What Makes Us Human?
So I was having an online discussion with my younger brother a little more than a week ago about abortion. Being a devout and pro-life Catholic he held the opinion that life starts at conception, that it a fertilized egg is human and should be treated as human because it is a unique life different than the host parent. I have also been reading bio-ethics and many different places on the debate and they all seem to revolve around trying to justify scientifically what I can best describe as trying to answer the question, "when is an embryo tantamount to a human being?"
Of course, that one question gave way to the larger question, "What makes us human?" Where do we define the limits of humanity? Is it strictly in a biological sense as in form, shape, and structure? Is it in potential in the case of infants? Is it in behavior; could someone act in a way that they are no longer considered, if even for a moment, a human? Is it in ability whether physical or mental? Is humanity a transitive property; in other words, is it a label that can be taken away or does it last regardless once it has been gained? Are their varying degrees of humanity where a person could be considered "more human" than someone else?
I am very curious to hear all of your thoughts and ideas!
Tags: humanity
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by onecae on -
"the 100% accurate [way] to not getting pregnant is not having sex...Jesus Christ WOW"
The story goes that Mary did not have sex, yet got pregnant and gave birth to Jesus. We have no way of really knowing how often this happens, but I suspect often :) because it's kind of fun to believe and young pregnant women who tell the story are so sincere.
However, I'm also a tax payer and sometimes practical; I think it's a good use of tax money to provide contraception to whoever wants it, needs it, or has-an-inkling-about-where-babies-come-from. It's a form of securing domestic tranquility and the cost is very reasonable.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
We could easily fund it by taxing churches!
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