papal infallibility

Contraception, Abortion, and the Not So Holy Alliance

I’m looking at a large and stately oak tree. It has hundreds of branches and thousands of acorns. Each acorn has the capacity, the blueprint, for becoming another stately tree.  But right now it’s not — it’s an acorn. So when does it become recognized as tree? — Surely not when it first falls to the ground. Probably not yet either, when it’s covered with soil. When the first anchoring root is sent into the soil, is it now a tree? Maybe not — it does have a skinny little tendril, but it still looks like an acorn.  How about when the spring rains come and moisture swells the paired halves?