This was from another forum..but I want to place it here: debunking the soul entering the egg with fertilization of the sperm:
Offline expendable youth wrote:Left of Larry wrote:
I read in Bizarre Magazine in a small town in China worships this baby as a deity. They put him in a bowl and carries him around the town followed by townspeople even though it is dead.
the one here is called Anencephaly: defect in the closure of the neural tube during fetal development. The neural tube is a narrow channel that folds and closes between the 3rd and 4th weeks of pregnancy to form the brain and spinal cord of the embryo. Anencephaly occurs when the "cephalic" or head end of the neural tube fails to close, resulting in the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp. Infants with this disorder are born without a forebrain (the front part of the brain) and a cerebrum (the thinking and coordinating part of the brain). The remaining brain tissue is often exposed--not covered by bone or skin. A baby born with anencephaly is usually blind, deaf, unconscious, and unable to feel pain. Although some individuals with anencephaly may be born with a rudimentary brain stem, the lack of a functioning cerebrum permanently rules out the possibility of ever gaining consciousness. Reflex actions such as breathing and responses to sound or touch may occur.
Tell that to the anti-abortionists who believe a soul enters the egg during fertilization.
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I don't like this argument for the same reason that I don't like the argument that Pro-Life people use on their aborted fetus cars and trucks - it is an appeal to emotion by using a picture. Simply resorting to pointing out that a person can't prove the existence of a soul is a sufficient argument to debunk the idea of a soul entering a fetus at conception. If that isn't sufficient, there are other methods to discuss the issue without resorting to this kind of emotive appeal.
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I dunno... I thought the post could have been just as effective an arguement without the picture.
This was part of a much longer debate, concerning the existence of god. The person (not the one quoted here) mentioned that all humans are born perfect. So I showed her this picture among other congenital defects. Then I went to describe what each was. One difference between this picture and the one the pro-lifers use is that this is not a photoshopped picture. This is a a real picture. To make claims such that dismiss the fact that there is much imperfection in the "design" of humans, is a fallacy, and I felt that in this context the picture spoke louder than words. It was not mean to spark emotion, it was meant to educate. Nothing about the picture of description was made up, photoshopped for effect or whatever...it is simply a picture of what a human born with anencephaly looks like. I have personally seen a real baby (although dead) wiht this defect.
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I've seen real anencephalic infants as well. I was simply addressing how this would relate to the abortion debate, as that was what it seemed presented as. Also, I wasn't implying that the image was not photoshopped, as there is no reason to get a photoshpped image of a deformed infant, as there are ample amounts of images of defective fetuses and infants that you can find on most internet medical publication sites. I tend to find that no matter if a photo like this is or is not photoshopped, though, that the value of the photo to the argument is very similar. I can understand the use of mentioning the deformity to someone claiming that people are born perfect, however, I don't think that such is a good argument to use to support a pro-choice stance.
It is interesting that a person would claim that humans are born perfect ...
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I guess I should've put it into context. The main point I was trying to make is that...those who claim that a soul enters the egg when the sperm does, then how do you explain a anancephalic fetus that has no consciousness?
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thanks for clarifying then
Wow....
The soul was flying at the egg too fast and missed, passing through the uterus and embedding itself within the bowel, resulting in a fully ensouled poop while leaving the poor child soulless.
Götter sind für Arten, die sich selbst verraten -- in den Glauben flüchten um sich hinzurichten. Menschen brauchen Götter um sich zu verletzen, um sich zu vernichten -- das sind wir.
a poop with a soul.....damn..that's just genious. I guess Mr. Hanky the Christmas poo..than is real.
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So that's where he came from! :
:
sometimes I get a head of myself....and am left looking back going, where the hell was I?
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