[Mrs. Don-o]

The main pro-abortion argument I've heard from self-described Christians is that abortion comes under the category of our "stewardship" or ownership of the rest of Creation.

One pro-abort Presbyterian minister read me that great pro-life Psalm 139, which speaks of the unborn child being the work of the Lord's hands as He "knits the child together" in his mother's womb, and had the nerve to go on from there to argue that abortion is OK!

Why? Because Psalm 8:6 says " You made him [man] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet." He took this to mean that God has put all of His creatures "under our feet" to use as we think best, including our children before birth.

I explained to him the basic Biblical distinction between humans and the rest of Creation (of human beings, only, was it said that we are created "in the image and likeness of God," and thus we have a dignity which is above that of a "thing") but he was closed to this distinction. Turns out he was an actual board member of the local Planned Parenthood.

I was appalled.

[Das Outsider]

The main pro-abortion argument I've heard from self-described Christians is that abortion comes under the category of our "stewardship" or ownership of the rest of Creation.

Yes, that sounds like one of the more common arguments; that and appeals to a sort of libertarian sense of freedom with regard to "family planning." True Christ-centered family planning is a good thing; planning a child's executions does not fall under that rubric.

One pro-abort Presbyterian minister read me that great pro-life Psalm 139, which speaks of the unborn child being the work of the Lord's hands as He "knits the child together" in his mother's womb, and had the nerve to go on from there to argue that abortion is OK!

A PCUSA minister, I'm betting. That isn't to say all PCUSA Christians are under the same poisonous influence that many of the mainline Protestant denominations and leaders therein have succumbed to. Psalm 139 is a very pro-life psalm, and an elegant one at that.

Why? Because Psalm 8:6 says " You made him [man] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet." He took this to mean that God has put all of His creatures "under our feet" to use as we think best, including our children before birth.

Why not after birth? Of course, then we would have to trod our way back to the issue of personhood, and I'm sure this man of the cloth was already in possession of a ten-foot pole. ;)

I explained to him the basic Biblical distinction between humans and the rest of Creation (of human beings, only, was it said that we are created "in the image and likeness of God," and thus we have a dignity which is above that of a "thing") but he was closed to this distinction. Turns out he was an actual board member of the local Planned Parenthood.

The minister cited the eighth Psalm, verse six, but strangely enough missed the preceding verse altogether:

You made him [man] a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

(Psalm 8:5, New International Version)

Unplanned Nonparenthood--what a surprise! What on Earth are they teaching at some of these seminaries? To my dismay, that was a rhetorical question.