god and i opined

Let me start off my spiel by saying that I do not believe in talking about religion through the internet on principle, because most readers will merely take these words and project their own opinions through them without considering what is actually said. This bit of thought is not to be interpreted as a request for debate or criticism of Christians/atheists/whatever. With that said:

I despise the way Christianity is used nowadays, as a crutch by both those who follow the faith blindly and by those who label believers as backwards, whose opinions are not to be considered. I don’t think morals should have anything to do with religion, because what’s right should be right because it has a place in the world—not because God says so.

I’ve heard, listened, and watched too many people use Christianity as a defining edge in a stance. Citing scripture is not an appropriate form of argumentation, though it may be used as support. At the same time, just because God or the Bible is brought up in a conversation doesn’t mean it should be disregarded completely. Being an atheist doesn’t make one all-knowing, the same way being Christian doesn’t give one all the irrefutable right answers. In this manner I caution against using religion at all in conversation, because who is anyone to say what God wants or whether there is a God at all?

Unfortunately, there seems to be an unspoken rule on the internet that ignorance, irrationality, and sheer stupidity must invade all but few conversations on religion. While I personally believe that faith is a personal matter which requires a great deal of open-mindedness and consideration to cultivate, I seem to find more and more cases where God is a single-dimensional character whose words are twisted and abused to fit specific instances in life.

I suppose what I’m saying is this: if God’s will must be asserted as the reason something should or should not be done, His wishes better not be the sole support. Additionally, knowledge of a few dozen Biblical stories does not imply expertise on the Christian faith. Whether or not there is a God we should listen to should not affect every choice we make, be it the right to gay marriage, abortion, or marrying a cousin. To give all words consideration, even when filled with deep personal conviction, is a true sign of enlightenment, and the key to a rational society where everyone can live in understanding, if not agreement.

Dear people who have misunderstood me about my pro-life comment,

startingatzero:

I was “in the moment” of what I was saying because I was growing frustrated of the reasons why people chose pro-choice. Now putting rape aside, the other reasons I have heard upset me. Such as “why would I want to go through with pregnancy; it’s not fun.”

I realize now that I may have been insensitive to those who get raped, but I just don’t see how difficult it is to have the baby and give it up for adoption. No one is required to have  the baby. If people were making you, all the clinics would be shut down. People are asking and praying and trying to convince you that giving life (in their opinion) is a better choice. Obviously, having an abortion is legal, so how in the world is anyone forcing you to have babies????

Now on top of that, no one wants to talk about the psychological and emotional effects that abortion can have on women. Talk to some of those women or google the statistics. If abortion was illegal we would, I suppose, be “forcing” you to have a baby. Whether abortion should be allowed is still a gray area to many people. I have at times let down my bias and looked at it from a pro choicers point of view. Now have you looked at it from a pro lifers point of view?

Now, someone made a response to my post and reminded me of the scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. Which struck me as funny because I know myself to be a very loving and understand person. Only, I do not understand how it can be okay to kill a fetus. The other reason why I found this ironic is because I must love unborn babies for me to think they should be developed and than be allowed to come into the world. I supposed I didn’t sound sympathetic. I apologize to everyone who felt my comment was insensitive. I was just heated. But also hurt that people were telling me that I was being judgemental when I am sure we ALL have gossiped and slandered one another in our life times.

It was also stated that I said that I thought women who have abortions are stupid…I have no idea where this came from. It’s quite funny to hear these comments considering that I myself am being judged by the people who make these comments. People who are judging me as a Christian. God knows the motives of my heart and my motive was love, although I may not have spoke in love. But if you think about the definition of self-ish maybe you’d understand. Because one of the key things about Christianity is self-sacrifice. Abortion is by no means self-sacrifice. That is why I thought that having one was selfish.

I also don’t understand how anyone can say that my comments was “spread thick with hypocrisy and lacks the love that all Christians preach.”

Hypocrisy: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.

I do not pretend that I am something I am not. Several times I have blogged about my character flaws and my short comings. I am by no means perfect, but God helps me to not allow my sin to define me, and I have no problem calling people out on something I disagree with. What would be hypocritical would to kill, murder, and have abortions and than not practice what I preach. Just because I struggle, does not mean I can not have a strong opinion on something. I am supposed to love what God loves, so therefore I am pro life——whether I am perfect or not. If you ever read the Gospels, you would know how people like John, Paul, and Jesus spoke. They spoke with conviction and rebuke, however Jesus was patient and gentle (except for the instance where he literally over turned tables in his anger). Christians don’t have some “hippie-love”. Sorry to burst your bubble. We are meant to be passionate, steadfast, non-silent people (but there is also a time for us to be silent). Also, scripture says to hate evil. I hate abortion, but I don’t hate the people who do it. Just because I said I think it’s selfish, does not mean my heart does not go out to the people who decide to partake in it.

Scripture says to defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. In that sense, I am doing his commandments. Regardless of the “insensitivity” of my comment, it does not change the fact that I disagree with abortion.

To conclude, there was a man named Voltaire who once said, I may disagree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.

You have every right to your belief, and you can be passionate about what you believe, but that won’t stop me from fighting and fighting for what I believe is right because I believe and agree with what my God believes. In light of this situation, I will be more careful of the way I come across with things. I have friends who have been rape victims and I find rape utterly disgusting. I feel that I needed to clarify that.

If you want to reply to this, comment, or tell me how horrible you think I am please email me at belovedstarfyrxx@yahoo.com as opposed to reblogging because I have not the time for an intense debate about this over Tumblr. Sparks have already flown and I have no intention to start a fire. Thank you for your feedback and I have no problem keeping it in mind. Peace.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” -Psalm 139:13

You are missing the point of my reply completely. I am not arguing with you on being pro-life in general; I am strictly making my comments on the basis that you believe that a victim should have her rapist’s baby. I don’t really care about whether you were “in the moment” or not, because what you said was posted in a public forum and can be interpreted as a reasonable presentation of your own feelings. (Additionally, I have no desire to contact you personally. What I’m saying now is something I feel all pro-lifers should hear. Your message is merely a good representation of the bias, judgment, and a clear willingness to overlook the rights of women that seems to pop up so often in these rants.)

You say that no one wants to look at the psychological problems abortions bring women. However, those women have chosen to have their abortions. Women don’t choose to be raped and impregnated, and they certainly don’t choose having to have and then abandon their child.

I asked you to love thy neighbor as thyself for the sole purpose of pointing out the lack of sympathy your argument is presenting towards women in such rape-pregnancy situations. I believe that life does begin at conception, but I don’t believe that choice does. Being pro-choice is all about allowing women to choose for themselves. It does not attempt to convince all women to have abortions, whether they want to or not. You can love fetuses all you want, but it does not give you the right to decide whether they arrive as children or not.

I say that your message is filled with hypocrisy because it is. You say that you’re a very loving person but you deny rape victims sympathy and understanding. In fact, you ignore them altogether. In short, your message is saying something along the lines of, “If someone get raped and pregnant, how hard is it to keep suffering nine months later to have a child and then give it up for adoption? I mean, it’s not like the average price of having a baby, conception to birth, is around $14000. It’s not like they don’t already have to deal with the physical and emotional trauma of being raped. Hey, if they’re 14 and they get raped, they might as well just follow through with the consequences. I mean, it’s not like they had a say in the matter.”

Again, I can understand that your message is directed towards children who might not have a chance of entering the world, but you must remember that conception doesn’t just affect the babies—it affects the mother more, because she has an existing life. If you are truly a loving person, as you say you are, you would have the consideration to take the mother’s life into account, and not just the child’s.

To be frank, your statements of “everyone judges” and “Christians don’t have to love everything” sound nothing more than excuses of the “pick and espouse” kind. I’m not asking you to love abortion. I’m asking you to show women who have abortions a little more love. No one has an abortion after rape because they think it’s “fun”. I refuse to believe that God stops loving women who have been sexually violated, and choose to terminate the result of that rape. I think God will still love them, regardless of whatever mistakes they make. Thus, by your logic, you should love these women too, instead of only seeing the half-formed cluster of cells in their uterus.

So to clarify, lest there are any misunderstandings: you are being a hypocrite when you choose to be loving towards children but not their mothers. You are lacking basic sympathy when you fail to see a rape victim’s face when you talk about how they should just have the baby anyway and just give it away. This issue is not about being pro-life or pro-choice. This issue is about rape victims and their choices in the aftermath. I’m not asking you to start loving abortions, but the women who choose to have them? Yes.

via startingatzero

“Has it ever occured to anyone that abortion is selfish? Yes, even if you get raped have the freaking baby and give it up to a family who can’t have babies and actually (wants) them. Geez. How hard is it to just go through with child birth instead? No one is “forcing” you to have a baby. People are “enforcing” that you go through with the option of life. It’s like you are willing to murder for your own self-comfort.”

(via startingatzero)

The psychological and mental repercussions aside, rape, and especially pregnancy resulting from rape, is a serious issue whose consequences no one but the victim has a right to speak of, especially in such a trifling manner. Regardless of how anyone feels about abortion, I refuse to believe that anyone is morally required to have a child through the trauma of rape.

I’m not here to argue about being pro-choice or pro-life. While I personally believe that every woman has a right to choose what happens to her body, be it having an abortion or not, what I’m angered by most by this opinion is the lack of sensitivity on basic human rights and the hypocrisy of the underlining message.

If you deny women the right to choose, you are requiring them to have the child. Babies don’t appear fully formed in a day. Nine months of being constantly required to remember what has happened to you and how your life will never be the same again? You’re not “enforcing” life. You are controlling someone’s, in the worst way possible: with judgment, with no liberty, and with no sympathy or consideration.

Startingatzero, I’ve read your posts about struggling with your spirituality, and I can see how hard you’re trying to be a good Christian. However, I think you need to remember two important verses of scripture: One, love thy neighbor as thyself. Try to be more understanding of other people’s opinions and choices. Love everyone not because of the choices that they make but because they are your brothers and sisters, deserving of your empathy. Two, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. It is not your place to place judgment on those who are pro-choice and who choose to have abortions. Your quote, which in sense demeans women who have abortions as selfish, and frankly, stupid, is spread thick with hypocrisy and lacks the love that all Christians preach.

Remember, “Blessed are they that do His Commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” (Revelation 22:14-15)

via startingatzero