarnation assumption, the embryo is considered to be merely earth matter with potential to evolve into a physical body.   The physical human body is considered to be a tool, a vehicle, a house temporarily inhabited and used by the soul for obtaining earthly experiences.

T.L.C.   So relate that to abortion.

Big D   In the Reincarnation assumption, interrupting embryo development (abortion) is all but irrelevant.   If the soul doesn’t come to Earth in a particular body at a particular time because the mother chose abortion, then the soul will come into a different body at another time or place.

T.L.C.   So the believers in reincarnation support abortion rights.

Big D   Definitely yes!

T.L.C.   Then why don’t you see them rallying to the pro-choice cause?

Big D   Because most believers in reincarnation also follow Hindu, Buddhist or similar traditions, and in these belief systems, the practice of non-interference is a major teaching.

T.L.C.   You mean like Star Trek’s Prime Directive?

Big D   That’s a good analogy.

T.L.C.  So you’re saying that reincarnation believers are pro-choice but won’t push their beliefs onto anyone else.

Big D   Yup!

T.L.C.  OK.   What about the Christian beliefs?

Big D   Once again we have a divided camp.   There are those who actually believe in and follow the teachings of the Christian Bible.   They believe, as the Bible says in Genesis 2:7, that life begins at first breath, thus, they support pro-choice.   They believe the embryo is, as it says in the Bible,  made from "the dust of the ground” and  becomes a individualized living being when the breath enters the body and becomes a living being by the breath entering the body.   

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

T.L.C.  "Dust of the ground?"   That sounds like god is saying the embryo is made of sand, or mud, or dirt, of ground up rocks. 

Big D   Well, if you want to be strictly literal, yes.   However a more realistic interpretation would be to say the human physical bodies are made of the same  materials as everything else on Earth, and that the Earth matter, itself, is neither the source or the keeper of  life.

T.L.C.  Anything else?

Big D   Yes, the Christian Bible also clearly says in Ecclesiastes 11:5, that humans do not know how god works.   

And another thing, the Christian Bible clearly distinguishes the soul from the body, and most of those who acknowledge Genesis 2:7 also acknowledge that distinction.

T.L.C.   Can you offer some examples?

Big D   That’s easy.  Here they are, strait for the Christian Bible:

Big D   Ecclesiastes 11:5, RSV clearly distinguishes between the body and the spirit and also says that humans don’t know when the spirit enters the physical form.

T.L.C.   That sounds like a second direct Biblical contradiction of the story that the anti-abortion leaders are telling the public.  Are you saying Christianity is a bad religion?

Big D   Certainly not.   Christianity is a great religion, and in particular, the teachings of Jesus are extremely valuable.   I’m simply saying if the Christian leaders are going to preach about the truth, they ought to practice living it.

T.L.C.  So Christians can hold all the beliefs of Christianity that you shared on your chart . (comparing the three religious assumptions) and still be for a woman’s right to make her own choice about what to do with an unwanted embryo in her body?

Big D   That’s correct.

T.L.C.   So far, everyone you mentioned has been pro-choice or neutral.

Big D   Well, that all changes when you look at the fundamentalist Christians who deny their own Bible and proclaim that life begins at conception.   If their belief turns out to be the ultimate, true reality, then abortion does indeed have a significant, irreversible effect.

The fundamentalist Christian anti-abortionists have a much stronger tie to the physical body than the group of Christians I just mentioned.   For the anti-abortionists, physical bodies are very important.   Some even believe that, one day, God will raise all good Christians right up out of their graves to again be alive as physical bodies.

T.L.C.   What about those who don’t have graves, like the Christians in the Roman games who got eaten by lions?   Is God going to run around and collect all those lion droppings?   I’d think they’d be pretty hard to find by now.

Big D   Now who’s being a smart ass?

T.L.C.   Isn’t there a famous line that says what you give out is what you get back?

Big D   Yeah, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”  and “What goes around comes around.” and one commonly associated with computers, “Garbage in, garbage out.”

T.L.C.   OK, what are their assumptions?

Continued on Page Seven:
The Anti-Abortion Movement's Unprovable Assumptions .