These are time vast differences of opinion. Whether it’s politics or religion or vegan versus Paleo. We are all given the right to our opinion living in a freewill country. It takes respect for that freedom for us to live together in a society. It’s ok to think something is bad for us and not take part in ourselves. The line is crossed when we disrespect others for their beliefs. If eating animals isn’t for you then don’t. If you are a democrat and don’t believe in a republican agenda then don’t vote republican. Religion is tricky because we like to think that our belief system is correct and fear that what others believe threatens that belief. So condemning their belief will solidify our own as the only right one. Believing in when life begins and the battle over abortion is another battle being fought through our country. Pro-life versus Pro-choice. Pro-life believes that life begins at conception and Pro-choice believes that the mother has the ultimate choice for the child. Some believe when there is a heartbeat that is proof of life. The question is when does the spirit enter into the body. Where would we go to find that kind of information? Science doesn’t go there as it doesn’t have instruments to read when that happens. Religion doesn’t state that the spirit enters the fetus at any point during the pregnancy process. So the belief that life begins at conception comes from free will not either science or religion. Science has found that the heart itself has a mind of its own. There is actually a small amount of gray matter in the heart itself. The heart actually begins to beat before the brain is formed. So where does this belief come from other than free-will? We can search the bible for some insight. Genesis 2:7 states “He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being”. So this would indicate that until the first breath man was not a living being but part of the woman herself. The child doesn’t actually breathe air until separated from the mother. Until then they are one being, the fetus surviving in fluid and connected umbilically to the mother for all the nutrients to survive. Science also has found that there is a DNA connection with the mother and child even after birth. That connection survives for life. Even in surrogacy it is the surrogate mother who is connected by this sharing of DNA. In the Jewish religion, it is said that the Jewish connection is passed to the child from the mother and not the father. This could be referring to the DNA connection.
The First Nation tribe the Lakota has a proverb that you should never criticize another until you have walked in their moccasins.
Mark 12;31 States: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. I don’t think these are statements of disapproval in others beliefs but understanding that we are all walking our life’s path and should respect the journey of others. Before, during and after.