I've been diagnosed with cancer

[IWMP]

My reply was in response to the comment that talked about killing a baby with a hammer.

Not sure I followed what your opinion on abortion is, I didn't have the patience to read the full post. Sometimes when I'm reading the words start to blend together and it's like mush in my brain and I can't work out what's being said so at some point I will probably go back and read more bits.

Anyway, here was the comment I was trying to post on your blog ..




Huh?

If a baby can be born 10 weeks early and still live and is clearly a moving, responding to stimuli person. This tells me that abortion at this point feels like killing.

Ending a pregnancy and killing the body inside the pregnancy should be seen as two different things. You can end a pregnancy and the baby still live. But to go in and chop a baby up and vacuum it out is killing a pregnancy.

If you remove a baby at 15 weeks does it respond to touch and light? It wouldn't survive on its own. So I guess it depends on the definition of what a living being is. Removing a baby at 28 weeks, there's a good chance that baby wouldn't need additional help (beyond the norm) to survive and it will definitely respond to external stimuli. Therefore, it is alive.

I don't specifically remember discussing killing a baby born ten weeks early with a hammer, so I would have to least know what specific post to look through for that discussion. I suspect your comment is in response to someone else's comment, and that person would have to speak for themselves.

Specifically regarding my own arguments in favor of abortion rights, I grant for the sake of discussion that the prenate is fully a person from the time of conception. I do this not because I think it's true (and I do discuss at length why I don't think it is), but because I ultimately deem fetal personhood irrelevant. Either way, the conceptus has no right to use a pregnant person's body without consent; that person is well within their rights to abort the pregnancy, even if this does constitute a killing. In they are not acting unjustly and the conceptus' right to life, if any, is not thereby violated.

Hope this helps.

Apologies, yes. It was in response to a comment from another person. Why abortion is permissable post.

[Philo Sofee]

So, for example, if you ask questions about why I think it was so genius for the Israelites to historicize their myths and legends, it will help me be clear about what I mean when I sit down and pound out the thoughts.

This would be a very fun discussion with you amigo! I have never thought of it as being genius they changed, but writing and the gradual increase of written language had something to do with it, no doubt.

[Jersey Girl]

So, for example, if you ask questions about why I think it was so genius for the Israelites to historicize their myths and legends, it will help me be clear about what I mean when I sit down and pound out the thoughts.

This would be a very fun discussion with you amigo! I have never thought of it as being genius they changed, but writing and the gradual increase of written language had something to do with it, no doubt.

Oh good that you want questions tagriffy because I had some about that exact thing and the way you put it. Also other parts of your entry. I think I'll start at the top of your entry and work my way down. I benefit from writing out my thoughts and ideas which has probably always been one of the biggest draws for me to keep posting on boards like these for so many years.

If I don't see where I missed a point or wasn't consistent, someone is gonna point it out to me for sure! I don't know about you but I welcome challenge and the chance to revise my thinking depending on the topic. Believe or not, there have been times where I was actually wrong about something. No really.

[Jersey Girl]

Duuuuuuuuude. Cancer is a low key fear of mine. Can you tell us how you’re handling this existential crisis today?

- Doc

As well as can be expected. I have the support of my family; that counts for a lot. As I said in my post, I'm especially finding my concept of Immanuel is comforting now that I need to rely on it--I do have a great feeling that God is indeed with me, sharing my pain--and yes, my fear. The big unkown right now is how I'm going to respond to initial treatments, which will in turn determine the actual prognosis. I'm treating myself as if I could drop dead at any time, and thus feel the urgency to get out as much of what I want to say while I still have the time to say it. Once I have something like a real prognosis, the sense of urgency may wane if it turns out I still have plenty of time, but I'm still going to want to say what I have to say.

What you said there to Cam about feeling and believing that God is with you really speaks to something I've been discussing lately with a friend and also one of the posts I made here on my own medical journey thread. I'll try to work that in at some point because maybe it's worth sharing.

I'll get to posting here soon, tagriffy. People who know me know I'll whack my way through easy things and get those out of the way so I can sit with an important post like yours or a message and really think about it before replying. I get how this is important to you especially in this season you are in. You want to be heard and you want it to be your best work. It's part of your legacy. I understand that.

Just want to say, too, don't base the reactions you get to expressions of faith in this forum on those you might see in Terrestrial. When I express my own faith the folks down here seem to receive it well enough. It's always good to understand what makes people tick, I say.

[tagriffy]

So, for example, if you ask questions about why I think it was so genius for the Israelites to historicize their myths and legends, it will help me be clear about what I mean when I sit down and pound out the thoughts.

This would be a very fun discussion with you amigo! I have never thought of it as being genius they changed, but writing and the gradual increase of written language had something to do with it, no doubt.

That certainly does have something to do with it, of course. Obviously, this is a really big oversimplification, but let's compare the Greek myths. They kind of. . . float out there, if you will. You have these stories, say of Pandora's box. The Greeks may well say they really happened, but it was something that occurred some vague long ago time. They explain why things are the way they are, but still being somewhat detached their here and now.

Probably the Hebrew myths and legends started out much the same way. They were disconnected stories told around the campfire to explain why things are the way they are. But as the Israelites started to develop their saga in written form, they incorporated the myths and legends into a story that stretches from creation to the exile in a more or less coherent fashion. Now the myths of creation, the Flood, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are no longer just myths. They are history. And it doesn't matter how strictly accurate the history is. The point is what this says about God. It brings God to the here and now, and posits God has always been and here and now. While the gods of Olympus mostly remained on their mountain, and their forays into the world of man was usually capricious and often disastrous, the Israelite god was far different. This is a God that wants to have an intimate relationship with us.

[tagriffy]

As well as can be expected. I have the support of my family; that counts for a lot. As I said in my post, I'm especially finding my concept of Immanuel is comforting now that I need to rely on it--I do have a great feeling that God is indeed with me, sharing my pain--and yes, my fear. The big unkown right now is how I'm going to respond to initial treatments, which will in turn determine the actual prognosis. I'm treating myself as if I could drop dead at any time, and thus feel the urgency to get out as much of what I want to say while I still have the time to say it. Once I have something like a real prognosis, the sense of urgency may wane if it turns out I still have plenty of time, but I'm still going to want to say what I have to say.

What you said there to Cam about feeling and believing that God is with you really speaks to something I've been discussing lately with a friend and also one of the posts I made here on my own medical journey thread. I'll try to work that in at some point because maybe it's worth sharing.

I'll get to posting here soon, tagriffy. People who know me know I'll whack my way though easy things and get those out of the way so I can sit with an important post like yours or a message and really think about it before replying. I get how this is important to you especially in this season you are in. You want to be heard and you want it to be your best work. It's part of your legacy. I understand that.

Just want to say, too, don't base the reactions you get to expressions of faith in this forum on those you might see in Terrestrial. When I express my own faith the folks down here seem to receive it well enough. It's always good to understand what makes people tick, I say.

Take the time you need. After all, a big part of the point in having people ask questions is to help me be as clear as possible in being clear about what I want to. I know basically what I want to say. What I need the most help with is how to say it.

[tagriffy]

Bit of an update.

I had my oncology consultation today. Bit of good news here. They seem to have established that my type of cancer may well respond well to immunological therapy, so now the plan is to do both that an chemotherapy at the same time. Next step is to get planted with a tube to facilitate the treatments. Then the plan is to do radiation one week, chemotherapy the next. Theoretically that will help my body to adjust before the next round.

Plus, pain pills. I might actually be able to start sleeping easier now!

[msnobody]

This would be a very fun discussion with you amigo! I have never thought of it as being genius they changed, but writing and the gradual increase of written language had something to do with it, no doubt.

That certainly does have something to do with it, of course. Obviously, this is a really big oversimplification, but let's compare the Greek myths. They kind of. . . float out there, if you will. You have these stories, say of Pandora's box. The Greeks may well say they really happened, but it was something that occurred some vague long ago time. They explain why things are the way they are, but still being somewhat detached their here and now.

Probably the Hebrew myths and legends started out much the same way. They were disconnected stories told around the campfire to explain why things are the way they are. But as the Israelites started to develop their saga in written form, they incorporated the myths and legends into a story that stretches from creation to the exile in a more or less coherent fashion. Now the myths of creation, the Flood, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are no longer just myths. They are history. And it doesn't matter how strictly accurate the history is. The point is what this says about God. It brings God to the here and now, and posits God has always been and here and now. While the gods of Olympus mostly remained on their mountain, and their forays into the world of man was usually capricious and often disastrous, the Israelite god was far different. This is a God that wants to have an intimate relationship with us.

Tim, have you read Michael Heiser’s, The Unseen Realm?

[msnobody]

Bit of an update.

I had my oncology consultation today. Bit of good news here. They seem to have established that my type of cancer may well respond well to immunological therapy, so now the plan is to do both that an chemotherapy at the same time. Next step is to get planted with a tube to facilitate the treatments. Then the plan is to do radiation one week, chemotherapy the next. Theoretically that will help my body to adjust before the next round.

Plus, pain pills. I might actually be able to start sleeping easier now!

If you were here, I’d give you a big hug, and come alongside you as you go through this. I guess we will all have to be here for you online for now.

[tagriffy]

Tim, have you read Michael Heiser’s, The Unseen Realm?

I have not. Can you tell me what it is about?