The Liberal Agenda of the Entertainment Industry Strikes Again
I'm sure most of you guys watched CSI last night. If I had a personal relationship with one of their writers, I'd have one thing to say:
"Cite?"
For those of you who may have missed the eppy, Catherine claims to a Dr. who runs an embryo adoption service that that some Pope (I can't remember if she said 1600's or 16th century) said that a fetus wasn't human until the 40th day. And implied that that had been the position of the Catholic Church.
Cause I sure as hell can't find any type of papal document from the medieval/renaissance period saying that a fetus wasn't human until such and such a point. And this is after spending significant time at New Advent, a website I generally avoid.--too cerebral for me.
The fact remains that the Catholic Church has always opposed abortion. For Example:
Sure, there have been philosophical/theological debates about exactly when ensoulment happens. Aquinas happened to believe it took 40 days for conception to complete.
Nevertheless, no Pope ever made any binding declaration of the type CSI implied. And even if some Pope held to some personal view which doesn't hold up to modern science, the fact is it's no more binding than if Benedict said he likes Domino's better than Papa John's. It doesn't set an official Church position on the pizza wars.
Besides, why the fuck does it offend their pro-choice sensibilities if someone chooses embryo adoption, rather than dumping them or destroying them for their stem cells? I guess they feel that valuing these nascent little lives undermines their "choice" position.
"Cite?"
For those of you who may have missed the eppy, Catherine claims to a Dr. who runs an embryo adoption service that that some Pope (I can't remember if she said 1600's or 16th century) said that a fetus wasn't human until the 40th day. And implied that that had been the position of the Catholic Church.
Cause I sure as hell can't find any type of papal document from the medieval/renaissance period saying that a fetus wasn't human until such and such a point. And this is after spending significant time at New Advent, a website I generally avoid.--too cerebral for me.
The fact remains that the Catholic Church has always opposed abortion. For Example:
The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. With us there is no nice enquiry as to its being formed or unformed. In this case it is not only the being about to be born who is vindicated, but the woman in her attack upon herself; because in most cases women who make such attempts die. The destruction of the embryo is an additional crime, a second murder, at all events if we regard it as done with intent. The punishment, however, of these women should not be for life, but for the term of ten years. And let their treatment depend not on mere lapse of time, but on the character of their repentance.
St Basil, 188 AD
Sure, there have been philosophical/theological debates about exactly when ensoulment happens. Aquinas happened to believe it took 40 days for conception to complete.
Nevertheless, no Pope ever made any binding declaration of the type CSI implied. And even if some Pope held to some personal view which doesn't hold up to modern science, the fact is it's no more binding than if Benedict said he likes Domino's better than Papa John's. It doesn't set an official Church position on the pizza wars.
Besides, why the fuck does it offend their pro-choice sensibilities if someone chooses embryo adoption, rather than dumping them or destroying them for their stem cells? I guess they feel that valuing these nascent little lives undermines their "choice" position.
posted by The Right Wing Lunatic at 7:05 PM
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