God is Anti-Abortion?

Just read an article by Jerry Newcombe ("God or Abortion.  Choose One," 8/4/2016) that simply argues Nancy Pelosi does not understand that God is anti-abortion.  I’ve read tripe before; I have graded thousands of high school seniors’ essays.  But Newcombe is right up there near the top in the non-grounded BS department.

Newcombe sites two Old Testament and one New Testament scriptures to “prove” God is anti-abortion.  David says in Psalm 139 that God knit him together in his mother’s womb.  Jeremiah says before God formed him in the womb He named him a prophet.  In the New Testament he sites Luke 1 where Mary and Elizabeth, both very pregnant, meet and Elizabeth says the baby in her womb leaped for joy.  If it is a baby it must be a human and if it is human abortion is murder and therefore should be opposed.

Really Jerry?  Is that all you’ve got?  A quote from two Bronze Age men who believe that God controls what happens in the womb from conception forward.  Do you want to stick with that?  If so, what kind of God do you worship who controls any number of birth defects?  What kind of God do you worship who controls any number of diseases infants manifest at birth?  Are you going to say that from conception forward the zygote is holy because God controls it and not hold God accountable for all the terrible atrocities that can occur at birth?  Is it that Jeremiah knows God ordains our future as we are formed in the womb?  If so, why does God curse so many infants?  What did they ever do that was so terrible that they deserved a birth defect, childhood cancer, SIDS, or whatever?  One cannot logically claim that at conception humans are sacred because God controls it and at the same time let God off the hook for the atrocities He therefore has committed.  Sounds like God should be prosecuted for murder, not pregnant women who have abortions.  And Elizabeth’s fetus jumping for joy?  Really?  How in the world do we know that the movements of an unborn are the result of some emotional state?  Does that mean if my wife’s baby bump moves when I sit next to her that our baby-to-be is jumping for joy? Or could it be that he is pissed off because he now has less room?  Or could it be that it is simply reflex movement as part of the developmental process?

The scriptural support is bizarre for his claim and logically worthless.  What I find even more disturbing than claiming God is anti-abortion is his willingness to skip over everything else God opposes.  If abortion is murder and should be subject to persecution, how about the passages that just come right out and say that if you get a divorce you have committed adultery and should be stoned to death?  How about the passages that say if you are a homosexual you should be stoned to death?  How about the passages that say if a woman is not a virgin on her wedding night she should be stoned to death?  How about the passages that say if people do not worship the one true God they should be killed?  Each of these passages is extremely clear, no interpretation needed, no pseudo logical projection like if God ordains a future prior to birth this must be a baby and subject to all the protections of adults.  That is stretching logic and inference further than the passage allows.  The passages I refer to above are absolutely clear.  If this is the case, then this is the consequence.  We should be damning premarital sex and divorce more fiercely than we damn abortions.

Or, is Jerry one of those guys who says the rules regarding premarital sex, divorce, homosexuality, refusal to worship God, etc. were historically contextual and do not apply to us today, but I choose to take the logical inference regarding abortion from the same time period and conclude that such interpretations remain valid.  If Jerry has the authority to decide which Bible passages are valid and which ones are not, then I would strongly encourage him to simply decide his made up logic regarding abortions is no longer applicable.  That he does not make such a statement simply reveals his bias, not his logic, not his belief. 

For those of us who are questioning and wondering about our faith there are some incredible takeaways from Jerry Newcombe’s piece.  God must curse some babies in the womb.  God has decided our future roles before birth so there is no reason to presume we choose our own path.  Jerry is empowered to interpret scripture and ignore scripture as he sees fit to meet his own agenda.  Bronze Age men are capable of making better decisions regarding women’s reproductive rights than modern women.

Or, if the Bible says it or implies it we must obey it.  How anyone who has even the most superficial understanding of biology, anthropology, geology and astronomy could adhere to what are clearly statements in the Bible not only not grounded in fact, but actually false, is beyond me and beyond logic.  How can we maintain faith in the face of such lies and falsehoods?  And if the answer to that is we are allowed to pick and choose which passages we hold to be true, then what is the point of belief?  I could edit the Bible to portray any message I choose to portray.

Oh wait.  There are televangelists and mega churches that do that very thing so they make a ton of money.  In America if you get rich you must be right.  My bad.