This is a question brought up because of this meme I shared on Facebook:
My son Joshua, a “born again Xtian,” (and that\’s my fault – I raised him that way and so his Belief System (BS) became codified early on) of course took issue with this. But the argument has become convoluted and has veered off into all sorts of philosophical strains. In this post I will address one of them: When does a fetus become a human? This will draw from both science and philosophy, so bear that in mind. I believe that until the child takes it’s first breath outside the womb, it is not a human being. An other way of saying this is that when the child can survive outside the womb, he becomes a human. Oddly, the the Tenach (the Bible) backs me up, for in Genesis it states, “…and G-d breathed onto Adam, and he became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7). Not that I care. The religious writings of the three Abrahamic religions do not matter to me. Also, many non-Abrahamic religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, some Pagan faiths….) agree with this idea of the soul entering the body with the first breath. One interesting idea is that, in the definition of what a human is, the human is an animal that is “self-aware.” Psychologists state that “self-awareness” occurs at the age of 15-18 months. That is to say that my youngest grand-daughter, Joy, has recently become “self-aware.” That is not saying that I would advocate infanticide. I happen to like children. Children embody the very meaning of hope. What this argument is really about is whether or not women are human beings. Or are they merely baby making devices with no rights? The Abrahamic religions, at least the fundamentalist sects of each group, would rather women had no vote; serve no public office; and serve only as house servants; sex slaves to men. Islam is the worst of the three, wishing to cover women head to toe with only their eyes visible. Judaism is the most liberal, but still regards women on their periods as “unclean”. My belief? Women are absolute equals in all ways with men. It is a woman’s choice to have sex. It is her choice to become pregnant (or to abort the same) and men absolutely have no say in the matter. Period. Otherwise, women have the same rights and responsibilities as men. These beliefs flow naturally from my core beliefs about G-d. “Thou art G-d.” Every sentient being in the Multi-verse is G-d, who is a collective sentient being. This state is only wholly realized when we are manifest as energy – that is, when the soul is liberated from the material body, and becomes one with the “ocean of all souls,” or “the great link.” When a child is born, a part of
G-d (an eyedropper of the ocean) manifests as a soul within the child at the time of the first breath. So, what happens if that fetus is aborted prior to birth? The waiting soul is simply assigned another body, or chooses another body. At any given time, thousands of babies are being born throughout the Earth. Many many more are born throughout the multi-verse. Souls are composed of energy. Science tells us that energy is never lost. “Oh how terrible,” you say. “You’re a monster,” you say. “You would murder innocent babies, based on your belief system.” Interesting. You want to enslave half of the human race, (also based on your belief system) but I’m the “monster”? FRAK YOU. Our conversation is over. When you grow up and start acting like the G-d you can’t escape being, maybe our conversation can begin again.
