We get disturbed when God acts like he has the right to kill 100 good men (2 Kings 1:11, The Boy Who Closed the Sky – p. 289). Yet we’ve been claiming that right — playing like we’re God — a long, long time. Every time we start a war, every time we kill someone.
Is aborting a person murder? How do you define personhood? The instant before birth, is “it” a non-human fetus, a piece of the woman’s body, and immediately after exiting the birth canal, “it” becomes a human baby?
I think we would do well to acknowledge the part that will, or spirit, plays in this debate. Some would deny that will, or spirit even exists, or exists only as an evolutionary development, perhaps similar to the development of calculus or the advancement of science, but certainly not as a noun; a person, place, or thing that exists separately from our imagination of it.
As we consider the consequences of human genetic engineering and abortion, our will is the point of judgment as to whether what we do is right or wrong. Our will is our motive, our inner reason for trying to do things.
Just as a court of law seeks to establish motive when considering the consequences for the defendant in the death of a person via the actions of the defendant, we clarify what is right and wrong with respect to abortion and human engineering by the motives of those involved in these activities.
For example, those who are hoping to treat disease and save lives, those whose will is to do good via abortions or human genetic engineering — they are acting on faith in righteousness.
Those who are hoping to escape responsibility or eliminate “undesirables” via abortion or human genetic engineering — they are motivated by something less than righteousness.
