Day 619, Religious Dogma and the Constitution
Religious fundamentalists object to Roe v Wade.
Republicans think that’s the reason that the Donald made
Brett Kavanaugh his nominee for this Supreme Court seat.
Now, will his drinking and belligerence cause his defeat?
When Catholic dogma and the Constitution disagree,
Then, to assure that we don’t sink into theocracy,
The Justices must all agree the Constitution wins.
For, if they don’t, the slide to a theocracy begins.
The Constitution starts with, “We the People…” not with God.
But lots of red state voters think this part of it is flawed.
They think that God gave us our laws, like Moses on the Mount,
Which human laws can’t supercede; in conflicts, they don’t count.
It’s true the Bible doesn’t grant a woman’s right to choose
But causing a miscarriage was not murder to the Jews. (1)
Though, if that pregnant woman’s injured, you take life for life, (2)
A fine for your lost fetus, life for life if it’s your wife.
In 1588, the Pope said killing embryos
Was murder in all cases. (3) Hence, our disagreement grows.
The Bible doesn’t say that but, if it’s the Word of God,
That ruling by Pope Sixtus should strike us as overbroad.
But Faith is powerful and it’s immune to evidence.
The law, however isn’t. (Hence, the tension that we sense.)
Still, faith affects our judges: right wing, left wing, inborn traits?
The same facts processed differently, the problem faith creates.
The Constitution, as amended, governs all the land.
The Bible governs some and when believers take a stand
Demanding overturning Roe v Wade by a new court,
Don’t look to Scripture or the Constitution for support.
- Exodus 21: 22.
- Exodus 21: 23-25. These verses in the Bible clearly derive from previous Middle Eastern codes of Ur Nammu (2047-2030 BCE) and Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE.) Such concepts of the relative value of a fetus had been common law in the ancient Middle East for a thousand years before the Hebrews probably wrote them down.
- Pope Sixtus V, 1588, Effraenatam, All abortion is murder. Overturned by Pope Gregory XIV, 1590. Reinstated by Pope Pius IX, 1869.