Positional Clashing -2-

"To prevent birth is anticipated murder; it makes little difference whether one destroys a life already born or does away with it in its nascent stage. The one who will be a man is already one." Tertullian (160 - 220 CE)

"Whether or not abortion should be legal turns on the answer to the question of whether and at what point [an embryo or] a fetus is a person. This is a question that cannot be answered logically or empirically. The concept of personhood is neither logical nor empirical: It is essentially a religious, or quasi-religious idea, based on one's fundamental (and therefore unverifiable) assumptions about the nature of the world." Paul Campos, professor of law at the University of Colorado. (2002)

To date the FSAOF has posted more than 800 articles. Not surprisingly perhaps, the articles that have drawn the greatest number of visitors and comments are those focusing on ambiguous or ‘outdated’ SA moral or ethical positions. Of special interest are our acknowledged and historical distinctive differences between societal, cultural, religious and SA ethical positions.

John Stott shared in a seminar I attended some 20 years ago; “The greatest indictment that can be levied against the church is to accuse us of not being different from the world!” Have we allowed the world to infiltrate and diffuse the SA’s historic position on abortion? Do constant and lengthy debates result in a conflagration of the distinctive differences between the church and the world?

The clash between the USA and the international position has garnered an unprecedented number of visitors and outnumbered our hereto most visited conflicting issues: ordination, gay inclusivity and body parts harvesting. And of special note is that 1 in 10 visitors shared a comment; an extremely high proportion demonstrating the uniquely personal interest in which the varying abortion positions are held.

Also, of interest to all bloggers is identifying the source leading the visitors to their site. Almost 30% of our recent visitors found us by using the ‘Google’ search engine and by entering the word “abortion”. Clearly the general public is seeking clarification on this very personal and sensitive ethical and moral issue. Consequently, the SA has been provided an unexpected opportunity to share our values and beliefs with hundreds who perhaps have never given thought to the Salvation Army’s ethical position. To that end, all Salvationists are invited to share your views on abortion by submitting an article to be posted in the days ahead.

Opportunity will be provided at a later date for non-Salvationists to submit articles for publication.


S. E. Ljungholm
PhD 
Dissertation; THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN VALUES
Moscow State University