Near mile marker 178, on Interstate 40 West between the Firelake Grand Casino and the Choctaw exit, is a large yellow billboard that reads, “You call it abortion, God calls it murder.”

Every time I see this sign, I can’t help but be amazed at the level of ignorance of some members of the religious community.

According to a number of Gallup polls, those who are Christian — both Protestant and Catholic — are more likely to believe abortion should be either illegal or usable only in extreme cases.

Those who are religious and believe abortion is wrong believe so because they claim that either God or the Bible says abortion is wrong. According these believers, abortion is murder, and murder is wrong, therefore abortion is wrong.

I would imagine most of the people who use a religious basis for believing in the immorality of abortion got the idea from a pastor or priest who lectured on the evils of abortion one Sunday.

Or perhaps they got the idea from one of the colorful evangelicals who like to descend on campus, much to the consternation of students trying to push past the inevitable group of hecklers to get to class.

But this idea did not come from the Bible, and using the Bible as evidence for why abortion should be illegal is a cop out, based solely on misinformation.

To demonstrate that this argument does not come from the Bible, assume for a moment that the conclusion is false. If the conclusion is false, then one of the premises must be false as well.

The Bible specifically claims, “Thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). This is not a verse that is wishy-washy in any way. It’s simple: Do not commit murder. Therefore, the premise that murder is wrong must be true.

Finding direct references to abortion in the Bible is a daunting task. In fact, in the roughly 31,000 verses that make up the Bible, there are no references to abortion at all.

However, there is one verse that concerns the punishment for causing a woman to miscarry: “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine” (Exodus 21:22).

The details of this verse are subject to some interpretation, but the overall meaning is fairly clear. If, in the course of a fight, a pregnant woman is hurt and miscarries as a result, then the man must pay a fine, determined by the judges, to the husband of the woman who miscarried.

The next verse goes on to state that, “If any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,” meaning, if the woman dies as a result of the fight, then the man is put to death.

If the price for the death of a woman is death as well, yet the price for the death of a fetus is a fine, then we can infer from these verses that, in the Bible, a fetus was not considered a person.

If a fetus is not a person and if the killing of a fetus is not punished by death, the punishment for murder, then the killing of a fetus is clearly not murder, according to the Bible.

When is a fetus considered a person then? The book of Genesis provides the answer: “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

Interpreting this verse, it seems that the first breath a person takes allows the soul into the body. Biblically a person does not exist until the breath of life enters their body.

The conclusion that there is no scriptural basis for the denouncing of abortion raises some serious questions about the state of religion in America today.

How many people are passive believers or Sunday Christians? What point is there in holding the beliefs of a religion if you are too apathetic to actually examine what you believe?

So, believe that abortion is evil and wrong if you must, but do not use the Bible as a basis for condemning those who disagree with you. Stand out in the open and acknowledge that your opinion is just that, your opinion.

Otherwise, you just wind up looking ignorant.

Zach Holder is a letters sophomore. His column appears every other Friday.