Human Being or Human Person?

In my Bioethics class we talked about abortion today. We talked about what a worldly view of it can be and what a Christian view can and should be. One thing that really stuck out in my mind was that a professor, Peter Singer, at one of our nations most esteemed University's believes that a human being doesn't become a person until they can reason and be self-aware. This concerns me because he thinks that it is not wrong to terminate the life of anyone who is not a "person" as he defines one. This could be an infant up to a month old, or even an elderly person who has lost their reasoning mental capacity. He makes a distinction between a human being and a human person. Does not this human being still have worth in God's eyes?



My grandma is elderly and nearing the end of her life. She has virtually no short term memory. Her memory is so bad in fact, that when she raises a glass to her mouth, she forgets why she did that and it takes her a very long time to take the drink. Is she less a person now that she can't remember well? Peter Singer might argue yes...although, he did NOT euthanize his own mother when she had alzheimer's disease. It's different when it's someone you love I guess.



As long as God gives breath, we shall live.



Psalm 139:13-14 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."



I would have to agree with Dave Gushee when he said today when quoting some other author (I forgot who) that "any distinction between human beings and human persons is disastrous."