When does life begin?

Oh, dear....here we go again, right?

Well, not exactly. You see, I have some pretty deep-set beliefs about when I believe God begins human life. My arguments go to the very basics of logic, where you must find what the first step is, in a sequence of events, that is necessary to end with a full, functioning body and mind.

A sperm left in a fertile dish will not develop into a human. An egg, left in an ideal environment will also not grow and develop into a person. However, the two, once joined (and in a proper environment) will grow into a human body.

So, the very first step would be the joining of the sperm and egg. Which in most circles is called conception. Without conception, you don't get an embryo nor a fetus, nor a baby. There are many creatures on this earth that do not 'take' a breath in order to live, and yet we identify them as 'living'.

When you ask an author what his or her first step is in writing a novel, they will often state that books start with a thought--well before the first word is written on a page for us all to see.

Having said all this, I also would like to say that I believe in a loving and forgiving God.