To the editor:

I’m a pro-choice and pro-democracy believer. Also, I believe the new Texas law aborts democracy. How about you?

My obituary will not state that I was conceived on June 3, 1932, experienced a heart murmur in July and was born on February 3, 1933. Instead it will state that I received the breath of God on February 3, 1933, and upon my death on ???? returned the breath of life to my Creator.

That’s based on the Bible, Genesis 2:7: “God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” And Job 33:4 repeats the same content, namely, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

In both Bible verses life does not begin at conception but when God breaths into us His breath.

I’m aware of pro-life using Psalm 119:73: “Your hands made me and formed me.” and Psalm 119:13: “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” What lovely descriptions of God’s nine-month assembly line. But assembly precedes life. That’s my diversity and differentiation from pro-life evangelicals.

Isn’t democracy built with insistence on the widest degree of individual freedom, on citizens governing themselves rather than delegating their responsibility to others, and on accepting that compromise is necessary because of this diversity?

Aren’t anti-democracies built upon centralized power, submission to an idea maintained by political repression and the exclusion of any challenger?

Biblical examples of anti-democracy are in Daniel chapters 3 and 6 where religious laws and decrees are enforced by informers.

In Daniel 3:8, the local officials reported to King Nebuchadnezzar that three Jews were not worshipping his statue. “Your Majesty, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — pay no attention to you. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.” They are thrown into the furnace but God protected them. The law was seen to be wrong and was overturned.

Later on, in Chapter 6, Daniel, the Jew, is reported to the king as “paying no attention to your mandate but is praying to his god three times a day.” Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den but God protected him. The law was seen as a terrible law, was overturned and the informers thrown to the lions.

Is not the new Texas law on abortion a religious law similar to the above? It forbids diverse religious beliefs but also awards $10,000 to any “snitch” who turns in their doctor or neighbor for disregarding it. Isn’t that the rule of a dictatorial theocracy rather than a democracy? How does it differ from the Nazi’s in 1939 hunting down Jews to eradicate them?

I’m pro-choice and pro-democracy. How about you?