NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

11 Reasons Abortion Isn’t Murder

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God’s Knowing Each Human
In Specific Detail
Doesn’t Give Us Personhood
Any More Than It Gives Personhood
To A Grain Of Sand

To be clear, in this article, I’m not asking if abortion is wrong. The only question here is about murder: “Is abortion murder?” That’s important because something can be very wrong and still not be murder.

There are several categories of wrong. There’s perceived vs actual wrong and minor vs major wrong, major being anything that is absolutely wrong. Murder falls in the absolutely wrong category but if something – for example abortion – isn’t absolutely wrong, how wrong is it?

You may be one of those who consider abortion absolutely wrong and that’s your right. Others may believe it is wrong but not as wrong as murder. Others may believe it is only mildly wrong, if wrong at all. Those shifts in thinking are important nuances but murder is the focus of this article.

I’m arguing that abortion isn’t murder. Where you land in the discussion is a matter of personal consideration, another factor we don’t talk about much but we should. How you “feel” about an issue is important to you but others may feel differently.

There is no scientific proof that abortion is murder and that alone should give us pause. The primary motivation behind the recent court activity and public skirmishes around this topic is belief. People “Believe” it’s wrong and they are acting on that belief.

Unfortunately, Belief isn’t known for its strong connection to facts or logic.

Hence, this post. [Read more…] about 11 Reasons Abortion Isn’t Murder

Fighting The Good Fight Involves Debate Not Pugilism

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God doesn't have a dog in any fight. Instead, He fights for every dog.

If All We Do
Is Say What’s Already Been Said
We Haven’t Done The Job

It had been several years since I last spoke to this individual. Through others, I had remained aware of what was happening in his life and it became apparent that he was aware of happenings in my life too, but other than exchanging a like or two on Facebook, a distant wave here or there, nothing. So it was a surprise when I got his message that he wanted to FaceTime.

I agreed, of course. We had been acquainted for thirty plus years at that point. I knew him as a kid growing up and I was familiar with the various stages of his development. His story was quite typical.

He grew up in church but, as often happens, his Christianity was mostly superficial. He was a quiet rebel as a youngster: alcohol, drugs and sex. Always nice on the surface. Always pleasant and full of potential but into some serious stuff in the background.

As you might guess, the background issues began taking over and became more apparent as he grew older.

He was loved through it all and, thankfully, came to his senses at a later stage.

And when he did, he was loved just as much at that point as he’d always been. The difference now was that he was also applauded, honored and appreciated for making his way out of an addictive situation. He had apparently become quite dependent on both the alcohol and the drugs. Overcoming in that situation has to be respected. In his case, he did more than just overcome addiction. He also went to university and gained a credible degree. Impressive! [Read more…] about Fighting The Good Fight Involves Debate Not Pugilism

Review: Unclobber – Rethinking Our Misuse Of The Bible On Homosexuality

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It's intellectually lazy to reference the Bible and dismiss it at the same time.

Deliberation Or Pugilism
Which Is The Better Way
To Find An Answer

Finally!!

A much needed book focused on what the Bible actually says and how a more informed reading should lead us away from the anti-woke doctrines of prominent Catholic politicians.

No, the book doesn’t focus on Catholics or Catholicism. In fact, I don’t remember the words Catholic or Catholicism mentioned at all in the book.

That bit is an add-on by me but an accurate one since Catholics have dominated the discussion regarding acceptable sexual/moral norms for centuries. It’s also true that several vociferous Catholics presently holding significant positions of power are pushing their doctrines on an unwilling public. A public that largely rejects these ideas.

Consider the fact that Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott, both governors of two large influential states, both Catholics and both representing the more intolerable version of the Catholic Church. And both aggressively pushing a Republican Party first and anti-woke agenda more unbendingly, irrationally and demandingly than good sense, or the law, allows.

Their leadership is inquisition-like, only with a little less blood shed, as far as we can tell.

DeSantis’ strident form is easily understood once you learn how committed his family is to Catholicism. With an aunt who’s a nun and an uncle who’s a priest, how can he demonstrate an equal level of commitment other than by damning anything and anyone who oversteps the Church’s boundaries, all from high political office. Abbott can’t claim such pedigree so we can only attribute his asininity to a stubborn nature.

You may know this but the Supreme Court is also loaded with Catholics.

But I digress. Back to the book.

There were several reasons I enjoyed this book and hardily recommend it to others. [Read more…] about Review: Unclobber – Rethinking Our Misuse Of The Bible On Homosexuality

10 Thoughts On Doing Good Works

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Actions are living arguments that intrigue.

Acting Like A Good Person
Is Better Than Claiming To Be One

The idea of doing good works – things that are honorable, useful, dignified, helpful, kind, etc. – often takes a beating and, strangely, the beating comes from the people you’d expect to be doing the most good, Christians. Christians can some times sound anti good works.

There is a reason for that but the reason doesn’t justify the negativity.

Let me explain.

Christians are those claiming born-again status, and the salvation associated with born-again happens completely apart from any good works we can do. In other words, salvation is by faith through grace. It’s made free by the death of Jesus on the cross and is offered purely by God’s grace and kindness. That means you can’t good-works your way into heaven.

I agree with that. If Jesus didn’t pay the price for our sins, there aren’t enough good works in the world to cover that sin but some go a little too far with that idea and suggest that before salvation humans are incapable of doing any good at all. The idea is so senseless it doesn’t deserve a mention much less an argument.

But, for the record, there are too many non-believing individuals in the world doing good things to suggest that a sin nature puts good works beyond reach until after salvation.

Is it a good work for soldiers to defend their country against all enemies foreign and domestic? Are Christians the only ones who defend their country?

Even if you believe that only Christians are capable of doing good works, there’s too little of that happening and too few who encourage it. Some Christians become quite defensive, almost insecure, when anyone suggests we should do good works. They immediately begin chanting grace through faith – all of which is good – but it doesn’t apply. It also doesn’t mirror what the Bible says.

Jesus had some positive things to say about good works. You could take His comments as commands but before we get to that, what exactly qualifies as a good work? [Read more…] about 10 Thoughts On Doing Good Works

Proselytes, Sycophants And Political Extremism

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Sycophantic Tendencies: Make something of nothing, make nothing of something.

Not Every Proselyte
Becomes A Child Of Hell

According to several dictionaries, a proselyte is a newcomer to some version of faith. Since no one is born a believer of any kind, everyone is a proselyte at some point.

Even if one is born into a religious family, becoming an adherent to the family altar, be it Catholic, Baptist, Hindu or whatever, is still a choice and when you make it, you are a proselyte.

Each person’s level of commitment to their chosen belief, however, is not the same. It could be very intense or quite casual. It could also be non existent.

Ronald Reagan Jr. is a good example. His father, President Reagan, was quite religious but Ron Jr. rejected his father’s religion entirely. Instead, he became an atheist and today represents the Freedom From Religion Foundation regularly in TV commercials.

If you’re religious and of the Christian variety, you probably find his commercials offensive.

Obviously, in his case, his dad’s religion didn’t stick but he still qualified as a proselyte. Instead of Christianity, he became a proselyte to atheism. Whenever he came to that conclusion, he was a newcomer to the belief that God doesn’t exist.

But the point to this post is not that you are a proselyte but where has that journey taken you? [Read more…] about Proselytes, Sycophants And Political Extremism