The world being round and the existence of different countries, cultures, religion, political stands and affiliates in itself presents different ideologies, ideas and also opinions, having this in mind, this paper will tackle two critical issues that are considered controversial by some religious groups in America today i.e. abortion and same sex marriages and the reasons why they are considered controversial.
Abortion can be simply be defined as the deliberate termination of a pregnancy and currently in America is considered legal though decided and governed state by state as to when it can be performed or not or the circumstances that warranty an abortion. Earlier on in America in the twentieth century abortion in itself was used as a political tool where those that were opposed to abortion gained political mileage, (the democratic primary for the United States Senate in Minnesota and the general election for the senate in Iowa pro-choice candidates were narrowly defeated by candidates promising to outlaw abortion, (Butler. J Pg. 375)
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Abortion has been considered controversial by religious groups because on the issue of morality as to whether is ethical to terminate a pregnancy and has further been compounded by the two groups that exist towards abortion, that is the pro-choice movements who insist it is the right of the woman to choose whether they want to terminate a pregnancy or not and the second group the pro-life or anti-abortion whom believe that it is the government or the law that should instead come up with laws that restrict abortion or decide whether to accept the termination of a pregnancy based on the health of the mother and who in turn believe that life starts at conception and that after conception the embryo has human rights. Though religious groups would want to quote the bible there is no specific chapter or verse that condemns the act of abortion but the verse that can best be used to support the argument against abortion is (Matthew 26:24: "...but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born."). (This verse states that it would have been better for any person who betrayed Jesus if he had never been born. The verse might be interpreted as meaning that a terminated pregnancy might be better than a completed pregnancy, if the child's life would be miserable). (www.religioustolerance.org).
Religious groups have Recently came up with ways to combat the issue of abortion which include firstly the use of contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies although the roman catholic is against the use of such methods and do believe in the natural process of the sexual act which doesn’t involve the use of pills or modern methods to avoid pregnancy, secondly is through sexual education in terms of teaching and advising the teens through seminars and workshops before they are sexually active to abstain from sex till marriage and finally is the use of the media and the internet to pass information such as coming up with websites that has information concerning abortion those that support abortion having information on how safe to practice it and those that are against it by providing information on how to prevent any unwanted pregnancies that might lead to abortion.
Same sex marriages can be simplified, as the marriage between two people of the same sex that is a man and a man, a woman and a woman, in another term gay marriage. Same sex marriage in America is legal in other states for example Iowa, New York, Maine, Maryland, Washington, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire while illegal in other states a controversy in itself because it is seen as one can move to another state that accepts and recognizes gay marriages to get married something many people disagree with. Religious groups have stirred controversies over same sex marriages on grounds that firstly it goes against the word of God and the biblical teachings since the bible states that God created man and woman so they will be joined in union and not man and man or woman and woman, secondly is a matter of parenting where they believe that children grow and develop strong ethical and good behavioral background when raised in a family that has a mother and father and not a gay partnership and finally is that by allowing same sex marriages it will mean that the different religious institutions and social amenities would have to change their set ups to accommodate the same sex partners for example setting up rooms in campuses and hotels that accommodate the same sex partners and also the church having to decide whether to marry or wed them in churches or not and whether to accept them as a legitimate union.
In order to combat this issue in America religious groups have decided not to enter into talks with the different laws of the government of the states that are legalizing the same sex unions in an attempt to accommodate them in their institutions, preaching against the type of unions in their churches so as to try and change the mentality of the people and are also coming up with websites like God in America where people can get to read more about the biblical teachings on issues.
In conclusion abortion and same sex marriages are very controversial issues on the religious end of it but just as there are different religious groups from Christians to Hinduism to Buddhism so are the different opinions concerning the two issues.