These are letters written in response to the article, "Why Abortion is Biblical." They are unedited; however, the names have been removed since these messages were sent in private mail.

Quote of the Week

You're sick, pal. Just thought I'd mention that on my way to dust my feet of your site . . .

- Letters -

Elroy, I was deeply saddened by your page about "Focus on the Family." I have enjoyed and supported Dr. Dobson's ministries for a number of years. And there are two fundamental truths that I have observed. 1."Focus on the Family" does not set itself up as a replacement for the church. In fact, it actively encourages involvement in the local church. 2. I was a believer long before I ever heard of James Dobson. By and large, what "Focus on the Family" supports is consistent with and affirms scripture. I'm not blindly accepting what their ministry says, I'm evaluating in light of the scriptures and find it to be consistent. Also, I find that the Focus on the Family ministry is very aware of the fact that we are frail and subject to shortcomings and sin. I have often reflected upon how compassionate they are in their understanding of sin. Not only do they openly state that sin is a part of the believers life but they affirm the victory that we have in Christ, not of ourselves, over sin. That while we have sinned and will continue to sin, we may rest confident that His abundant Grace has been given freely to forgive sin. Finally, I want to openly contradict your assertion that the sin of abortion is not addressed in the Bible. In the 10 Commandments, the law was given, "Thou shalt not kill." In order to accommodate abortion as anything other than a sin, one has to decide that the unborn child is not human. I would call upon you to find justification in scripture for killing. You must be able to assert that God did not really mean what he said when he said, "Thou shalt not kill." Secondly, on a more practical level, you have to justify intellectually that the right of the unborn is subordinate to the rights of others. In other words, you are making a distinction based upon condition. An unborn child does not have rights while one a day old does. Other than location, what's the difference. The fundamental question is, "Is the unborn child human?" If not, what is it? With modern testing we can determine sex, compare DNA, count chromosomes and determine humanity. We know that the life in the womb is human, undeveloped but human, nonetheless. If we enter into a discussion about the value of that human being then we can openly question the value of other human beings in relation to others. We can begin to justify euthenasia and other "merciful" acts on the basis of the condition of the life affected. You see, whether you recognize it or not, your civil liberties are based upon the value of human life. If that value can be subjective rather than objective, your liberties can be just as subjective. No, to be intellectually honest and to preserve civil liberties for everyone, the rights of the unborn have to be the same as those of others. Finally, many who support the right to chose, ignore the right to chose to use birth control or to chose to abstain from sexual relations. They also ignore the right of the unborn who has no choice to make. If the right to "chose" had been available some years ago, it is very likely that neither my grandmother nor my father would have been carried to full term. And, I can assure you that both are pleased that their rights were not abridged. Because, like all humans, they have had the opportunity to make of their lives what they have "chosen" in spite of lousy childhoods in lousy circumstances with lousy parents. No, you cannot convince me that an act directly contradictory to scripture is compassionate or consistent with the Christian lifestyle. Neither can you intellectually justify abridging one person's rights to assert anothers. We are each valuable and that value is absolute or our common belief in the rights of the individual has no basis. Please read this objectively. You make a passionate plea based upon a genuine love and concern for women who feel they are in a hopeless situation. If you could only see the hope that is there and realize the great lives that have been lived as a result of "unwanted" pregnancies, you would see why the compassion most deserved is for those who are unborn and who do not yet have a voice to speak for themselves. I would ask you to reconsider your stance and at the very least withdraw from attacking those with opposite but equally passionate beliefs. You'll note that I have attacked the basis of your assertion but not you. There is room for reason, in love, among Christians. While I question your fundamental assertion, I do not question your motives. And, neither do I question your fundamental belief in Christ. I also have not resorted to saying that you are of the Devil or anything like that. At the same time, I encourage you to post this response on your page. I understand that it is contradictory to your message but I believe it would go along way toward demonstrating your willingness to be open to other ideas on these subjects. Yours in Christ,

Mr. McKinley It seems like you write this letter in scorn for that happened to you. I see nothing wrong with trying to uphold the right ideas in the Christian life. focusing on our sins is another way of justifying them. Every Christian knows that there are none rightious, no, not even one worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Thay's why we need to confess Jesus as our savior. but then what? We still live here on Earth, we are not whisked away to a perfect place. We need direction on how to live our Christian lives. The most important thing is to live. The Adversary has the power of death, and I will not let the Adversary ever take control of my life. Yeah, some day I will die, but only to go to eternal life. People, even children, who have not confessed Jesus as their savior are already dead. They do talk about problems on Focus on the Family, but in a positive way. They don't have to beat themselves up to be Christian. We only have to confess our sins to God. I don't want to hear about their personal lusts or sins. That's sick. On James Dobson - Somebody ought to have the guts to take controll. On Angry Like christ - A Christian must ust the spirit of discernment to decide if a leader is truly a man of God. On Confess - How can some organization on Colorado cover every detail of the Christian life. They are just media. Naturally, they gloss over things. They do not have the ability to get in to every nitty gritty detail. (You can tell I'm southern now, can't you?) If you want real live, turn off the TV and radio and go out into the real world. On Abortion - I didn't finish your article, but in the first half I didn't see some valid points that someone has pointed out to me. IN the old testament, I don't know where, a man is not put to death if he hits a woman and kills an unborn fetus. It's not considered murder. An unborn fetus has not accepted Jesus as its savior, so, it is not filled with the spirit. Once a baby is born, it is covered by it's parent's confession of Jesus as it's savior untill it is old enough to either reject Jesus or accept Jesus. Does this small point make sence to you? Cutting down a ministry is nothing new. Every time I find a ministry to follow, someong cuts it down, from my home town church, to The Way International, to Focus on the Family. We cannot all be right, we must try to study the Word of God. That's the most important thing. I must point out that you use the same media shock tactics to get people to read your web page. Look in the mirror and ask if your ministry is really bettern than anyone else's. If you have to answer Yes, that's OK, because I wouldn't want to you to destroy your own faith. People just gotta believe. God bless,

Mr. McKinley, The reading of your opinion about "Focus on the Family," and abortion, prompted me to write you my Christian perspective. Let me first state that the letters that were written by other Christians provide more than enough biblical support for the bible's view on abortion. However, I would encourage you to read Leviticus where scripture specifically states that, "life is in the blood." Needless to write, there is blood in an unborn child. Moreover, the New Testament clearly states how John leaped in his mother's womb. How could this be possible if he were not alive? Your argument lacks biblical support because God does not support sin! Jesus died for our sins and offers life for all that believe. However, we are free agents and we have to make a choice to accept Him. As for your claims against "Focus on the Family," and Dr. Dobson, again you lack support. I am a faithful listener to his program and others like it. (Insight for Living - Dr. Charles Swindoll) As a 25 year old, single, African-American, female, I find the program to be insightful and encouraging. At no point have I ever confused Dr. Dobson to be "Jesus." As a member of "generation-X," I find great refuge in knowing that I have support for my Christian views. The bible states that we are in the world, but not of the world. It is comforting to know that there are organizations that maintain a Christian perspective. Mr. McKinley, I challenge you to let go of you personal beliefs and let God enter into your life. Don't let Satan fool you into believing that you serve anything less than a Holy God! I will pray for your peace with God. Remember, through Christ Jesus, all things are possible! Peace

Brian, I just read your article about abortion and the Bible. I also read other responses, which address many of the issues which I thought you should consider. I don't know if you are seeking truth or if you determined that for yourself long ago, but if you a re still open to reconsderation, please think about the following. When the eternal Son of God (the Word) became flesh, he became a human being. As such he began his ongoing demonstration to us of what is means to be human, as God designed human to be. He was spoken about and even recognized as already present in Mary long before His birth (consider the arguments in another's letter on John the Baptist recognizing Him while John was in his mother's womb). Believing that the Son of God became Jesus at some later time that at conception moves you to some form of Adoptionism (the doctrine that some human being was only later adopted into the Godhead as Jesus, which of course is not orthodox Christian teaching at all). One ot! her consideration: if not at fertilization, then when does the fetus become a human person? My daughter was born two weeks premature. She could have been aborted for ten more weeks in every state of the United States because people who hold your positi on would consider that she was not human, as you say it. When did she become human? The answers are simple: either "At fertilization," or "I don't know." Of course, I believe at fertilization, for the reasons given and many more. But neither answer w ould justify abortion. Ronald Reagan's answer was "I don't know," and he said that left him no alternative but to oppose abortion. I would enjoy hearing from you. God bless you in your search.

I suggest that you pick up a copy of the book "Politically Correct Death" by Dr. Francis Beckwith. It is a well reasoned defense of the life of the unborn. You would benefit greatly from reading the book. I don't guess that you would actually put this reference up as a comment, since anyone reading the book and comparing the strength of the arguements would be bound to see the folly of your "approach" to abortion. Sincerely,

Thank you.

Hi, me again. Concerning abortion, I agree that it is most impossible to legislate morality. But your arguement that the Bible doesn't support the choice for life, I believe, is faulty. You are using the same tactics [we can't taking verses out of context] to support your own position. The book of Ecclesiastes is a book illustrating the futility of life without God. "All is vanity." Yes, if we had no God, it would be better never to be born. Also, all the references to stillbirth and miscarriages are just that: stillbirths and miscarriages. There is a difference between dying and being killed for convenience. Those are decisions that ought to be left up to God, for only he has the wisdom required. You made the point that God was involved in the creation of everything, yet everything is not human. True. BUT there the analogy stops. The lines between species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, and kindgom are different than the line between the mother of one species [Homo sapiens] and her offspring. We are the only creation of which was said "He created [them] in His image." And the creation was not complete until God had created a man [and woman] to fellowship with. Anyway, you cannot get a cat from the womb of a woman, can you? He gave us the capacity to reproduce according to our own kind. Therefore, if the fetus is not human, what is it? A blob of tissue. OK, then why did God take such pains in protecting certain blobs of tissue? Ex21:22 He said "Life for Life." [illustrating the ultimate fulfillment by Christ on the cross, dying for every man.] If you want to speak "totally objectively" tell me where shall we draw the line for where life begins? Some babies are born and survive before term, are they not human? Should we not take care of them the best we know how? Where is there a logical and definite line? If God deems life as sacred, and when the decision is so hotly controversial, should we not err on the side of caution? Why not? What have we to gain overall by doing something that may be destroying us? Should life be defined by whether or not it is wanted? That is a rather fickle line also, but even if we do accept THAT as true, there are always people out there who WANT to adopt those aborted babies and GIVE them a "good quality of life." Then they are life. They are wanted. They are loved, by someone. And in most cases, they are loved by their own misled and lonely, confused mother, who thinks she has "NO CHOICE" but to end the pregnancy. Society has convinced these mothers that a child is a liability that will ruin their lives, whereas God repeatedly calls them a blessing. [Granted, some blessings are challenging to accept because they require psychological and spiritual growth, and if a person is psychologically very unhealthy and spiritually dead, they won't grow.] I'm just curious, do you have any children? If you were married and your wife got pregnant, and decided she didn't want the baby, what would your conviction be about her decision? I agree, like I said, that to legislate against abortion is a nigh impossible task. The only way to combat abortion is to change hearts one by one.

I do believe, however, that some misguided leaders in our nation have made it a very divisive issue, and based on what? It's based solely on an interpretation of some verses, ones that not all theologians agree mean the same thing. Thus the article, to show how easy it is to make wild arguments using scripture. What we need is less dogma and more grace, less posturing and more understanding. And that, ultimately, is the point, to push for greater understanding of why we believe what we believe.

Hey dude, your anger is showing through again on this issue. I like the way Plato taught by asking weighted questions. Try these questions on for size if you dare. Remember how in your article, "Abortion is Biblical," you complained at lengeth about how Christian (insert your own adjective)s are too one sided and present only the verses which tend to support their own interpretations and positions? Are there any verses which might be interpreted to support a position other than your own? (I'd like to give them to you but that would make it too easy for you.) Doesn't the Bible teach that if a man should cause a pregnant woman to lose her child the punishment is death? (I'll let you look it up since you need the extra time in the scriptures, IMHO.) And by logic, if the Bible teaches that the punishment for the "death" of an unborn child is death, given the Olt Testiment principle "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, then isn't the UNBORN child ALIVE? So then we agree that Abortion IS Biblical. But since I don't buy your arguement about why it should be considered Biblically condoned, I must admit that I think you are just as twisted as John Salvi in some sort of perverted backward way. But then for the sack of a civil society, to each their own.

You tread very carefully, now. Have you not read that God hates the shedding of innocent blood? That He knew you before you were in the womb? You be real careful because by leading anyone astray, even to doubt the love of God for the unborn, you are bringing a high heap of trouble on yourself!

Elroy, I thought your page was well laid-out. And it's nice to see a different view of things by someone who knows the Bible. Speaking of the Bible, you may find that the Bible Browser helps you with your research. It's at: http://negus.uchicago.edu:1080/pub/goerwitz/bible_browser/pbeasy.html There's a link from there to the advanced home page if you like lots of search options. One thing that occurs to me, incidentally, is that you could spice up your presentation a lot if you cut down your biblical quotes to what is strictly necessary (quoting phrases and parts of verses), and by putting in a hypertext link to the full text of the verses you quote in part, or just refer to. You may wonder: How do I do this? It's easy. Here's an example. In one spot you quote Psalm 139. Your reference looks like Psalm 139:13-16 What you should do is put in the codes Psalm 139:13-16 Try this and watch what happens. I support the kind of work you are doing. It makes all of us think a little harder about what the Bible is, and how we really ought to be using it. Good luck. Oh, by the way, if you write papers that have biblical references in them, and you don't have time to insert links like the above, then just mail the document, HTML codes and all, as plain text to: pbhtml@negus.uchicago.edu Then watch your mail for the returned text. The system isn't perfect, but it beats putting in the links by hand.

Dear Brian, You have gone to a lot of trouble to "prove" abortion is okay by God. What is your stake in this very emotional topic that has so divided our country? Have you personally been touched by abortion? I'd like to know why this means so much to you. Please respond... A fellow writer,

You are obviously sick and demented! I cannot believe you call yourself a Christian and I certainly hope anyone reading your "trash" has the good sense not to take you seriously. I am glad you do not have the visibility of "Focus on the Family" and therefore do not have the ability to influence very many people. I wonder if your mother ever considered terminating her pregnancy while she was carrying you. I will pray to God that He will make people blind to your insane ideas. You had better be thankful that He still loves you and pray for His help and guidance.

MAN YOU ARE TRULY WORKING FOR THE DEVIL MATE....HOW MANY HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PAPERS HAVE YOU DONE AT UNIVERSITY, THE HEART IS BETTING WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH...GOD KNEW US BEFORE WE WERE BORN AND NO MAN HAS ANY RIGHT TO MURDER- GOT IT? YOU BETTER SORT IT OUT PAL YOUR GETTING ON MY WICK WITH YOUR SATANIC INTERNET ESSAYS...I BETTER STOP BEFORE I REACH DOWN THE PHONE LINE SPU ON YOU!!!!

Brian, I agree with you concerning the stance against scriptures being used out of context. Yet you have taken scriptures which offer a single picture or frame from the album of men's lives. You speak of Solomon and David and Job, and the words they professed from some of the darkest hours of their lives. But how did Solomon feel when the Temple of Jehovah was finished, or how did David feel when Goliath dropped to the earth, or how did Job feel when God restored unto him his family and possesions? Did they feel like never having been born then? These were men living when the Spirit of God did not dwell in men but rather in atemple. Why do we not see these same kinds of statements made by men of the New Testament? But rather I see Paul in Romans 1:31(KJV) warning the Church of a day when those "without natural affection" would rise up. One of the greatest natural affections a human can have is love towards a child, yet people forsake that affection today for a choice. Finally, it amazes me that the very process of birth, which is inhibited by abortion, is the same medium through which God came as the Saviour of the world. It also amazes me that the issue of abortion must be proven with the Bible. Doesn't your own sense of humanity and the desire to live create a natural doctrine against the choice of abortion? God Bless,

Brian, Remove and repent of your abortion article. Until then, I for one will not read anything you write. What you wrote was wrong. The bible does have something to say about mothers killing the children inside their wombs. This is not an academic debate. I did not write to you because I wanted to intellectually challenge you. I wrote to you because the Holy spirit grieved. I hope you can understand this. What you wrote is a matter of life and death. Lives will be decided. You transgressed a boundary you were not given to cross. I accept this revelation by faith. May you accept it, and repent. I am not attempting to argue with you, to convince you. The Holy Spirit grieves over what you wrote.

You're sick, pal. Just thought I'd mention that on my way to dust my feet of your site . . .

As I can see,You seem not to put much time into understanding the word of God. If you would really see, not everything in the bible that is talked about is morally right.For example when all the baby boys aged 2 and under were being killed. God did not accept this action.(not just because they were trying to kill his only son)We are not to take it in our own hands what is right OR wrong. It is GOD'S job and we should not make up our own stories so that we might feel comfortable with our own life styles. Many murders happened in the BIBLE that were not ordered by God. On the other hand God sent two men against 20 men and those 20 were slain. (This was ordered by GOD.) Prayer if done genuinely, will help open your eyes to the truth. You must trust the ONE true GOD for his guidance and authority. If you are trully seaching, I believe you will find. OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD.

Mr/Ms McKinley, I have not read your entire document, but I read the first document page and some of the preceding pages. I then scrolled to the end to find your pitch, a biblical support of abortion using Focus on the Family as a vehicle to attack from. You used the form of writing to first catch your readers attention with the title, very well selected for this approach, and then put inflamtory comments and description text interspersed with supporting and unsupported viewpoints. This was very well done! However, as well as it is presented and written, you must very well know any point of view can be made to seem reasonable using proper forms of logic and incorporated emotional appeal. I find your idea of biblical basis for support of abortion to be extremely absurd. You appear to have read and researched the bible, God's words, how much I am unsure. The idea that God would support the loss of one third of the number of the next generation cannot be supported. Using the numbers of abortions in this country and other countries as a proportion against the total births will show my calculation as "conservative" in count. I applaud your ability in reason and writing skills, but find your current exercise in its use as dangerous to yourself and others. CS Lewis was an excellent author and late in life came to Christianity after spending most of his life as an atheist, he later became one of the most prolific writers of children's literature based upon the Christian ideal. Yours in Christ

I've read your pitch for self-condemnation. You exalt yourself as a correct authority, but wisdom comes with the fear of God instead of yourself. You quote Scripture, but you don't know how to interpret it. If you want to touch God, then you must pray and do His will. For example, pray to find someone to listen to your sins; begin with yourself, but earnestly seek a Godly listener. Be sure that prayer came before Scripture; Adam and Eve talked and walked with God long before the Bible was published.

interesting stuff, although in the same light as not taking the "inward parts" passages so literally i would not take either the expressions of Solomon's or Job's despair as evidence that abortion or euthasia has biblical mandate. Job and Solomon are involved in very intense struggles about the meaning of life and both books end in conclusions neither of which advocates an artificial end to life or abortion. i'm glad you stop short of making that claim. may i suggest that you look into some of the writings of the early church because they do speak rather forthrightly about abortion. no, the books aren't canonical but they do provide some insight in to how early Christian communities viewed the world. abortion was not unknown to the christians of the apostolic and early church. the romans and greeks practiced it and also exposed infants, abandoning them to die. the Didache, which is reliably dated to the period between 80 and 120 ad, is essentially a manual for converts that addresses questions about the meaning of Christian faith and life. very early in the document it presents two ways, the way of life and the way of death. abortion in clearly and unambiguously listed as among the practices that are forbidden to Christians. from that base the christian community has, until the latter half of this century, with few exceptions viewed abortion as a grave moral tresspass, lawful only in the extreme case of a mother's life. this vision of abortion is still represents the clear majority of Christian belief, and despite the media attention given to pro-abortion Christians i would venture to say that most have very strong moral reservations about it. this is especially true if you consider the world spectrum of christian faith. yes, some people use proof texts in a very clumsy way but at it's base the christian argument against abortion is simple. God is the giver of life and the taking of life is a very serious thing. this is doubly compounded by the innocence of the unborn. they had no choice in their arrival and have committed no wrong yet they can be killed without any appeal and for any reason. does this strike you as just? does this strike you as something that God desires? if it doesn't then you're starting to get an idea where the christian reservations about abortion, sometimes clumsily and regrettably in a few cases violently expressed, find their source. peace

I can't believe what I'm reading in your documents. You must be insane! Your arguments hold no weight at all! I don't need the Bible, Focus on the Family, or you to help me determine the right or wrong of these arguments. My own God given morals and logical sense are enough to know that abortion, porn and euthanasia are wrong. As for porn, Jesus said "If you so much as look upon a woman with lusting in your heart, you have committed adultery". There is also a such thing as a "RELATIONSHIP" with God. You can actually talk to the Father and he will with you. For instance, I drank alcohol at the time I was saved (October of '88). I struggled with this because there are several references in the bible that supported drinking and several that condemned it, afterall I was a "social" drinker. I sought God's own personal view on this subject ten months. I told Him I was confused, here you say drinking is o.k., but here you say not to let one drop enter your body, here you say to take it if your depressed, and so on. I searched God's heart diligently on this matter. Then one night in August of '89, I sat down with a friend and a six-pack of beer. I popped the top and took one sip. God spoke to me "Make that your last drink". These were His exact words and I'll never forget them. I gave that beer to my friend and I have not had an alcoholic beverage since. I don't tell people drinking is right or wrong, I tell them to read the word and search God's own heart themselves. I simply can't imagine a Christian could possibly believe that killing the unborn is acceptable to God, or that euthanasia, porn or homosexuality is acceptable to God. You are lost! Take more time in your life for a personal relationship with God the Father, His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I don't know you, but I do love you, I can feel it as I type these words. My heart aches for your salvation. Please spend hours of quite time speaking alone with God, you will hear from Him. I will spend time praying for you also. Love. In Christ,

Would you please run by me why you are say that abortion is right when MURDER IS WRONG. All that murdered in the BIBLE where iether killed or punished by GOD???????

Brian, Never before in my life have I seen such a blatant example of God's holy word being twisted and misquoted. Your essays on your "Christian" views leave me wondering if your goal could be made even more obvious if you had just stated that you are employing in your writings the powers of darkness and deceit that can come from Satan alone. May our God, the Lord of hosts have mercy on your tortured soul. We will be praying for you to this end.

Confused. That is in reference to you. I have read two of your postings on the net and find your leaps of deduction amazing. What happened to you in your early life? Do you have the ability to raed the orignal languages? Maybe you should get help from someone who can because many of your incredible leaps of deduction would immediately fall to pieces. Next time you pick up THE BOOK pray for an open mind and true leading by the Holy Spirit not just text to misuse to fulfill your own predetermined notions. I hope you will not be the next Ruby Ridge or WACO Texas. (Not that I support thae actions of the BATF or FBI).

Brian, I'm really impressed by your beautiful web work. Some of the nicest I've seen. And your links are interesting. Haven't seen them before. I do have one question about your content, however. How can you be Pro-Irish and presumably Pro-Roman Catholic and also be Pro-Abortion? That would seen inconsistent.

I strongly disagree with your article on abortion. You do just what you accuse Christians of doing by trying to make an argument based on your own opinions and by twisting the meaning of one or two verses. Read your Bible and not your heart for I fear it is dark and foolish!

I read your article on Focus on the Family with interest. Your arguments are well formed and intelligently communicated - but I take issue with you on coming to the conclusion you do. Having seen the link to the article on abortion, I also read this. Another well crafted argument, but in this case you use your title hypothesis to prove that you mustn't draw conclusions in this way. An excellent article, and one which I support thoroughly. In fact you have documented the way that I have been thinking for some time - only better! However, using your abortion argument the result has to be that you refuse to come to a conclusion about Focus on the Family surely? By all means get people thinking critically about the organisation instead of swallowing it wholesale, but I think you should avoid the conclusion. Incidentally, I have similar feelings about the Anglican church in the UK (our version of Episcopalean). It provides an easy, sanitised form of religion for people, and thereby protects them from the real thing, rather like a measles vaccination. Not a problem if we think critically about the organisation instead of accepting it wholesale. But we don't! Which is why I appreciate what I have read of your writings. Thanks, and keep up the good work!

You know everyone is entitled to thier own view, especially in this country. But what your getting out of your bible, compared to what I'am getting out of my bible, I really just cannot fathom the contrast. John the baptist as a baby, or fetus if you prefer, recongnized the still developing saviour while they were still both inside of thier mothers. I will pray for you to even think that the sanctity of life could be explained away by a humanistic few of scripture. Pray to God man, and let him fill your spirit. As Jesus said: Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Matthew 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Matthew 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Matthew 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Don't get caught in the wide gate brother!

I love you, you are GREAT! finally, someone who has written what I with my 140 plus iq and ba in religion and perpective could not. god bless you

I took a look at some of your writings, and I am impressed. I thought I was the only one with a great flair for sarcasm. I thoroughly enjoyed the humor, have you thought about writing professionally for comedy? With so many sick things going on in the world, it is refressing to know that some people still appreciate the type of humor that inverts reality to make a point. Many people get angry at me for trying to use this type of humor. I hope you have luck with it, it always gets me in trouble!

Hello Brian I've recently read some of your writings about "Focus on the Family" and abortion, and just have to note a couple of things to you. Regarding Focus, I'm an occasional listener and really haven't noted the things that you accuse them of. Your article just doesn't have a whole lot of evidence to back up your accusations; no quotes of Dobson glorifying himself instead of Christ, etc.. Even if the presentation is subtle, like you assert, you should be able to do much better than what you've done in terms of evidence. Should you do so, I would love to read what you have to say. However, I just don't see the evidence in Focus newsletters and radio shows, and the lack of evidence presented by you is less than convincing. Regarding your views on abortion, I have to point out that, in the passages you quote, it is the dead person (unborn or old) who is blessed, not anyone who takes that life. You have done exactly what you accuse pro-life activists of doing; taking the verse out of context and misinterpreting it. The one who takes a human life is spoken to by Genesis 1:27; "and God created them in His own image." The text goes on, especially with Cain and Abel, to note that the shedding of human blood by a human hand is offensive to God. Now, granted, the Bible doesn't specifically address abortion, probably because such an act was unthinkable to a population that equated progeny with a blessing by God. The Mosaic law does address the case of a pregnant woman who miscarries after being struck, but that's about it. However, in light of the passages in Psalms and Jeremiah which point out that God has intimate knowledge of the fetus (Latin for "child," I believe), it's not a stretch at all to assume that there is some essential humanity in the preborn child. As such, I would argue that abortion is offensive to God for the simple reason that you're destroying something that's made in His image. Yes, that child *does* get to be with God in Heaven as far as I can tell/guess, but the blessing on the child of Heaven does not translate into a blessing on the killer. As such, I'd personally recommend that you rewrite these ( and probably other ) passages to contain a little bit more evidence and a little bit less bluster. shalom

I read with great distress your articles about abortion and Focus On the Family. What turned you into such a cynic? What did Focus On the Family ever do to you except speak the Truth about God and Christ and Biblical principals? Instead of supporting your claim that FotF is "of the devil" with facts, you spout bitterness and resentment indicative of some personal battle you have with them and their philosophy. It seems that there must be some painful wounding in your life that has caused you to turn to cynicism and spout hatred. As for the abortion article, again you do not support you thesis with facts. You are guilty of the same error you accuse Pro-lifers of, namely, taking a few verses out of context to support your opinion. Life is precious. Who is to say when life begins? You either believe life begins at conception and that each and every life is precious in the sight of our heavenly Father or you don't. But are you to be the judge? Is it not better to err on the side of conservatism, in believing that since there must be a beginning to life, that that life begins at conception rather than at some point decided arbitrarily by some judge? There are moral absolutes, and there will be a day of reckoning. I prefer to stand on the side of life, whether in the womb or out, whether old or young. I hope that you will allow the Lord to heal whatever pain has caused you to be so full of bitterness and close-minded. God bless you with His grace and mercy.

Hello Elroy! You shall never murder.

I congratulate you on knowing everything that God intended the Bible to be. It must really be an asset to know what every word and phrase of the Bible means. You are to be congratulated for helping everyone see that the LORD has made himself known to you alone. I just want to say that please understand the context of messages. You do realize that in Ecclesiastes the whole theme of the book is that life is meaningless unless it is life for GOD. Also Psalms was written in a time much different than ours. The most important part of the Bible is the many parts showing and telling us that Jesus's blood was shed to take away our sins, and no matter how bad we are, he will still forgive us. According to the Bible (I'm sure you already know this) anything that you do that causes your brother to sin is a sin. It also states that "anything not based on faith is sin" Your message of righteousness and wisdom is violating both of these passages. You are causing others to doubt their faith. I am not saying that all churches are good. I am just saying that you need to understand what the WORD really means, not what you think it means.

Well, I have spent a little time reading your letters on the net about Christianity, Focus on the Family, and abortion. I must say what I read was one of the most pathetic arguments that I have ever heard. You attack Focus on the Family with an absurd story that has NO basis in reality...and if it does, I would venture to say that what hurt the individual discussed is the pride in his life. When one cannot admit one's own sin to a fellow brother, it is not because Focus on the Family has been showing people how to live. It is because he has pride in his life and cannot let others know what is in his own life. I know this because when I allow myself to think in the same way it is pride rearing its ugly head in my life. I don't even know what else to say simply because your statement about Focus on the Family is truly one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. That is until I read your writing on abortion which actually tried to argue that abortion is Biblical. You know something...I could use the Bible to defeat your argument, but I don't even need to do that. Sir, if you could just use a little logic for once and check out the Constitution and maybe a dictionary. Look at an older dictionary though because the definition of life has been changed to benefit the political prowess of a bunch of fools. Life is defined as a cell or group of cells that are growing maturing and reproducing. Gee, I wonder if you know anything about biology. If I remember correctly, that is exactly how each one of us started off in this world. The sperm and egg come together to form one cell which quickly begins to reproduce and becomes two cells, and then four, and so on. By the way, the current definition of life is very interesting. It has been changed to define life as the period from birth until death. Neat how they can change a definition to fit their agenda. Ok, now that we know how life is defined we can then look to the Constitution and see that each individual is guaranteed the right to LIFE, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, and none can be taken away without due process. Hmmmmmm.....wow, I just gave you a completely logical and scientific reason why abortion should not be permitted. It is a life and women along with men have NO right to take that life when it is conceived. You can disagree and argue with this as much as you would like, but it is Truth and you cannot overcome that no matter how much you debate it. I have also wondered lately. If a woman can terminate the life within her, why can she not simply let the fetus die once it is born. She could simply leave it alone and let it fend for itself--its not her problem anymore. Isn't that one of your great arguments that it is dependent upon her, and therefore part of her body? Well, once it is out of her body she should not be responsible for taking care and providing for this being. Now it is not even apart of her body. GASP...ah yes, that is called neglect and it is wrong because she and the father are responsible for that child. I submit that she is also responsible for that child when it is in the womb--for protecting and helping the child to grow healthy and safe just as she is responsible for that child when it is born. Argue with me all you like. Any argument you develop cannot possibly stand up to the truth or to logic. By the way, I really enjoyed how you took a couple of verses and turned them into a doctrine supporting abortion. It was quite humorous. Enjoy your day,

What about the scripture That states that the Lord hates hands that shed innocent blood. If the fetus doesn't represent innocent blood, I don't know what does. As far as weather a fetus is "human or not" the dna present in the preborn is no different than after a baby's birth, it's only a question of how developed that dna is. The truth is that even in 1st timester abortion that "blob of tissue already has a beating heart, brain waves and a unique personhood that will never again be replicated. Also there are many old testament references to the false god Molech that required child sacrifice. Our present system of abortion glorifies Molech under the name of "choice". You sound to me as being very set in your beliefs on this issue and that is unfortunate, might I suggest that you spend some time studying fetal development to see if you still hold the same opinion. sincerely,

Dear Mr. McKinley, I am a Bible believing Christian from Riverside, California and I recently stumbled onto your articles. First, I want to say I am disgusted. I read your article on abortion and I cannot believe you would even attempt to say that the Bible endorses abortion. The scriptures you stated were completely out of context and do not support abortion in any way. I don't know if you are a Christian but I would ask if you are going to make these claims, please don't do it in the name of Christ. It is a mockery. I also did not understand your article on "Focus on the Family." This is a great organization that is committed to standing for high (Biblical) morals and values. I have not read all your articles as thoroughly as I would like to and I will E-mail you after I have done so. Sincerely,

Dear Elroy, Hello. My name is Joel and I am a student at the Benedictine College. I found your pages while looking up information on abortion. It is really nice to see someone who actually had some basis for their beliefs and actually tries to get people to "see the truth" in your arguements. See, I have the assignment of writing a paper on the ethics of abortion, particularly partial-birth abortion. I thought I may be able to find some info on the Net and I did. I really liked your pages and I plan to use some of them in my paper. I have to give both sides and I have to pick the side with the strongest arguement. I am going to have a hard time finding a stronger arguement that is Pro-Life. Your articles are well thought out and very convincing. Your arguements and ones like it from the Net, will definitely make my paper a very good ethical paper and I just wanted to thank you for putting an article out that is reasonable and useful at the same time. The trouble with both sides of the issue is that people are always flavoring the issue to their side. That makes objective discovery and learning very difficult. I really don't think there would be nearly the arguements with the issue if everyone was as objective and reasonable as your article was. Sincerely,

Just thought I'd write you a little short comment about your statement. I agree totally about what you are saying in your page. God did give us a choice to chose what we want to do. Another words he gave us a free will A free will to choose what we think is best for ourselves. If i recall correctly he said he gave us up to our own selfish desires. To do what we please, in our minds. I remember a chorus in a song that says something to the effect that men now a days do what they think is right in their own minds. So talking about abortion I do not agree with this issue. But I can not enforce my ideas and beliefs on someone that maybe does not want to hear it. The only thing we can do is tell them and we have done our jobs. Just like i can't make a women or girl in that fact have a baby if she is not ready to take care of the child. We would be doing an injustice by bringing the child into this cruel world!! Either way we are doing a injustice to the unborn or born child. If the women has the baby and can't support it and it eventually dies. What have we done? Either way the poor child is resting in Gods arms. So therefore, the women have the choice to do what they please. There is always consequences. In both instance. If she has hte baby then she the job of taking care of the baby. If not then it will weigh on her mind forever. Always something you have to face in each decision making answer. So let the women of this world choose what they want to do. Let us just pray for them!!!!!

Elroy, The point that verses can be taken out of context and be made to support or condemn abortion *per se* when they don't, is valid. I believe your exegesis is ridiculous, especially arguing a 'quality of life' view, but the point is made. But aside from this, I believe you make two serious errors. The first is that you put the onus on others to prove that a 'fetus' (a strictly taxonomic term that as used already begs the issues)is a human life. How could someone do this? Until now I have not even heard the argument that a 'fetus' is not a human life (but I don't follow the debate). The argument is usually that a 'fetus' is not a *person*. To me, how one could prove that the beginning of human life (and I don't think this is assuming too much) is human life, is inscrutable. The bible doesn't condemn or support *abortion* per se, but it does condemn the taking of human life, especially the life of the poor, the weak, the defenseless, and the needy (omitting abortion per se). I believe you have simply become totally confused between the perfectly valid action of calling into question the self-righteous, pharisaical pronouncements of a 'Christian culture', and its self-justifying distortions of scripture, and any clear testimony scripture may have here, when you say: "I will stop short of making the claim that the Bible condemns or supports abortion at all. It does neither. The condemning and supporting comes not from the words of the Bible but from leaders within our Culture of Christianity who use verses out of context to support their views." I agree that this article is a disgrace, and that you should remove it and post a public apology. With this article, I believe you have *thoroughly* discredited and publicly disgraced yourself, and that you should stop writing until you seek God's will for yourself in prayer. Perhaps he will reinstate you as a more perfect vessel. Perhaps not. Christians can be quick to send their armies to kill to defend their comforts in the name of just war. Their defense of 'human life' can be hypocritical. It is easy to tell someone else to raise a child that you won't have to, and in conditions that you don't have to live in (ignoring adoption). But in my view, maintaining that the bible does not condemn or support abortion one way or the other is corrupt. May we ever seek the mind of the Spirit.

I will not choose to call you names or act in a defamatory manner, but I must say that your so called "view", which you are entitled to, on the matter of abortion is completely disgraceful to the Christian faith. All you are doing is trying to turn our own fellow believers from the truth. I hope and pray that you will take a look at your true intent with this article and find out if it is driven by God or Satan. The one true and very important fact that you failed to consider is that our life belongs to that of our maker, being God, and we have no right to decide which of us lives. I would imagine that if you take this stance on abortion then you must also believe that if a child is known to have defects in the womb then they too should be aborted, is that true? If God feels like a life should be terminated before birth he will act according to his will, as we have seen so often with miscarriages. That baby in the womb is not the property of the mother first, he or she is the property of God first and therefore the mother has no right to do as she pleases. This is why the Christian faith believes so strongly against abortion. Sure we can quote scripture till we are blue in the face, but a non-believer sees scripture as nothing than a book. But the mere fact that we are the property of God first should show you that we have no right to judge who lives and who does not. Please consider removing your abortion article and in the future try not to look down on those that are trying to further the work of the Kingdom in the manner that they feel led such as "Focus on the Family." Who are you to create slander against these people of God. It also might help for you to spend a little more time in the New Testament and follow the teachings of the Jesus Christ, but I'm sure you would probably find fault in his teachings as well. A Concerned Christian

Unfortunately I have to get the day started here at work, but I just wanted to take a second to say that you are making the same mistake that you are complaining about. You are taking a couple of phrases and saying that killing the unborn is biblical. If you take the bible as a whole, it praises life. Life is the gift of God. I need to reread the parts you mentioned (Ecclesiastes and Job), but my gut feeling is that these verses are not to justify abortion but to show that a wasted life is no better than a life that was never lived. You remind me of a good friend, who belived that because a person might have a bad (hard) life that it was better for them not to be born. Well, no one ever said life was easy, in fact the bible shows that life is hard (even in the verses you mentioned). Needless to say that Jessus' life was harder than any that has ever lived, but if he had not lived (and Harod did try to have him aborted) then the entire world would have been lost. Look forward to your response. I will be reviewing some of your other pages as time permits. May God Bless You in your walk.

Mr. McKinley: I read your two articles about "Focus on the Family" and about Abortion, and, to put it simply, you are a grade-A IDIOT. Your interpretations of Scripture are some of the worst I have ever seen, and the entire inflamatory nature of your articles rates them as nothing short of Hate-Speech. Do the cause of Christ a favor and pull this garbage off the Internet. Don't you see that you are giving the enemies of God and His Truth fodder for their attacks? I pray for you, and I sincerely hope that you yourself have truly found Christ as your Savior; He obviously still has work to do on your weak mind, as He does on areas in my own life where I fall way short. But really, enough with this trash already. Please do remove it; it's a disgrace to the Name of Christ and all who find comfort there. Thanks.

I thought to send a list of things to try to tell you of your errors, = but decided you think you know all, when in reality, you know nothing. I = myself see the errors of Focus on the family and do not agree totally = with their views, but of your article on abortion being of God, all I = can say, God's mercy to you on judgement day for the air of persuasion = (or at least your ideas). Some do not take but a slight breeze but to = push in one direction. I shall pray that this particular article will be = unable to help Satan's cause...Please reconsider your ideas, for surely = God will not take this lightly.

Enjoyed your home page a lot. Recommend you have a look at ours - particularly the section titled "not so spiritual topics". We have a long essay on abortion. If you are going to expand your hope page, I recommend that you try to deal with sex. A great deal of the material that you hear on Evangelical Christian TV and radio, and on Family News is Focus relates to human sexuality. Yet I can only remember Jesus being quoted once on the topic: when he told the woman adulterer to go and sin no more. IMHO, the hatred exhibited by conservative elements within Christianity is the greatest foe of the great commission. People are unwilling to listen to the Gospel; the actions of the Christian Church against minorities speaks so loudly that a non-Christian often cannot hear the message. I was distressed at Focus' handling of the D&X abortions. Dr. Dobson seemed to imply that when a brain researcher ran out of material to research, he would stroll into the nearest delivery room, and as the attending physician to please do a D&X on the next available partly delivered healthy fetus so that some brain material could be made available. I was also distressed this week when I heard of people involved in healthy, loving courtships and engagements, avoiding sexual activity with their committed partners at all costs, in order to meet God's perceived will. I wonder what God's will really was for them! Regards,

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Brian Elroy McKinley
el@elroy.com