[vulturesrow]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not limiting your criteria. But, don't you think we have to have some criteria? Why is a rock not a person? "Because a person __________". Why is a sperm not a person? "Because a person __________". Why is a tumor not a person? "Because a person ___________". ...

[/ QUOTE ]

I already filled in those blanks for you.


[ QUOTE ]
Why was Terri Schiavo no longer a person (ie: dead)? "Because a person ____________".


[/ QUOTE ]

Had to quote this one separately because it goes towards what I am saying. Terry Schiavo was most certainly a person, albeit a very damaged one. Without getting into all the attendant political BS that went along with that situation, she certainly deserved to be treated with the fundamental respect and dignity that we afford people. And I am pretty sure that no one would argue otherwise. Why is that? Because we recognize her inherent capacity for personal acts, regardless of her then present inability to carry out those acts.

[ QUOTE ]
How does a single-celled organism have the capacity to speak, reason, or love?

[/ QUOTE ]

I assume you are referring the beginning stages of human life. We know it has the capacity for personal acts because our knowledge based on experience and observation and because once he embryo is formed it is a complete being that will continue to develop along the normal path of human development

[ QUOTE ]
We come accross some single-celled organism... and we need to know if it's OK to kill it. We don't want to commit murder. How do we know if this single-celled organism is a person or not?

[/ QUOTE ]

There is no way to discern a capacity for personal acts without observation. So if we suspected that this organism could be a person, than we would refrain from killing it until observation and experience demonstrated its personhood.