We're having record-breaking head here in the Northwest while other parts of the country are having record winter storms. I blame John Ransom. (and every other boneheaded climate change denier)

nohussein, I'm using miscarriage and "spontaneous abortion" are used interchangeably. My point is that anyone who _truly_ believes life begins at conception, will be horrified at the hundreds of thousands of spontaneous abortions every year and will speak out about it. They will advocate that funds be spent to prevent this massive tragedy. If they are silent on the issue of so many dying "pre born babies" , I assume abortion is a political football for them. In any regard, I got to get off line. Bye.

edger, But, clearly, conservatives believe in spending money (private if not public) on stopping things that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. BTW, it's not an argument for me. It's how I tell whether someone REALLY believes life begins at conception. If so, they will be HORRIFIED that over half a million babies are dying a year and they would speak out about it. --- anyway, I got to get off line. See ya.

edger, Oh, I did misread you! Even so, I was just responding to your fair observations on the issue. You also make a fair point that calling Jesus "homeless" is also deceptive. He was not "homeless' in the sense of the mentally ill guys begging at stop lights in America. He was homeless in the same way that itinerant preachers or traveling tradesmen are. I always assumed that Mary kept some sort of family home, so he had that to return to as well. As for calling him a criminal -- that's also deceptive. He was a "criminal" in the same way Gandhi, MLK and Aung San Suu Kyi were/are "criminals". Their "crime" was putting God and conscious above government and religious authority. When one strings together, "Jesus was a...

Semperfi, Please don't insult me -- I know how precious life is. That's one reason I'm a pacifist! (the other is obedience to Christ) I'm a devout Christian and I used to believe the soul "entered" the human body at conception. But now that human embryos can be frozen indefinitely and then the human soul is "thawed" back to life -- science force me to square my religious beliefs with reality. The bible is ambiguous, at best, on the issue of abortion. So I'm agnostic now. And, I certainly can't deny a woman her rights based on my agnosticism about the issue.

Semperfi, >> Honestly we do believe a fetus is real live Human being at conception Really? Approximately half a million "babies" die a year from miscarriage. What have you ever done or advocated-for to reduce that number? That' s my test of whether someone _really_ believes life begins at conception, or whether its just a political football for them.

You've been forced to watch too many lousy Easter church plays if you assume Jesus had flat affect! The translations of the bible can give that impression, too. Jesus' human emotions come out better in the original Greek. Even though I'm a religious person I will admit that there is a gray line between highly active religious expression and mental illness. (Further confusing the issue, people with mental illness can be religious or atheist.) But I would reject the notion that ecstatic religious expression is mental illness. I've had the privilege of living immersed among Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Buddhists-- and they ALL have irrational, seemingly absurd, religious experiences. These same people than go back to...

An early term fetus is not a baby, legally. Do you believe in forcing a woman to carry and give birth to the child of her rapist? If so, don't hide your beliefs! I would respect you for taking the hard position on an issue. But it means we really don't have anywhere to go in this debate. You think the "right to life" of a few cells or teeny embryo supersede the rights of a woman. I don't agree with that.

Do you know how I discern if a person REALLY believes life begins at conception, or whether abortion is just another political issue for them? It's their advocacy for prenatal care. Since approximately 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. So, if you _really_ believe life begins at conception, that 500,000 or more Americans dying every single year. We spend BILLIONS of our public and private dollars fighting cancer and heart disease. But why don't even many VERY LOUD pro-lifers advocated to spend billions on ending spontaneous abortions? Because, honestly, deep in their hearts, they really don't believe a very early term fetus is a full human being.

Sensory religious experience is not diagnosed as schizophrenic in the DSM, that I've ever heard. You have a page for that? (I'm not an expert but I have read much of it.) If so, there are MILLIONS of schizophrenics at every level of society -- including some of your friends, family and co-workers!