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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (11682)	4/17/2001 2:49:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I think suffering . . . defining a fertilized egg as a "person" is magical, irrational thinking, religious in nature, You are entitled to think that. But even though you claim to be nonreligious, I think defining a full set of human genes implanted in a womb and needing only time to develop into a baby as a non-person is also a religious belief. Is the fetus a person? I really don't know. What is a person? At certain times and to certain cultures, jews weren't human. To some, perhaps, they aren't. They may have human genes and human forms, but they're not people. I reject that argument totally. But when asked why, I have difficulty answering without invoking religious, in the broadest sense, principles. Throughout history, have all slaveholders considered their slaves people? Our constution, after all, counted them as only, what, 3/5 of people? I forget the exact number, but certainly as less than full people. Deciding what form of human life is and is not a person is no easy task. Personally, since I don't know, I give the benefit of the doubt to saying "yes" rather than "no" when there is a question. I think that is the most humane thing to do. It has nothing to do with religious belief, and everything to do with the risks of being wrong.

To: E who wrote (11682)	4/17/2001 5:08:20 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

But since I think suffering is bad and defining a fertilized egg as a "person" is magical, irrational thinking, religious in nature, I think that those who seek to force their magical, sectarian definitions on others at great cost in human suffering are perpetrating evil in the world and so I have no respect for them. A fertilized human egg is a member of the human species. By some definitions of the word "person" that isn't enough to make it a person, but then a newborn might not be a "person" either. I think people who have or perform abortions are perpetrating evil in the world and are forcing others to die because of their definitions. Tim