Minoosh
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2011
- Messages
- 12,772
It takes a bit to set this up. I listen to a conservative, evangelical Christian radio personality named Dave Ramsey. He gives financial advice to fans who call in. He makes it a point to discuss religious beliefs as they relate to financial matters.
Recently a 35-year-old woman, who had one child by in vitro fertilization, asked Ramsey about going into debt to try for another round of IVF treatments. He said he hated the idea of going into debt for it, and proposed waiting a year to save the money. That was the only concern he expressed.
It didn't occur to me until later that IVF generally seeks to create multiple fertilized eggs, then grade the zygotes to pick the best 2 or 3. I got to wondering how this affects the view of "life begins at conception."
In researching around I found quite a few opinions on the subject. The Catholic Church is against it, period. One or two prominent evangelicals are against it on principle, mainly the "life begins at conception" principle. On certain Christian blogs, myriad other evangelicals bring up certain other objections, and in my mind, they curiously downplay what I thought would be the main objection: Destruction of surplus zygotes.
One woman had a handy rationalization: It's not a life until it is implanted in the womb. There was a lot of talk about seeking guidance from God through prayer. "God made IVF technology" was another one. There were practical suggestions such as freezing eggs so they could be fertilized two at a time later.
The other objections seemed like a smokescreen to me, saying the technology interfered with the "one flesh" doctrine; that babies should be made only through God's time-honored process of two loving Christian spouses doing the sacred conjugal act; etc. Surprisingly little was said about the destruction of zygotes. It all seemed like a lot of hemming and hawing and saying, seek God's guidance, then go with your heart.
This makes me wonder if there has been any softening of the position on stem cell research. It sure sounded like it. If an evangelical Christian wanting IVF could be assured that her extra embryos would be, in the very early stages, treated respectfully and that their lives would have meaning by contributing to lifesaving or life-altering treatments, why not?
ETA: I find that I have posted something very similar on another thread. I'm not trying to sneakily bump that thread - I didn't remember I had posted that!
Recently a 35-year-old woman, who had one child by in vitro fertilization, asked Ramsey about going into debt to try for another round of IVF treatments. He said he hated the idea of going into debt for it, and proposed waiting a year to save the money. That was the only concern he expressed.
It didn't occur to me until later that IVF generally seeks to create multiple fertilized eggs, then grade the zygotes to pick the best 2 or 3. I got to wondering how this affects the view of "life begins at conception."
In researching around I found quite a few opinions on the subject. The Catholic Church is against it, period. One or two prominent evangelicals are against it on principle, mainly the "life begins at conception" principle. On certain Christian blogs, myriad other evangelicals bring up certain other objections, and in my mind, they curiously downplay what I thought would be the main objection: Destruction of surplus zygotes.
One woman had a handy rationalization: It's not a life until it is implanted in the womb. There was a lot of talk about seeking guidance from God through prayer. "God made IVF technology" was another one. There were practical suggestions such as freezing eggs so they could be fertilized two at a time later.
The other objections seemed like a smokescreen to me, saying the technology interfered with the "one flesh" doctrine; that babies should be made only through God's time-honored process of two loving Christian spouses doing the sacred conjugal act; etc. Surprisingly little was said about the destruction of zygotes. It all seemed like a lot of hemming and hawing and saying, seek God's guidance, then go with your heart.
This makes me wonder if there has been any softening of the position on stem cell research. It sure sounded like it. If an evangelical Christian wanting IVF could be assured that her extra embryos would be, in the very early stages, treated respectfully and that their lives would have meaning by contributing to lifesaving or life-altering treatments, why not?
ETA: I find that I have posted something very similar on another thread. I'm not trying to sneakily bump that thread - I didn't remember I had posted that!
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