M Everyone is convinced that their belief(s) are the correct ones but logically (the 2+2=4 argument) that cannot be correct.
The correct answer is the MormonsThere is always the possibility as well that NO ONE has it right
If you believe that an innocent human life is sacrosanct then you cannot under any circumstances conscience an abortion. That would be truth for me and, I assume, for anyone. I am forced to then conclude that if you believe otherwise, even with "exceptions" then you have made your own truth which isn't truth at all. If I am right and everyone else is wrong then there are a whole lot of people who believe that up is down and black is white...they are not properly in touch with reality and not capable of reasoning properly.
You begin with a assumption, that one believes innocent human life is sacrosanct. Lakoff wrote a whole book on instructing Liberals how to argue with Frames- sets of false assumptions - his entire philosophy is based on the idea that Government is like a parent, and if you accept that, then any number of other liberal assertions will, logically follow. Some fundamental assumptions (the American Govt was founded to be the Parent of its children subjects) can be easily challenged and dis-proven. Others, like your assertion that all innocent human life is sacrosanct, are taken more upon faith than on proof. A person who believes in situational exemptions, or simply that a fetus is a blob of cells is rejecting that assumption out of hand - in preference for their own assumptions. There is just one truth, but humans, of their nature, will perceive it unclearly and are severely limited in their information gathering and processing abilities. There is a reason C.S. Lewis used the term shadowlands- nor are all things laid before us a choice between good and evil.
This is fundamentally why we have an amendment protecting the freedom of Religion - the freedom to choose those basic assumptions for ourselves, and according to the dictates of our own conscience. A Baby of course, if its personhood is recognized becomes a complex and special case, because it can claim rights of its own - like the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - But if its mother is also in danger, MUST she lay down her life for the baby - a baby that will grow up without its mother? Some may be swayed by the idea than in a choice between the life of a mother and the life of a child (
assuming humans can accurately perceive when such a choice is before them) that choosing the live of the mother will allow MORE children to be born. Others believe it is unjust ( and perhaps dangerous ) to make a mother bear and care for a child that she did not elect to bring into this world the assumption being that sometimes, it really would be better to to never have been born. "They aren't All Wonderful lives" and Nasty, brutish and short is also an option. The perceived commandments of God, our own consciences, and practical considerations are all weighed in forming our assumptions.
The real difference is in how one deals with conflicting information and ideas. Is one open to the idea that their assumptions could be wrong and in adopting a new philosophy if they perceive that to be closer to the truth? Can they explain WHY they think they are right? Can they answer objections to their explanation of how they arrived at their conclusions. Are they, in short, interested in the truth at the potential expense of their own egos? Because that is how we must all approach the Truth and God; in the dark, with falls and bruises, and arms out stretched. Or do they sit in the dark like the dwarves, seeing only what they want to see, and totally uninterested in the truth, perhaps denying its very existence.
"Hey, hey. Don't be mean. There is no need to be mean, Because, No matter where you go, there you are."-Buckaroo Banzai.
I believe this is the basis for Christ's behavior toward the worst sinners. Were they willing to see the truth? Were they willing to repent? And fundamentally that is the question I have been wrestling with.. are liberals able to do this, or are they beyond the reach of all but God?