John Piper: Abortion Is About God

God has the right to decide when we are born and when we die. The problem isn't that babies die, but that people kill babies with abortion. For babies, natural death isn't such a terrible thing...a person killing a baby is. Our life here on Earth is but a water vapor; it comes and goes in almost an instant compared to the eternal afterlife. Death is appointed to everyone whether they die in the womb, 10 years, 40 years, or 90 years of age. We all die.

Whether you take my philosophical view of personhood or the theological view (the ability to have and maintain a relationship with the creator), the necessary properties do not come about until after birth.

So...those who are less developed have less rights? Is that your point? So is it a sliding scale, or only used in this instance? So when someone reaches into a womb and cuts off legs and arms of a baby, you say it is just like killing chicken or lizards? Hmmm...where else have I heard that used as an excuse to kill others?

Let's start thinking rationally here.

I argue that killing a fetus is similar to killing a non-human animal of similar qualities, and there is no way around this without a speciesist approach to your ethical code.

You still haven't responded to my assertion that God is the greatest abortionist doctor of all time. I would like to hear your defense of his actions or your argument as to why this isn't true.

Your appeal to pathos about cutting off a "babies" arms might appeal to 13 year old girls in a congregation, but it does nothing to advance a philosophical dispute. It would make anyone trained in philosophy assume that its purpose is to make up for a weakness in the argument.

Weakness of argument? Why should we trust philosophers to tell us what life is valuable? Just look where that got us in the 20th century.(Hitler, Stalin, Eugenics). What if some philosopher decides that personhood only comes at age 4, 10, 21? The truth is you can think on this your whole life, but you have only your own weak mind to trust in this issue. Some of the smartest people in the world have used their "philosophy" to do terrible things. You are no different.

If you want to get an answer to why God is not the worst abortionist of all time, there are volumes of work on that subject...a youtube debate on that particular point is insufficient. You reject the authority of God in your life (that's why you take His place by deciding for yourself when life begins), so I don't expect you to have any understanding on those issues.

I shall repeat myself. I do not decide when life begins. I only think it is important that we discuss when a being deserves protection under the law. I assume that you wouldn't suggest we make hand-washing illegal, but that literally takes the life of thousands of skin cells (all containing human life). We must find the point in which "life" demands protection.

Show me a single volume on why God allows for so many "babies" to die during or before childbirth. I am eager to read one, for I have never encountered such a book. I do not believe God ever described when life begins, but again I look forward to the bible verse illustrating this. I have read the bible twice and don't remember any such verses.

And I do not reject the authority of God in my life; I reject the notion that he has authority in my life. Don't need it. Thanks, but no thanks.