The Bible only has one verse that directly comments on the value of a fetus. Here it is.
And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no [further] injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any [further] injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:22-25)
So, a fetus is essentially worth a fine determined by a judge. Note that if the woman dies, then it is "life for a life" so there is a definite distinction the life of an adult and the life of child, or in this case, a fetus. The historical context of this makes perfect sense as children were generally thought of as "less than" during this time period. It really wasn't until the Industrial Revolution that cultural attitudes shifted to the concept of the "Precious Child."
This would be an excellent example of how a teaching in the Bible no longer applies to today. Many believe that a fetus is life and I would agree once the child reaches a certain stage of development (the heart is formed and the brain divides into five vesicles). I have no issue with abortion up until this point but after that, I do. The federal ban on third term abortions should extended to the second term. This is where the pro choice crowd should compromise.
Where the pro life crowd should compromise is on freeing up money for sex education and pummeling women in their 20s (the ones most likely to get an abortion) with information and incentives to not have an unwanted pregnancy. The goal should be to reduce the demand for abortion, not attack the supply except in the case of 2nd term abortions. An outright ban on all abortions would create numerous problems such as a criminal enterprise, higher costs for social programs and hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of unwanted children...which we have far too many of already.
Getting around the conundrum of people behaving irresponsibly is tough. This is the bane of the gun community as every day they look like assholes because far too many Americans can't be trusted with guns. Clearly, they can't be trusted with sex either. So, how do we change that?
Obviously, I don't have all the answers.
4 comments:
This would be an excellent example of how a teaching in the Bible no longer applies to today.
What a wonderful religion - just pick and choose the parts you still find relevant.
I wonder what your God thinks of that?
This is a classic example of a poor English translation imposing a meaning that is not in the original Hebrew. In fact, not one of the translations I checked used the word "miscarriage" in translating the word that literally means "comes out".
Here is how several other translations translate it:
English Standard Version
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
(Yes, the original Hebrew word translated "children" here is plural.)
New American Standard (1995)
“If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
New International Version (1984)
“If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
(The rest will only quote v. 22 for space reasons.)
Holman Christian Standard
“When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment.
New English Translation
“If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.
World English Bible
“If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow.
King James Version
If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
Even the King James does not add anything like "miscarriage". By using a poor translation which adds a meaning which is not in the original language, that creates exactly the misreading Mark has demonstrated. In fact, Exodus 23:26 does discuss "miscarriage", and the word which actually means "miscarriage" is different than the word used in Exodus 21:22. (21:22 = yatza, 23:26 = shakhol)
Since the actual language does not specify whether or not the child is always killed (as "miscarriage" does), nor who the further injury question applies to, that means the penalty applies for injury or death applies to either the mother or the child.
More here and here.
BTW, Mark got beaten up so badly the last time he spouted this fatally flawed claim that it apparently prompted his decision to pull his bubble shut and go into hiding.
Markadelphia wants incentives for women to not have unwanted pregnancies? How does that work? Stigmatize bastardy again? Of course, the reason bastardy was stigmatized was a matter of religion attempting to squelch a serious economic and social problem. We've eliminated nearly all the social stigma and socialized much of the economic burdens, and now we're surprised that we get more of what we pay for? Truly a dizzy intellect.
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