Many christians say the right-wing pro-life stance is the biblical one. I have a few questions if that's true. First of all what is meant by pro-life? Is it that we should only care for a child while in the womb but not too much after that? (I'm sure pro-lifers would say no but I don't know of many pro-life protests centered around the care of children after being born) Also should pro-life mean babies only? What about the poor, oppressed, widows and outcasts...the ones the Bible repeatedly tells us to look after? The problem with the right-wing position on abortion is it's too limited. Abortion is made illegal but little noise is made about other options. A consistent ethic of life is sorely needed.
Speaking of ethics, what exactly is the biblical position on ethics? Is it that something is wrong in every single situation? Or is it more that certain things are wrong in most situations but could be right in others? I think of Biblical stories like Joseph taking away the livelihood of farmers to provide food for a nation in famine. (taking away someone's livelihood is generally a bad thing) Or what about Jesus healing some and not others? It seems God does things based on the situation. So let's apply this to abortion, again nobody wants abortions it's a bad thing. But if in a bad situation (like an unwanted pregnancy) what are the options available to a woman? If right-wingers had their way abortion would be off the table and so would any other option. It seems that if some democrats had their way abortion would be legal but no help would be offered to young mothers and their children in need. (what I mean is the loudest message from Democrats on abortion is that it should be legal, not much else is as loudly proclaimed)
In an ideal world abortion would be unnecessary but so many things are not ideal. We don't always offer the necessary help to mothers in need, we don't always practice responsible parenting or birth control, we make mistakes and get punished instead of finding mercy. The fact is abortions will happen if they're made illegal, they will just be much more dangerous and nobody will have the opportunity to offer other options. The approach we need to take is to work towards measures that decrease abortions. We need to focus on adoption, birth control, education, strengthening families and decreasing poverty. Outlawing abortion and criminalizing women in tough positions is not helpful. As Christians we need to come together and put forth a Biblical option that will move the debate forward. I think focusing on viable alternatives and responsible birth control is a way to do that. So, yes, one can be Christian and vote for a pro-choice candidate.
5 comments:
Im curious about this line,
"If right-wingers had their way abortion would be off the table and so would any other option. "
what other options are there that they want off the table too?
What I mean is some right-wing people argue that abortion should be outlawed in all cases, even rape and incest. I've actually heard this argued for by James Dobson and others. So abortion would be gone, period. I think a better approach is to offer support of these women so that they might make the choice to keep the child. It's short sighted to only make an abortion illegal.
Many of these same people have a hard time supporting single mothers because the nuclear family is their ideal. So little is said about offering single moms help to avoid an abortion. Instead the ideal of marriage is pushed. If we supported single moms they would not be faced with such a difficult choice.
Birth control is also off the table because it's often viewed in the same light as abortion or as undercutting God's sovereignty. This is a discussion in itself, for now I'll say I don't think birth control is unbiblical.
I will say that adoption is being talked about a lot more, which is good. I don't think either Republicans or Democrats are taking this option as serious as we should though. The big push for right-wingers is to outlaw abortion. They have spent so much time and resources on this that other things that actually could reduce abortion have been ignored.
Wow J. a thoughtful dissertation. I agree with you that making all abortions illegal might not be the best approach. I can understand a woman in the case of rape or incest wanting to end the pregnancy. I would hope that even in those cases, the women would be counseled as to all of their options. The numbers of abortions in our country is a bit staggering. You could argue it is almost like a genocide. I do believe that life begins at th e moment of conception.
I completely agree and support your line about educating the public, strengthening families, encouraging the adoption option etc. Strong families with both parents in the home are some of the strongest deterrents to sexual promiscuity and drugs. This is really where we should concentrate our efforts. This is common ground for both parties.
community support is huge. The bottom line of it is we need to be involved in each other's lives. In the book I read this summer, Bill cosby talked about how in the "old days" neighbors (community) watched out for each other's kids. If you did something wrong, your parents would find out because the neighbors took the time to be involved. We are so isolated these days.
Yes I know that Christians can vote for a prochoice candidate or party. Honestly Jerod, voting for the ultra conservative, wealthy GOP just flat out disgusts me. I have heard nothing from this party that shows me anything kind or compassionate or caring about ordinary people. I will vote for Barack Obama even though I still have some reservations about him I like Joe Biden but I am worried that Barack made a mistake not putting Hillary on the ticket. I have been watching this Sarah Palin. Just saw a documentary on her life story. Scary.
Wow J. a thoughtful dissertation. I agree with you that making all abortions illegal might not be the best approach. I can understand a woman in the case of rape or incest wanting to end the pregnancy. I would hope that even in those cases, the women would be counseled as to all of their options. The numbers of abortions in our country is a bit staggering. You could argue it is almost like a genocide. I do believe that life begins at th e moment of conception.
I completely agree and support your line about educating the public, strengthening families, encouraging the adoption option etc. Strong families with both parents in the home are some of the strongest deterrents to sexual promiscuity and drugs. This is really where we should concentrate our efforts. This is common ground for both parties.
community support is huge. The bottom line of it is we need to be involved in each other's lives. In the book I read this summer, Bill cosby talked about how in the "old days" neighbors (community) watched out for each other's kids. If you did something wrong, your parents would find out because the neighbors took the time to be involved. We are so isolated these days.
Yes I know that Christians can vote for a prochoice candidate or party. Honestly Jerod, voting for the ultra conservative, wealthy GOP just flat out disgusts me. I have heard nothing from this party that shows me anything kind or compassionate or caring about ordinary people. I will vote for Barack Obama even though I still have some reservations about him I like Joe Biden but I am worried that Barack made a mistake not putting Hillary on the ticket. I have been watching this Sarah Palin. Just saw a documentary on her life story. Scary.
Wow J. a thoughtful dissertation. I agree with you that making all abortions illegal might not be the best approach. I can understand a woman in the case of rape or incest wanting to end the pregnancy. I would hope that even in those cases, the women would be counseled as to all of their options. The numbers of abortions in our country is a bit staggering. You could argue it is almost like a genocide. I do believe that life begins at th e moment of conception.
I completely agree and support your line about educating the public, strengthening families, encouraging the adoption option etc. Strong families with both parents in the home are some of the strongest deterrents to sexual promiscuity and drugs. This is really where we should concentrate our efforts. This is common ground for both parties.
community support is huge. The bottom line of it is we need to be involved in each other's lives. In the book I read this summer, Bill cosby talked about how in the "old days" neighbors (community) watched out for each other's kids. If you did something wrong, your parents would find out because the neighbors took the time to be involved. We are so isolated these days.
Yes I know that Christians can vote for a prochoice candidate or party. Honestly Jerod, voting for the ultra conservative, wealthy GOP just flat out disgusts me. I have heard nothing from this party that shows me anything kind or compassionate or caring about ordinary people. I will vote for Barack Obama even though I still have some reservations about him I like Joe Biden but I am worried that Barack made a mistake not putting Hillary on the ticket. I have been watching this Sarah Palin. Just saw a documentary on her life story. Scary.
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