You’re Not a Human Being Until You Can Speak

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When does a person become a human being? I’ll get back to this question in a moment.

As I was researching material for this article I came across an article about the co-creator of The Simpsons, Sam Simon (1955-2015).

“Back in 2012, Sam Simon — best known as one of the creators of The Simpsons — was told he had terminal colon cancer and only three to six months to live. Since then, he’s been preparing to give away his entire fortune to the causes that matter most to him.”

Simon was worth $100 million. And what are some of the organizations that Simon will be donating his fortune? PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and other animal rights causes.

Pushing the Antithesis

Prior to his untimely death in 1995, Dr. Bahnsen delivered a series of lectures on apologetics at American Vision’s Life Preparation Conference. These lectures are rare in that they are some of the only video presentations of Dr. Bahnsen’s teachings. The week-long sessions, presented before high school and college students, set forth the basics of the Christian worldview and the biblical approach to defending the faith. These lessons have been distilled and turned into a one-of-a kind handbook on apologetics.

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Articles about Simon’s generosity are everywhere. He’s being praised for his good work in these areas. In an interview with NBC’s Maria Shriver, Simon said the following about his motivation:

“‘A lot of it is selfish,’ he said of his reasoning with a laugh. ‘I get to watch these animals that have been in concrete bunkers their whole life, I get to watch them take their first steps on grass, I get to fly my friends out.’

“His passion is motivated, he said, by those animals that can feel and think but ‘can’t speak for themselves.’

“‘They’re dependent on us for that and so I feel that it’s my responsibility to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves,’ he said.”

It’s his money, and he could do what he wants with it. Personally, I don’t get it, but I’ll leave this part of the story to others to discuss and debate.

What I found fascinating is Simon’s reasoning, that these animals “can’t speak for themselves,” and they are “dependent on us.”

Now we come to actress Ellen Barkin. Barkin has not had an illustrious career in Hollywood, but Wikipedia reports that “Barkin is an outspoken Twitter user.”

[She came] under scrutiny in August 2012 when she retweeted the message of one of her followers that read: ‘C’mon #Isaac! Wash every pro-life, anti-education, anti-woman, xenophobic, gay-bashing, racist SOB right into the ocean! #RNC’ [I’m guessing that RNC means Republican National Convention.] She did not express any disagreement in her retweet. Barkin has also stated on Twitter that she is an atheist.

It’s all starting to make sense about this report on a recent Tweet Barkin made about abortion:

“Actress and abortion absolutist Ellen Barkin took to Twitter Nov. 1 [2014] to declare when life begins. (She’s not a scientist, but maybe she played one on TV once.) According to Barkin, fetuses, babies and infants are not ‘persons’ because they ‘cannot talk.’ A Tony and Emmy award winner, Barkin has boasted roles in movies including, ‘The Big Easy,’ ‘Sea of Love,’ ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’ and ‘Very Good Girls.’

“‘News flash … a fetus cannot talk,’ Barkin tweeted. ‘It is not a person. Not even a baby, not even an infant. Nope. Sorry.’”

According to Simon, animals deserve $100 million because they “can’t speak for themselves” and “we must speak for them,” but according to Barkin, unborn babies who can’t speak for themselves should be flushed down the toilet. Animals would never consider abortion.

I’m glad Barkin wasn’t Helen Keller’s mother. I’m sure Helen was also glad. Peter Singer, professor for Human Values at Princeton University, promotes the idea that parents should have up to 28 days to determine if they want to kill their child if he or she is born disabled. What if a child is disabled at one year? Helen Keller contracted an illness when she was not quite two years old that left her blind and deaf. She was obviously disabled.

Why It Might Be OK to Eat Your Neighbor

The most damning assessment of a matter-only cosmos devoid of a Creator is that we got to this place in our evolutionary history by acts of violence whereby the strong conquered the weak with no one to support or condemn them. Why It Might Be OK to Eat Your Neighbor repeatedly raises the issue of accounting for the conscience, good and evil, and loving our neighbor. It’s shocking to read what atheists say about a cosmos devoid of meaning and morality.

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The pro-abortion argument has always been that a woman has a right to do what she wants with her own body. It’s true. A woman does have a right to do what she wants with her own body if it is only her body. She can tattoo it. Pierce it. Remove her sexual organs. She can even kill herself. Why? Because it’s her body. But she could never do the same to her child, because her child has “body autonomy.” Why is the unborn baby denied “body autonomy” for nine months but gains it at nine months and a minute?

American Vision’s mission is to Restore America to its Biblical Foundation—from Genesis to Revelation. American Vision (AV) has been at the heart of worldview study since 1978, providing resources to exhort Christian families and individuals to live by a Biblically based worldview. Visit www.AmericanVision.org for more information, content and resources