I have been reading the “Answers to E-mails” section of your website. I agree with Sue B. I think that there is no room for small minded views in the 21st century. The church’s viewpoint belongs to and was made for a different time. I am particularly concerned about your views on abortion. Do you not think a woman has the right to decide what lives or does not in her body? You make it sound like women that have abortions are cold and do not care about what they are doing. But it simply isn’t like that. Is it better to bring a child into the world that isn’t wanted? I am 17 and I know if I get pregnant now it would ruin my life and the baby’s. I can simply not give that baby the life it deserves and that I want for it. Is it wrong to plan a stable emotional and financial future for your child?
I’m so glad you wrote.
I have been reading the “Answers to E-mails” section of your website. I agree with Sue B. I think that there is no room for small minded views in the 21st century. The church’s viewpoint belongs to and was made for a different time.
I think there is an important difference between small-mindedness, and an unpopular insistence on not departing from what God has revealed to us in His word. “The church’s viewpoint” is not timebound and irrelevant; it ultimately comes from God, who created reality and created us and thus has the right to make the rules and dictate the consequences of breaking those rules. One of His rules is, “Don’t murder.” We can’t get away from the fact that abortion is taking the life of one’s own child. There are deep and disturbing consequences to making that choice.
Do you not think a woman has the right to decide what lives or does not in her body?
Your phraseology needs to be more accurate: it’s a “who,” not a “what,” that lives inside a mother’s body. Once a baby has been conceived, it’s a whole new human being inside another. I’m sure you want to empower women to control their bodies—but if you take this position, you are only for the empowerment of ADULT women. What about unborn baby girls? They don’t have any power, which is why others have to protect them.
I’m all for women controlling their own bodies. . . to prevent conception in the first place. Once a woman gets pregnant, there are two lives involved and not just hers.
You make it sound like women that have abortions are cold and do not care about what they are doing. but it simply isn’t like that.
I’m sorry, I don’t know which article you read. A couple of us have written on abortion. My article Abortion explores the issue and facts of abortion, but the human, personal aspect is completely different. I know better than to think that women who have abortions are cold and uncaring. I know that abortion absolutely rips apart people’s lives. I see for myself the aftereffects of abortion in the guilt and shame that last for years in women’s lives, and it is my privilege to minister the truth to them that God wants to forgive and cleanse them of their sin.
It’s one thing to talk about abortion as a way to undo a mistake. . . but it’s so important to never lose sight of the fact that it’s killing another human being. That is a huge, serious choice to make. (I notice you didn’t mention this.)
Is it better to bring a child into the world that isn’t wanted?
Wanted by whom? There are far more would-be adoptive parents than there are available babies. Furthermore, no baby can be conceived without God calling them into existence; HE wants every single child! If the only one who matters is the pregnant woman, then her innocent baby is nothing more than a commodity on the level of the shoes she tried on but doesn’t want to buy.
I am 17 and I know if I get pregnant now it would ruin my life and the baby’s. I can simply not give that baby the life it deserves and that I want for it.
I’m so glad you see what an unwise thing it would be to get pregnant! Which is why abstaining from sex is the wisest, most mature choice for a number of reasons. And this is also why, if a baby is conceived anyway, giving him or her up for adoption—as excruciatingly painful as it is—is a way to give the baby the life s/he deserves.
Is it wrong to plan a stable emotional and financial future for your child
No! It’s loving, and kind, and mature. That’s why it’s important to wait to have a baby until one is married and able to welcome him or her into a loving family.
Thanks for writing.
Sue Bohlin
Probe Ministries
© 2005 Probe Ministries
Sue Bohlin
Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker/writer and webmistress for Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 40 years. She is a speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian Women's Connections), and serves on the board of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women's Leadership Team and is a regular contributor to Bible.org's Engage Blog. In addition to being a professional calligrapher, she is the wife of Probe's Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of their two grown sons. Her personal website is suebohlin.com.
What is Probe?
Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org.
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