HI
Chuz Life I am responding here to this and your two other posts asking
about spiritual/religious references and LGBT.
Is my post to BA more clear why I am asking about these in tandem?
I can see what you are asking about. However, I can not see what any of it has to do with me.
Furthermore, I see the "spirituality" thing as a side issue that is, to say the least, ddistracting and confusing.
People have a right to each their own beliefs, religious views and the like. However, the 1st amendment forbids lawmakers from enacting laws that are solely based upon religion.
There is sufficient evidence to make the case for what elective abortions are unconstitutional. Why complicate those arguments with a bunch of unnecessary side issues and clutter?
Thanks
Chuz Life
1. Because only interpreting the First Amendment to protect people of an "established organized religion"
is not protecting all persons equally, that is why I ask people to apply this more uniformly
and respect ALL beliefs of people whether considered a formal religion or not.
I find this more consistent, so that people do not get into discrimination
issues with only SOME people getting their beliefs protected from govt making laws to the contrary.
Instead, I am saying ALL people of ALL beliefs (secular, religious, spiritual, moral, political etc)
ANYTHING faith based should be treated the same and
KEPT OUT OF GOVT where Govt neither Establishes nor Prohibits in ways that involve "faith based" beliefs of ANY type.
Not just the organized or recognized religions which would mean only members of that group have protections applied.
2. The reason I point out the "faith based" beliefs behind arguments regarding
* prolife/right to life beliefs about human consciousness and identity before birth counting as a sentient human being "recognized legally"
* LGBT identity argued for "legal recognition" in ways BEYOND the physical genetic "gender" types historically established by science and law
is that I AM saying the FAITH BASED beliefs cannot be established by govt.
There would have to be AGREEMENT on the scientific standards, criteria and definitions
to make public laws that represent the people WITHOUT discriminating, establishing or prohibiting on the basis of creed or faith based beliefs.
So I AM saying to keep ALL this "extra" stuff out that "clutters" up govt with BELIEF based biases.
I am saying govt should remain neutral and void of things that
people do not agree as proven by science. We either need to
agree on proof and criteria, or else remove and separate such policies from govt.
The way I'd recommend to revise laws on abortion regulations and LGBT/Christian anti-discrimination
is to focus on angles or neutral levels that don't require faith based arguments.
Stick to where people AGREE on standards and make laws based on THAT.
For where people DISAGREE because of FAITH BASED DIFFERENCES,
then separate policies and jurisdictions, where people have a choice which
policies to fund or defund.
Only areas and angles where all sides AGREE can be established as law without violating principles regarding faith based beliefs (not just religions but any faith based creed).
So in the cases of
LGBT - if the only thing people can agree on is the physical genetic definitions that can be proven by science
to be distinguishable this way, then either make laws based on that, or SEPARATE jurisdictions and allow
people to redefine their labels using other means such as internal or spiritual gender identity etc.
prolife and abortion - if the only thing people can agree on is to ban abortions after the 1st trimester,
then keep the legal definition at that point, and separate jurisdictions and funding on other points
of disagreement so nobody has to support or fund the standards of definitions of others they don't share beliefs in.
I'd also recommend to take a DIFFERENT angle on abortion,
and enforce the option of MEN getting charged with relationship abuse,
sexual abuse, fraud, rape etc. for acts of sex that result in unwanted pregnancy, unwanted children or abortion.
So this would hold both men and women equally responsible for the decision to have
sex being fully informed and consensual to the point of agreeing if pregnancy occurs,
and not just push abortion laws that disproportionately affect women and incur due process issues.
Chuz Life I believe we'd have a much better path toward agreement on laws preventing abortion by focusing on
areas we could actually AGREE on WITHOUT getting involved in "faith based" beliefs and arguments that become unconstitutional to legislate or enforce.
1. agreements to hold MEN equally accountable as women for FULLY INFORMED CONSENSUAL decisions
to engage in sexual relations (ie BEFORE pregnancy occurs so the laws don't just target and affect women)
to prevent any form or complaints of rape, relationship abuse or fraud, sexual abuse or other coercion.
2. agreements to SEPARATE funding and allow prolife groups to allot taxes to alternative nonprofits
such as the Nurturing Network as opposed to Planned Parenthood, so that taxpayers are represented not discriminated against by beliefs
3. agreed plans to REDUCE rates or numbers of abortions over time
until these are eliminated by 100% prevention where possible, and
an agreed process for REVIEWING and improving the progress to reach those agreed benchmarks, deadlines and goals
as set by each district, state or party agreeing to represent concerned citizens and taxpayers.
Not all groups will agree on the same plans, so this should be left to how those people elect to represent
their interests and beliefs on how best to reduce and eliminate abortion in the fastest, safest and most effective ways.
Because all 3 of these points rely on people AGREEING on approaches and standards for enforcement,
none of these requiring agreeing on BELIEFS about WHY abortion is or isn't acceptable
or HOW to go about enforcing bans so that women are not targeted or discriminated against unfairly compared with
the men equally responsible for the sex and pregnancy if not more responsible in the case of coercion, rape or other abuse where
the woman didn't freely consent.
Even if we disagree on beliefs and arguments,
we can still agree to work on different ways to reduce prevent and eliminate abortion,
and work out a timeline to achieve those goals.
Only by 100% prevention of abortion can we avoid the
above arguments that people don't agree on.
By not having any abortions anyway, then those arguments no longer matter because they don't apply.
So the goal should be 100% elimination, and what's left is
working out agreements on the best solutions to get there.