[clue-talk] abolish abortion in america

[David L. Willson]

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 06:13:13 -0600, Sean LeBlanc wrote
> On 06-01 23:07, David L. Willson wrote:
> 
> >  I can't address religion or philosophy, but I respect that sincerely-held
> >  religious beliefs preempt purely secular systems.
> 
> Wait - you don't really mean that, do you?
> 
> Or are you just saying that religious beliefs preempt purely secular
> beliefs, and not necessarily practices?
> 
> I'm not trying to snipe or split hairs, just trying to clarify.

To clarify:  I believe that people should vote their most sincerely-held beliefs AND
abide by the civil law.  If the two directly conflict, a devout person should quit the
community, and join a community that doesn't conflict with his sincerely-held beliefs.

Legislators should write law that is ethically sound, not write law that is purely
religious, but they should frame laws in such a way that those laws allow for the free
expression and practice of faith of their constituents.

In this case, if the Jewish system dictates that God ensouls a child when it first draws
breath, then to a devout Jew, the destruction of a fetus or embryo is insignificant.

If the US government were to grant human rights, in a legal sense, to unborn humans, as
Ireland has, the Jewish American citizen could abide both systems, because one allows,
but does not require, what the other precludes.  He would simply abide both systems, by
respecting the rights of unborn humans from the American law, and born humans from his
faith ~and~ the American law.  Currently, the American system only introduces additional
restrictions on the Jewish citizen in the third trimester.

To take another example, the Catholic system used to regard the use of mechanical or
chemical contraception as interference with God's will.  It wouldn't have been possible
for a devout Chinese Catholic to resolve his faith system with his government's "one
child per couple" requirement except by abstaining from sex with his own wife.

-- David
abolish abortion