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Again in Texas…

Again in Texas… . Lifting Faith Voices for Reproductive Justice . The Rev. Dr. Cheryl B. Anderson, Featured Speaker . " I am a person of faith and I support reproductive choice! ". …because my position is biblical. Exodus 21:22-25. A pregnant woman is injured when two men are fighting.

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Again in Texas…

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  1. Again in Texas… Lifting Faith Voices for Reproductive Justice The Rev. Dr. Cheryl B. Anderson, Featured Speaker

  2. "I am a person of faithand I support reproductive choice!"

  3. …because myposition is biblical Exodus 21:22-25 A pregnant woman is injured when two men are fighting. She has a miscarriage as a result. The husband can demand that a fine be paid. If the woman dies, the death penalty is warranted.

  4. Numbers 5:11-31 If a man suspects that his wife has been unfaithful, even in the absence of any proof, he may take her to the priests. The priests will make her say an oath and drink “the water of bitterness that brings the curse.” If she is guilty, the Lord will make her uterus drop, her womb discharge and she will become infertile. If she is innocent, she will be immune and will be able to have children.

  5. So when does one become a person? Genesis 2:7 …then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

  6. But isn't there Genesis 1:27-28? God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Remember that we are created in the image of God. We have the gift of reason and can exercise self-control within God's good creation.

  7. … because the use of contraception is notprohibited in the Bible Genesis 38:8-10 Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah and her husband died. Onan, the next son of Judah, was to have intercourse with her and produce an heir for her deceased husband. Onan spilled his seed on the ground so that he would not produce an heir for his brother.

  8. Birth control inancient Egypt andMesopotamia Female birth control preparations mentioned in ancient texts used ordinary substances: honey, acacia, wine, oil, myrrh, pomegranates….

  9. …I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of pomegranates. Song of Songs 8:2b Esther 2:12 Before each girl spent a night with the king, she was given 12 months of treatment: six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics for women.

  10. …because my • positionis consistent with my faith tradition Over the centuries, the most enduring view was that pregnancies could be terminated up to the time of "ensoulment" Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, however, have varied: * 40-90 days * at birth * 4 or 5 months * 30 days after birth

  11. ….because the belief that a human being begins with conception has not always been my tradition's doctrine Southern Baptist Convention, St Louis, 1971 Abortion was possible under these conditions: • rape and incest • clear evidence of severe fetal deformity • evidence of likelihood of damage to theemotional, mental and physical health ofthe mother

  12. Comments on Roe v. Wade (January 22, 1973) W. A. Criswell (former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas) “I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a separate life from its mother that it became an individual person and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and the future should be allowed.”

  13. Southern Baptist Convention, 1974 • Dallas, Texas The 1971 resolution was reaffirmed as reflecting a middle ground between the extreme of abortion on demand and the opposite extreme of all abortion as murder.

  14. Audre Lorde 1934–1992 • …because the "mythicalnorm" doesn't express thefullness of my faith tradition The Mythical Norm White Racial/Ethnic Heterosexual Homosexual/Gay Male Female Affluent Poor

  15. Mythical Norm =U.S. National Identity At the time of the first presidential election in 1789, only six percent of the population—white, male property owners—was eligible to vote.

  16. …because our tradition as Americans has been to move away from the "mythical norm" Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) Member, U.S. House of Representatives (1973-1979)

  17. Barbara Jordan on the US Constitution (1974) “Earlier today we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, 'We the People'. It is a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was completed on the 17th of September in 1787, I was not included in that 'We the People'. I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton must have left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in 'We the People'.”

  18. …a changing cultural context changes how we hear God's Word God punishes subsequent generations for the sins of an earlier one. Exodus 20:5-6 A generation is only punished for its own sins. Jeremiah 31:29 and Ezekiel 18:2

  19. Romans 8 updated For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor male nor female, nor gay nor straight, nor being HIV positive, nor being HIV negative, nor being high class, or having no class at all, nor powers, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (updated by Cheryl B. Anderson)

  20. I am a person of faith and I support reproductive choice because… • … my position is biblical • … the use of contraception is not prohibited in the Bible • … my position is consistent with my faith tradition • … the belief that a human being begins with conception has not always been my tradition's doctrine • … the "mythical norm" doesn’t express the fullness of my faith tradition • …. our tradition as Americans has been to move away from the "mythical norm" • … a changing cultural context changes how we hear God's Word

  21. Resources: • Cheryl B. Anderson, Ancient Laws and Contemporary Controversies: The Need for Inclusive Biblical Interpretation(New York: Oxford University Press, 2009) • Randall Balmer, The Making of Evangelicalism: From Revivalism to Politics and Beyond(Waco, Baylor University Press, 2010) • Athalya Brenner, The Intercourse of Knowledge: On Gendering Desire and ‘Sexuality’ in the Hebrew Bible (Leiden: Brill, 1997)  • Daniel C. Maguire, Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001)  • Daniel C. Maguire, ed., Sacred Rights: The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions(New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) • Scotty McLennan, Jesus Was A Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)

  22. Websites: • Texas Freedom Network http://www.tfn.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_mission • Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice www.rcrc.org • Religious Groups’ Official Positions on Abortion http://www.pewforum.org/2013/01/16/religious-groups-official-positions-on-abortion/ • Catholics for Choicehttp://www.catholicsforchoice.org/ • SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective http://www.sistersong.net/

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