Letters to the Editor

Abortion is a sin; God forgives sins, all sins

Tue, 03/21/2006 - 6:20pm
By: Letters to the ...

Abortion is one of many sins, but at the end of the day we all have the right to choose.

I am getting ready to upset somebody’s apple cart. I am a Christian and I am a pro-choice mother of one. It seems as if we never get to the root of this debate. The people on the right say God is against abortion, therefore it should be illegal. The Bible is clear, life begins at conception and it is clear that life is ordained before the womb as Bob Patterson pointed out in his response.

We all know that abortion is a termination of life. In order to terminate anything, it has to be. Pro-choicers will never admit this because they believe it will weaken their argument but they insult our intelligence when they say stupid stuff like “abortion is evacuating the womb.” Let’s call a spade a spade and deal with the truth of the matter.

Abortion is murder and it is a sin. Just like fornication, adultery, homosexuality, jealousy, coveting, envy, some forms of war, you get what I am saying here. The same Bible that declares the above. We don’t get to pick and chose what sins are acceptable and which ones are not. In God’s eyes, he sees it all the same.

When I learned I was pregnant, I was unsure whether I wanted to be a mother. I talked to God, listened to my heart and did some research. When I discovered what the abortion procedure actually was, I cringed. When I saw pictures of one being conducted, I cried and said that I could not do that to my baby. I spent three days reading, thinking, meditating, and surfaced with a decision.

I accepted that there was life inside of me and that the life deserved the right to be here. I looked in the mirror and affirmed that I had the strength, courage and resources to be a GREAT mother and what I did not have God would provide. I made a decision and felt a tremendous sense of peace.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, had I not gone through my decision-making process, I would be a horrible mother. I need to have control over my life and the choices I make. Motherhood is a lifelong commitment that I needed to enlist for. I would have no doubt resented my beloved son had I not accepted him first.

Now, the reality of the matter is if I had chosen an abortion, a sin would have been committed and God definitely would have been grieved. I would have had a debt to pay and a God to answer to.

But you know what, had that been the case, I would have answered to Him, repented, asked for forgiveness and moved on. And that same Bible says as a loving and forgiving God, he would have forgiven and restored me.

So to the pro-lifers I say this, if you do not have sin in your life, stand at the abortion clinic and throw the biggest stone you can find. However; if you do have sin in your life, just remember that we (women) have just as much of a right to make our choices, as you did/do when you choose/chose to do whatever sin you commit.

Dana Garner
Fairburn, Ga.

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Of no relevance whatsoever
muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Fri, 03/24/2006 - 5:22pm.

Your conclusion about "sinning, repenting and moving on" would be equally applicable regarding just about anything: rape, murder, incest, terrorist acts, you name it.

You have said nothing whatsoever that is of any relevance to the abortion debate.

[Nietzsche had] the strange notion that the greater and stronger a man was the more he would despise other things. The greater and stronger a man is the more he would be inclined to prostrate himself before a periwinkle.


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FYI
Submitted by Peggy Loonan on Thu, 03/23/2006 - 12:12am.

Dana,

God doesn't condemn Roe vs. Wade. God never spoke directly on point to condemn or condone abortion. That's because for God abortion isn't a moral issue. You would not have sinned had you had an abortion and God would NOT have been grieved about your decision to have an abortion. He wouldn't have forgiven you because there would have been nothing to forgive you for. Sadly the abortion rights movement doesn't challenge the anti-abortion movement notion that God condemns abortion - and condemns it as murder. He did no such thing.

The truth is that Roe vs. Wade went further than God ever did in protecting fetal life.

SEE: God, Bible and Abortion on our web site:
http://www.lifeandlibertyforwomen.org/issues/issues_god_bible_abortion.html

Thanks for sharing your story and your thoughts.

Peggy Loonan, founder and executive director, Life and Liberty for Women peggy@lifeandlibertyforwomen.org

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"Abortion? Cool!" --God
muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Fri, 03/24/2006 - 5:35pm.

God also never said that I shouldn't, say, place a hamster in the microwave or moon the mayor. But unless one subscribes to some variety of "biblical positivism," which entails that only explicit biblical statements--rather than rational inferences from biblical statements--be taken as normative, then it seems reasonable to think that the creator would disapprove of both deeds.

Let's bump it up a few notches. Where is there a biblical prohibition against infanticide? Does it follow that God would not be grieved by the practice?

I do wish that people on both sides of the issue would learn to think.

--

[Nietzsche had] the strange notion that the greater and stronger a man was the more he would despise other things. The greater and stronger a man is the more he would be inclined to prostrate himself before a periwinkle. --G.K. Chesterton


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muddle, you upset me a little, but you got it right
H. Hamster's picture
Submitted by H. Hamster on Fri, 03/24/2006 - 8:27pm.

Needless to say the "hamster in the microwave" crack is upsetting, although "mooning the mayor" would not have been a problem in previous years.

But, back to abortion - God said "I give you life" Who in the world thinks he or she has the right to change that? Surely even the most arrogant liberal would not debate God -or would she?


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Hasmster in the microwave
muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Sat, 03/25/2006 - 1:02pm.

Whoops!

The hamster reference was entirely coincidental. I have no intention of putting you in the microwave (or, for that matter, of mooning the mayor).

-----------
[Nietzsche had] the strange notion that the greater and stronger a man was the more he would despise other things. The greater and stronger a man is the more he would be inclined to prostrate himself before a periwinkle. --G.K. Chesterton


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Abortion is a sin and Christ died because of sin.
Submitted by Van Edwards on Wed, 03/22/2006 - 9:11pm.

I am thankful that you accepted the responsibility to have a child and were determined to be a great mother. Considering the options was a wise thing. But the idea that we can choose to sin whenever we like and simply "repent, ask for forgiveness and move on" is not a biblical idea.

If you apply this thinking to the person throwing rocks at the abortion clinic, what difference does it make if they have sinned or not? If I know I'm being hypocritical, then I can simply ask for forgiveness later. If I kill someone with a big rock, then I can ask God's forgiveness and move on.

This is not about abortion, it's about the Christian's attitude toward sin. If sin grieves our Heavenly Father then it should grieve us enough to not consider it as an option. Christians are not saved to continue sinning.

This way of thinking is mentioned in the Bible. Paul in Romans 6 says: "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?"

Thankfully, John does write in 1 John 1:9 that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins if we confess our sins. He also says in 2:4 that the one who says he knows Jesus Christ and doesn't keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. John holds out no assurance of salvation for this person.

Repentance is not just something we do after a sinful action has served its purpose. It's what we do when we put our faith in Christ. When we turn to Christ, we turn away from sin, as attractive and useful as it may seem. It's also something we do when we find sinful tendencies within us on a daily basis. To repent means to change one's mind. It's first an action of the mind first that is reflected in our behavior second.

The Christian faith does not give us license to sin. It is not a "get out of jail free card" that we keep tucked in our pocket. It's a call to holy living. We give control of our life over to God. The Christian has died with Christ. The New Life we live, we live to Him, not to ourselves. The object of Christianity is not us, but Jesus Christ - the author of our faith, our Advocate, our Savior, our Lord and THE example for godly living.

I'm thankful for your choice in a tough situation. And though you don't know me from Adam, I hope you will reconsider your comments about sin and forgiveness.

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here's my problem with you....
CaptainLemieux66's picture
Submitted by CaptainLemieux66 on Wed, 03/22/2006 - 10:21pm.

you assume that everyone that lives in your city, county, state, country, is a christian. you assume that everybody reads the bible, everyone goes to church on sunday, everyone knows all the books of the bible by heart, and thats where your ignorance begins. abortion is a choice. a choice to have a second chance. if a future mother was told that the only way she could live is to abort the baby, then what? let her die because christ says not to kill the baby? the baby will obviously die also. why not save a life? why do pilots wear parachutes when they are flying fighter jets? if that plane is going to crash, christ wants him to die right? lets take out all parachutes from planes. all fire extinguishers from all buildings should be removed becuase if theres a fire there, christ wants us to die in it. right? wrong. because there are second chances, and people that get abortions want second chances. its not your place to say what someone should do just because you live under the bible belt and think everyone is a sinner if they look at you the wrong way. i've moved away from the church and its been the best thing i could ever do. those people in the church were more corrupt than politicians. all im saying is, an abortion isnt hurting you, its not going to change your life. if you get a broad pregnant, dont get an abortion, simple as that. but leave everyone else alone. trust me, it'll save you a lot of wasted typing.


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"Get a broad pregnant"?
muddle's picture
Submitted by muddle on Fri, 03/24/2006 - 5:44pm.

I guess I'm on a roll here.

But one reply to a stupid blog deserves another.

You suggest that "it's not your place to say what someone should do." But this is just a version of the claim that one ought never to make moral judgments--which, of course, is a moral judgment. Why not say that it is not *your* place to say "it is not your place"?

Further, what is the relevance of saying that Person A aborting person B does not hurt person C? The systematic rape of southern Sudanese women might not hurt me (so long as I don't think about it), but does it follow from that that I have no say in the matter?

And your "argument" echoes that of southern slaveholders who told abolitionists that if they were opposed to slavery, then they should not have slav es. But they should leave the slave-holding south alone.

And did you really use the word "broad"?

[Nietzsche had] the strange notion that the greater and stronger a man was the more he would despise other things. The greater and stronger a man is the more he would be inclined to prostrate himself before a periwinkle. --G.K. Chesterton


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Your problem
Submitted by Van Edwards on Wed, 03/22/2006 - 11:04pm.

I think if you re-read my comments, nowhere do I assume anything close to what you wrote. I was responding to the author of the letter. I was not writing about abortion, either, but about the idea that sin is a valid choice for Christians.
By the way, I don't know all the books of the Bible by heart.

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