Will Violence Continue Over Abortion, or Will There Be a Definitive Answer?

If only we had definitive words in our personal religions and bibles about the evolution v. creation debate and the ethics of abortion, the world would be at least 90% at peace. The remaining 10% would be contentious attitudes over who owns what land and dealing with so many religions that everybody fights over who has possession of the real truth. We all know some religions say they have definitive answers in the stifling issue of abortion. But since America is mostly Christian, let's collectively admit that the Christian bible has no definitive answer to whether abortion is an abomination in God's eyes or acceptable under certain circumstances. Catholics (and Southern Baptists), of course, think otherwise, even though they can't give a definite quote in the bible that says abortion is completely wrong or halfway right, obviously because such a quote isn't there.

In the event of a counterargument after asking them to point out a quote that directly deals with abortion, one often observed is a quote from Jeremiah. This quote reminded us that God knew us before birth as well as consecrating us. Yet myriad complications come out of this quote when it doesn't deal directly with abortion and only deals with a spiritual reality rather than dealing with the human reality of what's happening once we're in the womb. This quote in Jeremiah explicitly states the consecration of a life happening before God forms us in the womb with the first sentence stating "Before I formed you in the womb..."

Just what constitutes definitive life in the womb is easily now the #1 most contentious and mysterious issue society still faces, despite society creating better answers at one time. You might as well add the mystery of what's in the mind of an abortion doctor as an additional profound problem to solve. Not knowing what was truly in the mind of murdered abortion doctor George Tiller only compounds the problem--as does every other issue dealing with what goes on in the mind of a human life.

Whatever Tiller was thinking in his quest to make abortions a part of a woman's life choice, it's safe to say most Christians are in a consensus that life is sacred and that maliciously taking it away once it's fully formed is a major blight in God's eyes. However, the bible did put forth the idea in Exodus that the murder of a fully-born human being is worse than the death of a fetus. Go and read Exodus 21 versus 22-24 to see how a man doing harm to a pregnant woman is referred to as being an unforgivable act above all. And, yes, some may consider that the quote means the death of the fetus in said situation is equal with the woman being hurt.

It's lack of specifics in the above example that makes biblical deducing one of the most challenging brainstorms in equanimity with solving the higher realms of math and science. Chances are good that it was done that way as a part of a grand design so society would have quarrels and deal with senseless loss of life over it as a way to force us into thinking harder so we find the answer(s) under our own volition.

Well, the answers won't come fast unless there's an epiphany out of nowhere. It could potentially come down to one particular biblical quote and reminder that the Catholic stance on abortion came straight from an ancient Pope to perhaps set anti and pro abortion camps on a path of compromise without resorting to the lost cause of generalities.
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Someday we'll presumably have a special technology that can determine pain in the minutest forms of life. Of course, we can already determine that in the fully developed human brain, but not in a stem cell. The arguments go on whether a stem cell can really feel anything because it doesn't yet have a developed brain or consciousness. Once we have the capability to show proof of a consciousness and pain in a stem cell, you can be sure we'll be on a better road to getting a consensus if not a larger solution to appease the religious side. If more attention was paid to the true origins of anti abortion, though, we'd have something more substantial to connect to.

You can trace all of the dissension over abortion back to the legendary 1200's Catholic philosopher Thomas Aquinas. Should you believe that all philosophers spout their views of the world based on their own perceptions, you can say the same thing about Aquinas, despite this theologian's fascinating and useful insights in other areas. Nonetheless, his personal view that the earliest form of a fetus receives its soul after 40 days (and, suspiciously, 80 days for females) became somehow entwined into Catholic philosophy without acknowledging that it was personal philosophy and not biblical truth.

How that happened is one of the strangest mysteries in human history. Call it manipulation if you want or how persuasive a philosopher could be if he put the term "theologian" next to that title. We can't give complete blame to Aquinas, however. Pope Pius IX from the mid 1800's was actually the first to decree that life starts at conception--again with no references to the bible in making such a statement. Ever since, it was said to go along with Pius' supposition, or be excommunicated from Catholicism.

Before Catholicism became dominate in the States, the earlier days of America had abortion as a legal activity without it disturbing the other fundamental denominations of Christianity dominating in the U.S. Yet it shouldn't surprise us that dogma became wrapped around a major religion such as Catholicism when it's so easy to happen under duress. The power of religion shaped generation after generation to the point where the origin of how something started gets obliterated from any modern discussions. Then when it gets into the courts, you get the result of Roe v. Wade that still has potentials of being overturned in our lifetimes.

Outside all of this looking in is one of the oft-quoted verses from the Christian bible that comes from those who believe life isn't fully formed until having a sense of consciousness. It's from Genesis when God gives man (Adam) life for the first time via the breath of life. There's definitive specificity in the verse that a human being isn't truly human until being given the breath of life from God.
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So how to tie all of that up so a meeting of the minds can be accomplished in the next room next to the meeting of the evolutionists and creationists? Bringing in scholars of history to remind Catholics that many of the abortion stances came directly from men and philosophers would give an opportunity for the people there to make up their own mind whether those historical figures were inspired by God or not. We'd probably be surprised to learn that many Catholics already realize that this stance came from perfectly imperfect men and not God. As usual, the extremist and overly adamant views would be in the minority.

For those on the pro-choice side, they'll have to be reminded through biblical and most other religious texts that life was still considered sacred. Not that we wouldn't find out the pro-choice side already holds this philosophy--and perhaps what would be found in the mind of the late Dr. Tiller if we had such a miraculous chance. The ultimate consensus would be in the previous understanding and a collective agreement that an abortion only be done in extreme situations, plus as early as possible.

This combination of understanding history and the perspective of abortion doctors is where it truly starts in gaining any semblance of peace with the abortion issue. The world is mired in dogma, however, and both of those impending points will likely be thwarted and have to await a good discussion on a dais for decades before the ultimate truth reveals itself...