The Theological Roots of...Human Dignity: Dr. David Gushee

David Gushee provided a survey of the concept of human dignity throughout the Old and New testaments. Below are a few highlights.

Old Testament
"Transcendent legal/moral standard over human life creates a critically important human equality before the law. "

"The grounding of all moral obligation in God's law had a deep impact on the understanding of human law."

On Shalom
Shalom - the dream of God for a redeemed world, for an end to our division, hostility, fear, drivenness and misery.

Shalom happens when humans stop killing each other, and therefore life's dignity is honored at its fundamental level.

Shalom means: Delight, obedience to God (the precondition of shalom), the healing of broken bodies and spirits, enough to eat and drink, an inclusive community, the rebuilding of the human community

New Testament
Matthew 4 - Jesus did 2 new things
1. turned the eschatological future into an inaugurated eschatological present
2. Embodied the kingdom of justice, peace, and healing, in which human beings at last treat others and are treated, as God originally desired.

Jesus' inclusive ministry in a religious culture in which:

• Women were devalued
• Leaders subjugated human well being to legal observance
• Sinners treated as beyond the pale of God's care
• Children were devalued
• The sick ere often cast out of the community
• The occupying Romans were hated
• Tensions between jews and Samaritans
• A woman on her own faced desperate financial challenges
• Social-economic divisions were acut

In sum, Jesus smashed the religious, cultural, economic, and political barriers of his context and demonstrated love, respect, and inclusion toward people of all descriptions. Jesus taught "good news" that God loves human beings with an immeasurable love.

"The paradox of the incarnation is that when divinity stooped low and took on humanity, humanity revealed its loliness and yet was elevated through God's mercy."

Jesus died for "the world" - everyone, people in all states, conditions, nations and orientations toward God and neighbor. Everyone should matter to us because everyone matters to God

Christ rose in a body, the victory of God over evil, and the resurrection marks the triumph of life.

Acts depicts rapidly growing church...more inclusive and hospitable community ethos.
Paul offers an expansive theological effort to defend transformation of relationships (Gal 3:28) All divisive human distinctions are transfigured and overcome through Jesus Christ.

Momentum toward radically inclusive and egalitarian community
Multi-ethnic, multi-racial, gender-inclusive, class-inclusive community

What emerged...
Congregations that believed that in their own experience of transformed human relations lay the beginnings of the redemption of the world.

"Only because God became human is it possible to know and not despise real human beings...this is not because of the real human being's inherent value, but because God has loved and taken on the real human being. The reason for God's love for human beings does not reside in them..." D. Bonhoeffer

"A secular, rootless human dignity ethic may be the best that our culture thinks it can manage. But Christians know not only that we can do better but that we must do better and that the resources for doing better are embedded in our tradition."

We must claim our own rich, theological heritage.

Embryonic Soldiers and the Liberal 'War on Terror'

What the heck do I mean by that? I know you're wondering. Pelosi's "100 hours" agenda seeks to end further funding for the War on Terror, yet her agenda aims to direct more tax payer dollars to embryo-destructive research. This is about to become the biggest draft in history, but these soldiers have no chance for survival. Yep, I said it. The liberals have their own "War on Terror" of sorts. But their actions to find cures are far more egregious than people realize, because they've cloaked the killing of human life in the language of hope and cures. This is an act of war against defenseless human life at it's earliest stage and is as great a threat to humanity as is abortion. Let me be clear. Embryonic stem cells are not persons. The embryos from which they are harvested are persons, and these people die when the stem cells are harvested. These soldiers bring their weapons to the front lines only to die on delivery. No matter your view on Iraq, that's a drop in the bucket compared to the lives that will be lost through ESCR and SCNT if Pelosi has her way.

Obama Motivated by Ideology

Tonite, Obama stated that he believes the American people have declared with their vote a desire for a "nonideological approach" to the election issues. How many ways can I say that there is no neutrality on any issue? He would love it if those of us who oppose matters such as embryonic stem cell research would put our beliefs in our pocket (as if that is possibe). The fact is, the darwinist liberals support ESCR because of their ideology. This is all there is, so there is no moral status of the embryo, therefore anything goes....amazing

Extreme Feminism's Rally Against Life

This Wednesday should prove to be as riveting as the day before. On Wednesday morning, November 8, 2006, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument regarding the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 (“Act”) in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood and Gonzalez v. Carhart. Liberty Counsel filed amicus briefs in both cases with the Court on behalf of the Association of Pro-Life Physicians and Illinois nurse Jill Stanek, in favor of the Act.

NOW, Feminist Majority Foundation, National Council of Women's Orgs, and other so-called reproductive rights groups are planning to protest outside the Supreme Court - where they belong. The barbarism that they represent is far from being a legitimate interest in reproductive freedoms. The powerlessness that these extremists manifest unfortunately has the most serious implications on the unborn....and never estabishes real power or control for the feminist. How strong, powerful, and independent are these extremists if they must wield their power over the most powerless in our society?

Patrick Warbuton, Secret Abortions, and Parental Rights

Patrick Warburton understands that the victimization of our children by sexual predators would be prolonged by California if not for Proposition 85. Actor and father of four children, he wants to make sure his young daughter does not become a victim of a sexual predator. That’s one reason Warburton has endorsed Proposition 85, the Parents’ Right to Know and Child Protection initiative. Warburton says:

“A California law currently allows someone other than a parent to take a child, a girl as young as 12 years of age, to go and get an abortion without the parents knowing anything about this. This means that your neighbor, a teacher, an older boyfriend, a sexual predator -- can legally take your 12-year-old daughter to go and get an abortion, a secret confidential abortion.”

“That scares me. As a parent, I want to protect, to love, to guide my children. But the state has taken away this right and made it possible for sexual predators to harm our daughters and get away with their crimes with secret abortions behind parents’ backs.”

“That’s wrong. Parents have a right to know so they can protect their daughter. I can tell you, as a father who loves his daughter more than anything in the world, I will vote YES on 85 come Tuesday, November 7th. I hope you do too.”

NOW and Planned Parenthood should be as wise as Patrick Warburton.

3 Reasons to Oppose Egg Donation that Stand Together or Fall Together

1. There are complicationes associated with the harvesting of eggs from a woman's body. The risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is real.

2. Making money from selling eggs is hardly a donation. Profiting from this is wrong.

3. Eggs donated are used to create embryos that will either

A. become healthy and mature - your child.
B. Die because the procedure didn't "take" - your child
C. Are asexually "tricked" to become real embryos for destructive research purposes - your child

Profiting from the egg market is wrong only because of the inherent dignity of humanity that is grounded in the image of God. And if not for God, if not for truth, we wouldn't need to be bothered by the health risks associated with the scramble for eggs. No serious reason to care.

If this is really all there is, then there is no reason to care about anyone else....but because this isn't all there is, because God exists, we do care about the well-being of others.

Unfertilized eggs may not be people, but the intent is not for them to remain in the unfertilized state. They are intended to become life, i.e. people, either for purposes of embryo-destructive research or for assisting the infertile in having children. But it is because of the sanctity of all human life, no matter the age or the stage, that provides the basis for wanting to avoid risking women's health and viewing the profit from eggs sales as unethical.

Open Borders for Foreign Egg "Donors"

A British girl discovered while reading a magazine that she can sell her eggs in America and make lots of money. She donated her eggs and earned 15000 pounds (currently $28k-$30k US dollars) and was able to pay off her credit card debt. The article goes on...

Miss Saunders works as a software co-ordinator during the day and works five nights a week in two different pubs, earning a total of about £20,000 a year.

'I'm quite a bit in debt and I just want to get it paid off really. I ran up the debts by just being an idiot.

'I really could do with the money. I told my mum about it and she said, 'Well, if it get's you a bit of money, it's a good idea.'

How is that for a philosophy of life.... If it gets you a bit of money, it's a good idea. And with the very real risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) that Josephine Quintavalle points out in the article, this isn't a matter of just selling eggs. Articles have been written that quote young women who say "it's not like I'm selling a baby." Of course your egg is not a baby, but it becomes your baby when it is fertilized....whether by sperm or through somatic cell nuclear transfer. Egg donation, er, egg sales is a santity of life issue, like it or not.