This is a response to a friend who knows me in real life and who I care about. She and I have studied the Bible together. We have worshiped together. I am not trying to start an argument nor am I trying to get anyone to convince me to change political parties.
Here is my response:
I am pro-life and yes the two can coexist in my opinion because I truly believe it is between me and God what I do with my body. If I chose to fill it with nasty food, overeat, abortion, etc. But it is not my place to tell you or anyone else what they can do with their body. Sure I can tell you my opinion, advise you, even try to influence you but in the end, it is between you and God.
What I can do is not get stuck in just saying “abortion is wrong” and then doing nothing to try to get to the sourse of the problem. Preventing abortion begins not once a girl (or woman) is pregnant but preventing her (and the boy or man) from getting pregnant in the first place. Just passing out condoms or birth control pills is not the answer either. Poverty, lack of education, lack of proper health care, absent fathers…there are as many causes as there are women seeking abortions. I think all of these are Pro choice issues.
Repealing Roe v Wade will not stop abortion, it will just send it back to the closet or back room and will still be done in secret. I just think there are so many other ways we can influence Pro Life issues besides standing in front of Planned Parenthood with a sign and a fetus in a bottle. (and yes, I saw this in McKinney the other day).
I feel I am being liberal in my approach to this issue. I am not just doing what has always been done. I want to influence in new and innovative ways. I have friends who have had abortions and they need to know they are saved by grace and can be forgiven. I have teen age children who I influence and just preaching to them will go in one ear and out the other.
I hope this answered your question. Feel free to respond to this as I think open dialogue is the only way we can truly think and work through all the stuff in this crazy world.
November 5, 2008 at 9:28 am
Powerful writing, and I thank you for it. While I differ with you in that I believe that what society sanctions has an impact on what we determine is right or wrong (discrimination, for instance), I agree (I think this is what you’re saying!) that it’s not about laws, it’s about the heart, it’s about living it, it’s about what we do. There are smug people who want laws changed but won’t lift a finger to help someone in need – whether a pregnant teen, a homeless person, a single mom without a job. I hope I’m not one of those – but I know I want to be a person first who lives by example, and not by decree. Thank you for writing this, and helping me understand. I appreciate you very much!
November 5, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Seriously, we are kindred spirits. I spoke of this on my blog the other day as well (not in as much detail or nearly as eloquently, I admit) and my #1 issue is that we are all PRO-LIFE. No one is advocating abortion; just the right to choose and not have the government invovled in the decision.
I also heard an interesting thing the other day. If Roe v. Wade is ever repealed, all it will do is put the issues back to the states and whatever state laws are on the books. It will not automatically make it illegal . . . the argument will continue just at the state level.
November 26, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I believe you can be Pro-life and have liberal leanings…because there are liberal Christians…now nobody attack and say that only Christians are Pro-life or some such thing. I agree with her. It is not enough just to say things and not educate our young people. They need to understand about abstinence, we need to talk to them about the consequences of their actions. I, too, have a friend who had an abortion and it gravely affected her life. As Christians, we do need to have grace and love. Christ came to heal and love and was full of grace and mercy. I am completely pro-life and would counsel my daughter not to have an abortion if she ever were to come up pregnant because of the lifetime emotional ramifications and my own personal beliefs about when life begins. But this is such a personal decision and to fight each other or separate from each other over it, or for a party to become one-issue would become short-sighted. And as the author knows, I am quite conservative in most of my beliefs! I believe starting at the home level outward is where it begins, but the author is correct, scare tactics and violence make militant pro-lifers do not make our point!
We must keep educating our young ones and keep helping them understand the consequences of their actions…it is such a complicated issue, but working together and not arguing is the way to find answers.