MovieChat Forums > Lake of Fire (2007) Discussion > Abortion should not be a religious issue

Abortion should not be a religious issue


Why couldn't the filmmakers find more people like the atheist pro-lifer to interview? He put forth his argument in such a collected manner, but the filmmakers gave him so little screen time. Figures.

Pro-lifers don't understand that they are mostly arguing with atheists/agnostics, and therefore quoting scripture is not going to affect them.

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Could it possibly be because they are pretty hard to find? In atheist circles, it's fairly rare to find them. Surely they exist. I thought the guy you're referring to made a bit of sense. But the people who are on the front lines are largely religious and base far too many of their ideals on a muddled interpretation of a vague bronze aged text.

I haven't seen any studies myself, so I'm open to correction. But how many people do you think take such a strict and idealistic opposition to abortion for other than religious reasons? Sadly, they are often also opposed to birth control and education. I would hope people who are opposed to abortion for secular reasons could also look rationally on those subjects. That would go a long way to having intelligent discourse.

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I personally believe, as an atheist, that what is growing inside is a creature with human dna- i dont see how it cant be seen as human- in it's own way. i mean, humans are constantly developing long after they are outside the womb.

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Thank you! That's what I was thinking about the entire time I was watching this. I don't think pro life should always be tied to religion. First off, people don't take them seriously because they feel that they are only pro life because of religion. Thus, atheists or people of other religions don't relate. But if pro lifers believe murder is wrong, they don't need to keep saying that God says it's wrong. They can say it is wrong themselves. I'm a pro lifer but I'm not christian and it annoys me whenever this stance is connected with that.

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And likewise I'm a believer up to a point but also a free thinker and when I debate with people on abortion I never mention the Bible; my views on abortion are quite separate from my spiritual beliefs. I know that some people claim that non-fundamentalist pro-lifers are hard to find, but if that is the case, why are there so many of us on the imdb's Lake of Fire discussion threads?

I think that the film in some ways damages the abortion debate by reinforcing some pro-choicers' beliefs that we're all a bunch of nutjobs and thus worth listening to the other side. And that's a shame because it's a complex issue and I think it is something we need to discuss with one another in an intelligent, rational manner. If the Bible is interfering with people's ability to see the other side, then, yes, leave it out of the debate and instead use as a starting point the medical facts and what we know (so far) of the socio-economic situations of the women most likely to have abortions. What changes in society are needed to make abortions less likely while still respecting the woman as an independent individual? Those are the kind of questions that need to be asked.

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