Why can't Christians say that parts of the Old Testament don't apply??..

[DeistPaladin]

@DP Exodus 21:22-25 give the penalties for one who causes a unborn baby to suffer or die. You sure did not search very hard.

Those verses would seem to support the idea that the unborn isn't alive. Let's study it closely, shall we?
Bold emphasis mine.

Ex 21:22-25 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

This first bold part is important. The verses suggest the scenario where men hit a pregnant woman causing her to miscarry. This is what "her fruit depart from her" means. A miscarriage is a natural abortion that occurs due to injury, illness or complications. So by the time we hit that comma after the phrase "fruit depart from her", we've established that the fetus is dead due to the men hitting the mother. Are you with me so far?

After the comma, and this is the important part here, we have the phrase "and yet no mischief follow". This, in more modern translations, comes out to mean "but no further harm is done".

So far, here's the scenario:

1. Men beat woman.
2. Woman miscarries. Fetus dead.
3. No further harm is done.

Under these conditions, what is the prescribed penalty? He pays a fine to the husband, presumably for his troubles and the assault on his property. Hm, pretty mild for murder, wouldn't you say? But wait, there's more. Read on.

"And if mischief follow" is another important milestone in this passage. It prescribes what is to happen IF further harm is done. Here, it suggests how her injuries are to be repaid in kind. If you burn her, you get burned. If you take her eye out in the process of beating, you get your eye taken out. If you kill her, and this is the important part, you get the death penalty.

Let me repeat that, the Bible says in this verse that murder is to be punished with the death penalty. Ergo, if the fetus were a living being, causing the miscarriage would be punished with death. No need for "eye for eye, burn for burn, stripe for stripe."

So let's review:

1. Men beat a pregnant woman who miscarries. Fetus is dead.
2. If no further harm is done, apart from the miscarriage that is, men pay fine to husband.
3. But if further harm is done, the men are punished in kind. Any death is punished by execution.
4. Evidently, contrasting 2 and 3, the fetus doesn't count as a living being, since its death warranted only a fine.
5. Ergo, the Bible does not recognize a fetus as a living being.

But wait, so many conservatives object at this point, the penalties prescribed are in reference to the damaged fetus. Eye for eye? Foot for foot? Stripe for stripe? Burn for burn? How many miscarriages result in such damage yet still produce a living baby?

There's more verses that establish the non-rights of post-birth children but let's hash out this passage for now.