Pod Only Knows - #3.6 - The Bible and Abortion - with Jess Collins and Mike Manzi

#3.6 - The Bible and Abortion - with Jess Collins and Mike Manzi

Explicit content warning

07/04/22 • 77 min

1 Listener

Pod Only Knows

What does the Bible say about abortion?

Well, if you're supposed to be living in a free, secular democracy, it shouldn't matter. And yet here we are, in the year 2022, in a supposed free, secular democracy, and somehow it does.

The short answer is this - the Bible does not teach life begins at conception (or rather it specifically teaches that it does not begin at conception) and has nothing to say about restricting abortions. The long answer is even more complicated and interesting, and so John explained it to frequent HTB guests, Jess Collins and Mike Manzi.

Resources for helping others in need of abortion care and learning more about your own options:

abortion.cafe - collection of abortion resources
shoutyourabortion.com - campaign to normalize abortion
donations4abortion.com - donate to support abortion funds by state
secure.actblue.com/donate/supportabortionfunds - donate to the national network of abortion funds (donations split between 80+ abortion funds)
usow.org/repro/volunteer - list of abortion clinics across the country that need volunteers
dontbanequality.com - language for companies to use to stand against the ruling
plancpills.org/ambassadors - early abortion access pills you can store in your cabinet
prochoice.org - abortion access hotline
natalist.com/products/early-pregnancy-test-strips - buy early pregnancy test strips
plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control - get info on types of birth control
choice.crd.co - collection of these above links and more, managed by @starplanes (DM them on twitter to add more)
guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/abortion-policy-absence-roe - abortion policy by state as of June 1, 2022

What does the Bible say about abortion?

Well, if you're supposed to be living in a free, secular democracy, it shouldn't matter. And yet here we are, in the year 2022, in a supposed free, secular democracy, and somehow it does.

Resources for helping others in need of abortion care and learning more about your own options:

abortion.cafe - collection of abortion resources
shoutyourabortion.com - campaign to normalize abortion
donations4abortion.com - donate to support abortion funds by state
secure.actblue.com/donate/supportabortionfunds - donate to the national network of abortion funds (donations split between 80+ abortion funds)
usow.org/repro/volunteer - list of abortion clinics across the country that need volunteers
dontbanequality.com - language for companies to use to stand against the ruling
plancpills.org/ambassadors - early abortion access pills you can store in your cabinet
prochoice.org - abortion access hotline
natalist.com/products/early-pregnancy-test-strips - buy early pregnancy test strips
plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control - get info on types of birth control
choice.crd.co - collection of these above links and more, managed by @starplanes (DM them on twitter to add more)
guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/abortion-policy-absence-roe - abortion policy by state as of June 1, 2022

Previous Episode

#3.5 - Rolling Stone's Alex Morris: On how we go to the end of Roe (and what happens next)

Rolling Stone senior writer Alex Morris returns to the show to talk to John about the impending decision to overturn Roe (which may well have been handed down by the time this episode releases).

Morris has written extensively about the American evangelical movement and the conservative movement, and her work as also looked at they way those two forces have combined to stage an assault on reproductive rights.

To her, the end of Roe comes as no surprise, but how and why, exactly, American evangelicals were able to play a successful long game to overturn Roe and begin chipping away at abortion, reproductive, and LGBTQ+ rights may not be as clear.

She and John discussed some of the misconceptions about the religious angle, the key players, the success of propaganda campaigns, and why in taking on a new fight it is essential to know what the real obstacles are.

Links to Alex's work can be found at her website: alexmorris.net

You can find her on Twitter at @AlexMorrisNY

Next Episode

#3.7 - The Georgia Guidestones (RIP)

As of July 6th, 2022, the Georgia Guidestones are, alas, for now, no more.

The weirdly aesthetically pleasing, mysterious, and ultimately just bizarre landmark that became northeast Georgia's biggest tourist attraction quickly became a flashpoint for conspiracy theorists and just run-of-the-mill Satanic Panickers since their creation in 1980.

But sometimes around 4 AM on July 6th, an explosion destroyed one of the stones, and the remaining stones were torn down over safety concerns.

Were they intended as advice for the human who survive the inevitable (by 1980s logic) nuclear holocaust and/or population bomb? Or maybe the 10 Commandments of the Anti-Christ? Were they - as Alex Jones believes - an act of hubris from the New World Order, funded by Ted Turner, openly announcing their plans for global depopulation? Or were they a prank?

John promised Jess Collins, who visited the Guidestones a year ago, he'd do a show about the Guidestones, and this seemed like the right time. They explore the clues that may reveal the true identity of their pseudonymous creator, "R. C. Christian", discuss the lasting appeal of this weird landmark, its strange religious elements, and ask whether the Guidestones will rise again.