It has been answered scientifically, spiritually and in little kidspeak over and over and over again. What we have is 14 pages of an obtuse Joey denying that he can be in error.
These are the signs of a declining empire. All empires degenerate to collapse. It is the nature of things. Do we morn the passing of this disfigured monster, or do we envision a newer improved model for human occupation of this planet. As long as there is a ruling class the cycle of empires will continue with boom and bust. Time for humanity to take responsibility for it's own future and to stop looking to leaders to lead them astray.
And what does that have to do with anything? DNA is indicative of humanity, but it does not define humanity. DNA takes from a man when he was alive and taken from him a week later when he is dead will be identical. But that doesn’t mean he is still a human being, after he has died.
I'm beginning to question that.
That is how you look at it, JLM. The way I look at it, fetus does not look like a human being. So unless and until scientists tell me that it is a human being, I take the view that it is not, and that it is perfectly OK to abort the fetus. As I said, I would much rather listen to scientists than to listen to Fundamentalist preachers and the Pope.
Exactly, Is it not the sign of a declining empire also when you start making it so easy to kill off your future?
Exactly, Is it not the sign of a declining empire also when you start making it so easy to kill off your future?
OF COURSE HE'S A HUMAN BEING- he's just a dead human being.
I'm not sure if he ever stated that she is a MEDICAL doctor.
Sure I have, JLM, my wife is a Family Physician.
Please give us the name of the scientist that told you a fetus is NOT a human being.
JLM, I did not say that any scientist has told me that it is a human being. What I have said is that unless and until a consensus emerges among scientists that fetus is a human being since the moment of conception, most people will give the benefit of doubt to the woman and permit her to have an abortion if she so chooses.
The day such a consensus emerges, that is the day when I become prolife.
Why do you refuse to use a little deduction? As A C Doyle once said,"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". The product of people is people. Nothing else. Babies do not magically become people once they are born. Any suggestion that they are anything other than human is extremely stupid. What you are suggesting is that as a child is born its head becomes human as it emerges but the rest isn't human yet. then the neck becomes human. Then the shoulders and upper limbs bu the rest isn't human yet. Get real. The part that science has a problem with is when the baby has stopped being just the building blocks and has become developed enough to be called a complete human. It is still developing but as I said, we keep developing until we die. Ask any scientist and they will tell you that a baby does NOT magically poof into a human when it is born. Pan out a little bit and you might see the forest behind the leaf you are looking at.The only reason for the legal mumbo jumbo is, as I said, because the fools in power don't have a clue what to do if both mother and child have equal rights to life so they stonewall and leave it up to science to make their decision for them. Science, in the meantime, continues to hash it out, so the decision sits in limbo. Effectively, however, the child is human before it is born even if people are too dense to realize it or too cowardly to admit it..
I mostly agree Anna, except the part about child being human inside the womb. As I said before, we don’t know, science cannot tell us with any degree of certainty.
Whatever.But you are right, politicians don’t want to touch the hot potato. If anybody tries to tackle the issue of abortion, there is no way he can win, there are plenty of ways he can lose. That is why when conservatives became serious about winning power (with Harper), the first thing they did was refused to put a prolfie plank in their party platform. I remember the proposal to put pro life plank in their platform was rejected 55 to 45.
So politicians don’t want to touch the issue, they would rather leave it to the courts and to scientists. Perhaps that is where it belongs anyway.
The age of the samples would be the only difference.If D.N.A. were to be extracted from a fetus a week before birth and then another sample taken immediately after birth, what would be the difference between the two samples if any?
:roll:He sure as hell wouldn't be a dead geranium. The body would still be human, it just isn't alive any more. I simply cannot understand how you can confuse species differentiation with determination of life.And what does that have to do with anything? DNA is indicative of humanity, but it does not define humanity. DNA takes from a man when he was alive and taken from him a week later when he is dead will be identical. But that doesn’t mean he is still a human being, after he has died.
Hey, I never doubted your wife's profession- someone else was and and more or less accused you of lying, and I was just trying to jump to your defense on the issue. I had frankly forgotten what kind of doctor she is.
OkIronsides, killing has never been the sign of a declining empire. On the contrary, most empires at their height did killing on a massive scale. Most empires in the history, Greek, Roman, Hungarian, Soviet empire, Catholic empire (during the Dark Ages in Europe) etc., have done large scale killings.
So I don’t know where you get the idea that killing is a sign of declining empire. And abortion does not involve any killing anyway, so your argument is moot.
You didn't understand the fable I posted about the blind men and the elephant at all, did you?There has been lot of confusion of logic on this thread, let me see if I can clarify it. The prolife argument goes as follows:
Human beings have heartbeat.
Fetus has a heartbeat.
Therefore, fetus is a human being.
For heartbeat, substitute, DNA, formation of limbs, brainwave etc. This is faulty logic. These things characterize a human being, are manifestations of humanity, but they do not define humanity. Let me explain with an example.
So a baby borrows a heartbeat, limbs, DNA, etc. to put on the appearance of being human and then suddenly, like Pinnochio, is poofed into a human at the time of birth. I see.How do we know that somebody is a millionaire? If he drives a Ferrari, does that mean that he is a millionaire? If he owns a yacht, or has a trophy wife, does that mean that he is a millionaire?
It does not. Ferrari, yacht, trophy wife, these are all manifestations of wealth, but they do not define wealth. His Ferrari may be borrowed, he may have borrowed money to buy the yacht, the trophy wife may really be in love with him. While we could say that the guy looks like a millionaire, these outward signs do not make him a millionaire.
The only way we will know if he is a millionaire is if he shows us the statement (which can be verified) of his assets, with assets minus liabilities coming to over a million dollars. That is what defines a millionaire, not whether he drives a Ferrari or a pick up truck (as Warren Buffet does).
Yup, bears have DNA and heartbeats but aren't human. Same with 4500 other mammals.Similarly, heartbeat, DNA, brainwave etc. these are manifestations of humanity, but they do not define humanity. As I have demonstrated, there are cases when there is heartbeat or there is DNA, but there is no humanity.
If the sum of human parts aren't enough to define a human then what you are asking is impossible to achieve. I bet someone could thump your behind with a stick and you would argue that it wasn't wood.So one has to ask the question, what makes a human being? Scientifically, that is, I am not interested in spiritual claptrap. Until we can settle this question, the fact that fetus has a heartbeat, or human DNA etc., these things really don’t mean much.
Ok
You have argued in the past that one thing that concerns you about candidates is there religious beliefs. Are you aware that 5 of the current Supreme Court justices are Roman Catholic, and with the confirmation of Sotomayor it will be 6.
6-4 vote if they vote as a religious block.
Well, there is such a thing called JUNK science. Perhaps that is Joey's source of info.Please give us the name of the scientist that told you a fetus is NOT a human being.
Consensus does not define fact. It doesn't even define truth. All it is, is general agreement. Scientists used to agree that the Earth was flat. But either wey, I defy you to find a credited scientist who does not think a human baby is human before birth.I'm not sure if he ever stated that she is a MEDICAL doctor.
Sure I have, JLM, my wife is a Family Physician.
Please give us the name of the scientist that told you a fetus is NOT a human being.
JLM, I did not say that any scientist has told me that it is a human being. What I have said is that unless and until a consensus emerges among scientists that fetus is a human being since the moment of conception, most people will give the benefit of doubt to the woman and permit her to have an abortion if she so chooses.
The day such a consensus emerges, that is the day when I become prolife.