From:  (Nigel B. Mitchell)

Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian

Subject: Abortion

Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1998

>>You say “abortion is murder since it is not lawful to kill a child”,

>>but abortion is lawful in most places.
>I say abortion is murder because of the biblical mandate not because of

any

>other laws.
There is no biblical mandate against abortion, and a case could be

argued that ‘life’ – and therefore the possibility of ‘murder’, does

not commence until birth.
I don’t really want to argue the case for or against abortion here,

but rather to point out that the issue is not black and white.
If the state says that killing an unborn child is legal, and it says

that dropping bombs on non- combatants (including children and the

unborn), how can one be ‘murder’ and the other be our ‘christian

duty’? I say they are both wrong, and I think it is harder to form a

case based on the Bible and/or logic if you want to differentiate

between the two. Euthanasia and Captial punishment are much the same.

Killing people, whether or not it is sanctioned by the state, is

against God’s will. There may be cases where it is the lesser evil,

but these whould be a case of regret.


>>Capital punishment has been outlawed in

>>every civilised country on the planet, but you think it is a good

>>thing.
>Mount your biblical argument. Perhaps exegete Gen 9.

>Capital Punishment is not a pleasant thing… but it is a form of justice

>that finds biblical warrant in creational ordinances and O.T Law and as

such

>the onus is on you to argue your case. Furthermore, does not the USA still

>use CP – although one could argue they are not Civil.  
I do not think that a Christian can view Genesis 9 apart from John

8:1-11. I will try and find the time to look at this issue in the next

few days.
>>In war, ‘innocent’ people inevitably die.
>Emm. your point.
see above. Is killing ‘innocent’ unborn children, children, and non-

combatants ‘murder’. What about conscripts in enemy forces? What

about, for instance, the Christian chaplain to an enemy force?
>>The moral arguments

>>in favour of euthanasia are very convincing in certain cases.
>Nope, not IMHO.
Now that is interesting. Most Christian ethicists that I have read do

not deny the validity of the Euthanasia debate altogether, but they

argue about the conditions that must apply before it is acceptable.

Can you imagine NO circumstances where passive and/or active

Euthanasia might be acceptable? 
>>I think that “you shall not kill” is the guiding principle for

>>Christians and Jews in all of these cases. If you draw a distinction

>>between ‘killing’ and ‘murder’, please tell me how.
>I have several times. Killing is O.K and is proscribed in Scripture,

Murder

>is defined as unlawful Killing ie killing a man without warrant, killing

>children etc.
“Killing is OK” strikes me as a very scary thing for a Christian

minister to say. Is that what you really mean? Do you have it on a

bumper- sticker?
My Bumper sticker would say “Killing is not OK, but sometimes

regrettably necessary”. 
Cheers
N+
Nigel B. Mitchell

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