"the right to life"

 Arguably the most contentious issue in American society for the past 50 years has been the rights of women (e.g. abortion0 vs the right to life (e.g., the unborn child). In fact, I suspect that passionate discussions by Evangelical Christians with the world around them have centered more on "right to life" than the Gospel itself. Just speculation from observation.

Yelling at the world about rights, especially to life and liberties, has increasingly been the reason we have the term "Christian conservative values." As a Christian this has increasingly disturbed me. "Why?" you might ask. "Doesn't the Bible teach life is sacred and freedom of religion?" 

I don't think so and here is why.

Let's go back and try to understand the key words in "right to life," such as rights and life.

First, let's examine "rights." Your "right" is granted to you by someone (something) or you just claim you have it. Our country was founded on the principle that those in the USA have "inalienable rights." What is meant by this is that our rights are not granted to us by a central government. There is an assumption that mankind has natural rights in this world granted by God. But is that what the Bible says?

There is no reference in Scripture to the rights Christians have in this world, In fact, The Kingdom of God in which Christians dwell in citizenship is not of this world. Christians are aliens and sojourners. Do aliens and sojourners have rights granted to them. Jesus says the world will reject you because of me. If we are rejected, why would we have rights? Jesus goes on to encourage Christians to not try to stand on the rights of this world. If you're asked to go one mile, go two. If you are asked for your tunic, give also your cloak. If someone hits you on one cheek, give them the other to smack. These are Christian values which give us a freedom not provided to us by "rights."

The founders wrote about an assumption they made - God gives humans certain rights in this world. I don't see where God said that.

Second, what is "life"? There are at least 3 forms of life expressed in the Bible. There is physical life of the body, there is the Spiritual life of God, and there is the human soul of the basis of the self. Death, the idea of the end of a life, is the Bible is from the Greek language idea of "being severed from something." So physical death is when the soul is severed from the body and spiritual death is when the soul is severed from God's spirit (the Holy Spirit).

From the Bible's perspective, physical death is normal and is not a crisis of "self." However, spiritual death is not God's idea of what's best for humans. In fact, spiritual death is tragic in God's eyes. I don't see where the soul can be severed from itself which may mean the soul does not die.

The soul before physical death lives with God through His Spirit or is in fact dead spiritually, although alive physically. When the soul is severed from the body, the person as the world knows them is no longer alive. However, the soul lives on either connected to God's spirit or not. 

Many of you may disagree or have never thought about a person's soul as being forever, but Christians call eternal life the life in which the soul is influenced by or in relationship with God's Spirit.  

In conclusion, "the right to life" for a Christian has nothing to do with the body or with this world. It is simply God's plan to have relationship with His chosen for ever and ever, whether still in the body or not. Paul makes this real clear many times.

This is the Good News of the Bible I ponder, This what should be shouted out to a dark and dying (spiritually) world .....  

 There are many reasons I have to be "pro-life". I think society functions better when each person is not in a position to have someone else sever their body from their soul. I happen to consider the unborn as a person. These are my views from civics (how a society governs itself), not from God.

There is no political agenda in this blog!