Many other Christians believe in Situationism which involves deciding what to do depending on the situation. There are no laws saying you must keep or abort the child and so it depends in every case whether the kinder thing to do would be to abort the child. They do the most loving act for all involved. They believe that if you made a law that no child is to be aborted except for children conceived through rape for example, then more excuses and situations would appear and then they would soon realise that it isn’t that straight forward anymore. Situationism avoids the Slippery Slope where excuses and reasons appear and you have to end up bending the rules for one and then another and so on.
Therefore many Christian groups believe that abortion is wrong and that it is murder. The Roman Catholic Church believes that abortion is wrong because human life is sacred and God gives life so he should take it away. It goes against God’s Plan that everyone should live and create descendants. Also life begins at conception so they are murdering a human being and it abortion goes against one of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill.”
If a woman told me she was going to have an abortion after she had fallen pregnant through rape I would understand what difficult circumstances she must be under. She may want to desperately get rid of any reminders of the instance but she must be reminded that it isn’t the child’s fault (from the Roman Catholic Church’s point of view) and that the child is a gift from God. She must realise that the child is the “innocent victim” and that aborting the child may cause more traumas for herself. The child has a right to live no matter how or why it was conceived. The mother must decide if she wants the child of the rapist to live or die and some may believe it is her right to choose what to do (a Feminist view). But some Anti-Abortion groups may believe that if the father wants to keep it, then his rights should be “respected.” Other Anti-Abortion groups believe that “two wrongs do not make a right.” They believe that having the baby might help her get over what she has been through and help her realise that some good has come out of the terrible instance. Also many Evangelical people (Christians who believe in totally in what the Bible says) are strongly against abortion stating that it is “wrong” and “immoral.” Some Christian groups i.e. the Free Choice campaigners, believe that it is a woman’s right to choose whether or not to abort the foetus. Some Pro-abortion groups may state that the child may be a “terrible reminder” of the ordeal she had gone through. They feel that she may “resent” the baby and not love it in the way it should be loved. Plus they believe it may be kinder for the child to be aborted so that when it is older it doesn’t have to know that its ‘father’ was a rapist.
If a friend in my class had fallen pregnant I would try to explain to her all the issues involved with abortion. I would say that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that human life is sacred and that every life has a right to live therefore they believe that abortion is wrong. I would say that “God gives life and only he can take it away,” as this is what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. They don’t condone abortion, as they believe that every child has the right to live and abortion is an evil way of stopping this. Some Christians also believe that aborting a child is morally wrong i.e. The Church of England who state that the “foetus is to be specially respected and protected.” The Church of Scotland also believes that abortion has “no moral justification and represents the unwanted destruction of human life that is made in the image of God.” These two groups strongly believe that abortion is wrong but they both made sure that they stated that in most cases abortion is wrong. However I would state that the pro-abortion groups do think another way to the Roman Catholic Church and some Christians. They believe that if the child is unwanted then it may be kinder to abort it. They might argue that the child would disturb her education and that she may not make the best mother because of the fact she is immature. Some may also argue that the girl has the right to choose what happens to her body. Many girls had back street abortions (abortion not done by professionals and not in a clinic or hospital). Some of the Pro-Abortion groups argue that if abortion was allowed through the choice of the mother/father then it should take place as this should in effect stop the need for back street abortion where the mother can end up dead. I would also talk about some of the Anti-abortion groups and what they believe. This is mainly that the child has a right to live and that “a woman does have a right to do what she likes with her own body, but that the unborn child is a separate life and has rights too – the right to life.” They believe that abortion works towards the anti-child society, which is leading to more abuse and neglect. They may argue that adoption is the safer and kinder method to give up a child, as there are many couples who want a baby and who cant have one.
If a woman found out that her unborn child would be disabled I would tell her about the different views are for abortion. I would state that the view of the Roman Catholic Church is God loves everybody equally no matter how disabled or ill you are. They teach that human life is sacred and that God values every human in the world. He thinks that life should be given by him and taken by him and that no one else has the right to change that. The Roman Catholic Church thinks that the parents should love the child unconditionally no matter what they are like or how they will be in the future. Also the Anti-Abortion groups including many Christian groups believe that the disabled person can lead a “very happy and fulfilled life, in the same way that a person who is not disabled may lead a very sad and lonely life.” They state that disabled children may have talents like the people in the Para-Olympics and live rewarding lives. They also believe it isn’t guaranteed that a child who isn’t disabled will not have an accident, which will leave them disabled. Is it right to then abandon the child because it can’t walk or speak like the parents would want. They could also argue that a disabled child could just be dyslexic or short-sighted. Does this mean then that the parents have the right to abort the child because it needs glasses? They believe that the parents should receive financial help and general help to look after the needs of the child (i.e. expensive special treatment). They believe that the child has the right to live no matter what the disability. However some Pro-Abortion groups may believe that abortion is a kinder way of dealing with a potential problem and hassle. According to some Pro-Abortionists the child won’t lead a happy and fulfilling life and it is a burden on the parents to look after it for its whole life. They feel it is kinder and more humane to abort the child before it lives its life suffering. They believe that the rights of the mother and father are a big part of this situation. The parents may feel that they couldn’t cope with a disabled child, as they would have to give up the rest of their lives to constantly care for the child. Also some Christian groups believe that it is the woman’s right to choose and that if she feels she cannot cope then she shouldn’t have to. However the Roman Catholic Church may argue that the child has the right to live and though the mother has the right to decide what happens to her body the child also has equal rights. Plus The United Methodist Church of the USA believes that abortion is wrong, as the parents would be killing a child of God. “The unborn child is in the image of God and is one for whom the Son of God died. This child is God’s child.” They firmly campaign that whether the child is not the right gender, or is an embarrassment to their family (any sort of disablement) they should not take that life away for convenience. They also believe that birth control is a “sin.”
I feel that it is the woman’s right to choose what they want to do with their body. I therefore feel that if the woman wants to abort then its her choice and if they want to keep it then it is also her choice.
“God gives life and only God can take it away.”
Many people believe that this statement is true. They believe that God creates all life so therefore life is sacred and only God can take the sacred life away. Some of the people who believe that the statement is true are a group of Christians called the Evangelical Christians who follow what the Bible says about God giving and taking life:
“He created them male and female, blessed them and said ‘have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the Earth.” (Genesis 1:28)
This quote shows that God wanted us all to have many descendants so that human life will grow and prosper. The Bible teaches therefore that any sort of birth control, be it abortion or contraception, is wrong and is a sin. The Evangelical Christians support this strongly. They also believe in the statement: “Love thy neighbour.” This is about situation ethics where you act in the most loving way in any situation. This means that if a child was mentally disabled and wasn’t going to have a good quality of life then the most loving thing to do would be to abort it. However with situation ethics there is a big problem. The most loving thing to do for a mentally disabled child, in one person’s point of view would be to abort it, but in another person’s point of view the most loving thing to do may be to keep the child, let it live. It’s the same for other situations i.e. rape or adultery.
Also the Roman Catholic Church would agree with the quote/statement. They believe that “Human life is sacred” and that “Abortion goes against God’s Plan of life.” They also believe in the Natural Law, which is that the purpose of sex is to have a child and bring new life into the world, not just for pleasure. The Law states that this means that anything that interferes with this natural process is wrong (including contraception and abortion).
These views come into account while in the topic of abortion but what about other situations? For example euthanasia.
There are two types of euthanasia: Complusory euthanasia and Voluntary euthanasia. Complusory euthanasia is when other people and not your self decide when your life should end. It is sometimes mercy killing and is done in extreme cases i.e. when the patient is brain dead and so is only kept alive via breathing apparatus. Voluntary euthanasia is when people themselves ask to die. They may sign a legal document before they get too sick to do themselves or they may just ask when the time is right which gives someone else the permission to end their life using lethal injection.
Some Christian groups who oppose euthanasia do so because it goes against the Ten Commandments – ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ A group of Christians that would agree with this is the Evangelical Christians and the Conservative Christians. They also believe that human beings are ‘God’s creation’ and that ‘life is sacred.’ Life cannot be taken by anybody but God. The Roman Catholic Church believes in this. Some may oppose euthanasia (i.e. the Natural Law believers) because they feel that euthanasia may be in the way of a cure or the purpose for that person.
The Roman Catholic Church’s view on the subject of euthanasia is all of the above and that the doctors shouldn’t give anything to the patient with the intent to kill the person. However they are allowed to give any pain relief even if it shortens the life span of the patient. They also believe that long illnesses and old age etc. can actually prepare the patient well for the prospect of death.
Therefore most Christian groups believe that euthanasia is wrong because it goes against the quote above: ‘God gives life and only he can take it away.’
A situation where many feel that the quote is wrong is fertility treatment where the parents decide to artificially produce a child through IVF or AI. The Roman Catholic Church more or less feels that fertility treatment can be a beautiful experience for a married couple who are unable to have children naturally. They feel that the married couple could be good parents and that no one should deprive them of that chance. However they think that only one embryo should be created using IVF as the other embryo’s (technically human beings – conception) are then destroyed or frozen which is preventing life. Many Liberal Christians believe that Artificial Insemination by Husband (AIH) is acceptable because it is the husband’s sperm and even though it is meddling with nature, it is at least not an unknown father. They therefore believe that Artificial Insemination by Donor is unacceptable, as there is a third person involved – adultery. Many Christians believe however, that they are meddling with nature and that God isn’t choosing when life begins (like he should). They also believe that surrogacy is unacceptable as there is the third person involved and they are meddling with the life of another person’s baby.
Therefore the Roman Catholic Church believes that fertility treatment is acceptable as long as certain rules are followed (i.e. no third person to be involved). Many Christians (like Liberal Christians) believe that things like AHI and AID are unacceptable as well as many other fertility treatments because in the end you are messing with nature and Gods Plan to make life and take it away.
Overall I agree with the statement as I feel that abortion and euthanasia interrupt God’s Plan of life and death. Another situation that I don’t agree with as it goes against God’s Plan is suicide. The Roman Catholic Church believes that suicide is morally wrong and that it is a ‘deadly sin’ that cannot be forgiven. Suicide is an act of despair but surely Christians are meant to look to God for guidance in such absence of hope and love. They are in effect rejecting God when they commit suicide. The Roman Catholic Church says that is a ‘mortal sin’ and the ‘ultimate act of despair.’ I believe that suicide is rejecting God as you can always find salvation in him through the bible or through church.
Therefore I think that suicide is interfering with the fact that God gives life and only God can take it away. I feel that you can always turn to God and that committing suicide is the easy way out. It effects God’s Plan of life and death so therefore I do not agree with suicide.
I do however agree with the statement at the start: ‘God gives life and only God can take it away.’ I feel that anything i.e. abortion or suicide goes against God’s Plan and that the situations could get out of control and God could be put aside so that people can decide what has the right to live or die. I however feel that God and only God has the right to decide who lives and who dies.
Bibliography
The Holy Bible, GSCE R.E coursework booklet and the Internet site – faithnet.co.uk.
