wedrifid comments on An Abortion Dialogue - Less Wrong

10 Post author: gwern 12 February 2011 01:20AM

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Comment author: Alicorn 12 February 2011 05:18:37AM 7 points [-]

abortion is more evil than contraception is because it's an error of commission rather than omission.

I think taking birth control precautions is pretty comission-y. Abstinence would be the omission version of not having babies.

Comment author: wedrifid 12 February 2011 06:06:26AM *  2 points [-]

I think taking birth control precautions is pretty comission-y.

I must concur. We've been judging the wasting of sperm as an act of commission at least as far back as when Genesis was written.

Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD; so He took his life also.

Apparently that sperm really was sacred.

Comment author: gwern 19 February 2011 07:57:10AM 2 points [-]

There's a little debate on what Onan was being punished for, whether it was the not-impregnating-and-disobeying-the-Lord or the spilling-seed part. I incline to the disobedience explanation; as the Wikipedia entry mentions, Leviciticus's punishment for spilling seeds is very far from 'execution'.

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