While it’s amusing to watch the misplaced triumph of creationists after lobbing a nonsense challenge at an atheist and getting no answer, be sure not to give short shrift to the garbage that some abortion opponents come up with. For example:

“If human life doesn’t begin at conception, can you please explain how human life is possible absent conception?”

Not surprisingly, this is what this passes for a “Gotcha!” question among these fools: Two strawmen for the price of one, or if you prefer, a flawed premise coupled to a non-sequitur.Part of the beautiful inanity of salvos like these, of course, lies in how certain their propagators are of their brilliance. “Don’t let them off the hook,” the title of the Granite Grok post urges, in the manner of urging a Yorkshire terrier not to ease up on the attack once he’s got a Burmese python in a vulnerable position.

No sane person, pro-choice or otherwise, has ever argued that living humans didn’t start with the fusion of their parents’ gametes, and pro-choicers’ arguments don’t hinge on the impossible-to-define “moment” that life begins anyway — that’s merely what abortion opponents *want* the debate to center on, because it steers the discussion away from the inherent rights of the mother to terminate a pregnancy regardless of the terminology applied the growing mass in her uterus. Here are equally sensible and clever questions with which to “stump” people: “If all fifty states weren’t created by the Declaration of Independence, can you please explain how South Dakota is possible without the Declaration of Independence?” “If a marathon isn’t won within yards of the starting line, can you please explain how winning a marathon is possible without crossing the starting line?” “If Granite Grok posters’ lives didn’t begin with inbreeding, can you please explain how Granite Grok is possible without inbreeding?” (Okay, this one’s a trick question. They probably did and it’s probably not.) Part of the beautiful inanity of salvos like these, of course, lies in how certain their propagators are of their brilliance. “Don’t let them off the hook,” the title of the Granite Grok post urges, in the manner of urging a Yorkshire terrier not to ease up on the attack once he’s got a Burmese python in a vulnerable position. Actually, here’s a legitimate question for Skip, a self-described Evangelical Christian: “Since you’re agreeing that human life is *not* possible absent conception, can you please explain where Jesus came from?” Oh, that’s right. Miracle!