Abortion and Women's Rights

[John V]

You're a lot more progressive than most Christians, especially on birth control and sex ed.

I don't know about that. Surveys that I've seen show that a majority of Americans approve of sex education (including contraceptive education). A majority of Americans also identify as Christian. I think atheists that hang out at sites like this tend to have a skewed idea of the typical Christian.

Consciousness is what determines our moral obligations toward one another.

Again, you state that as objective fact when it is just your opinion.

This is evident in how we have no such obligations toward rocks. We also have no compassion or empathy for technically living beings that only operate on stimulus/response, such as bacteria cells, even though these things are "alive" and have DNA. By contrast, we do (or at least I think should) have compassion for dogs and cats, even though they are not human.

Go to the grocery store and check out the meat section and the pest control aisle. You'll see that many people disagree with you. Heck, people make pet food out of animals just as sentient as their dogs and cats, or even feed live mice to their snakes. Your general "we" statements are incorrect.

If we ever create artificial intelligence that is self-aware and demands the right of choice, we'll have moral obligations toward them even though they are not alive and have no DNA (see a hypothetical scenario in this Star Trek clip).

Your opinion is noted. Some people will likely disagree, as they do regarding animals.

Where our actions impact the well being of other sentient beings, questions of morality apply. Sometimes these are difficult questions. Sometimes we have to resolve the rights of one vs. another. Sometimes our only course of action is to minimize suffering and damage, choosing the lesser evil. Discussions of morality can be complex and difficult to resolve decisively which is all the more reason we should focus on what the core issue is and ignore all the hot button distractions.

It's odd that you acknowledge the complexity and difficulty of the question after proclaiming that "Consciousness is what determines our moral obligations toward one another."

Now the above video is about a court ruling in favor of a conscious android. Data met the criteria within reasonable doubt. Does a fetus? Let's answer that by first addressing the question of what is self-awareness and what causes it.

While it is true we don't yet fully know what causes self-awareness, the brain is certainly a crucial element.

Again, it's just your opinion that consciousness or self-awareness is the crucial dividing line.