VastLeft (you gotta love him!) has a new blog, Bible Study for Atheists. As an atheist, I thought I'd hate it but I visited it (out of courtesy, I guess). At first, there was that "there ain't nothing new here" feeling. I've avoided the bible for years—same old/same old… BUT—

—while reading Genesis, chapter 2, I saw something interesting! I went back and read chapter one again, reread chapter 2… OMG! Eureka!

Check this out:

7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

On the subject of abortion, the fundies maintain that the fetus has a soul from conception.

But Adam doesn't have one until "god breathed life into his nostrils".

And I believe that abortion before the 16th week is acceptable, as the fetus cannot survive outside the uterus. It cannot breathe because its lungs are not developed enough, no matter how advanced our medical procedures.

I've heard that the only other place in the bible where an unborn baby is mentioned is in the context of "quickening", the movement felt by pregnant women. At this point, if birthed, the infant may survive if superior medical help is available. Otherwise, it's just a miscarriage (spontaneous abortion, in medicalese).

(I know this because I was a nurse in a previous life. Under my supervision were two newborn nurseries, two isolation nurseries and an ICU for premies. The smallest baby that I cared for that went home to the mother was 2 pounds 2 ounces at birth. The smallest premie was, at birth, 1 pound, 8 ounces; it only lived for 30 hours…)

Can we use this to stifle the pro-ban chatter and activism? The pro-ban terrorism?

Naomi