The issues of abortion is a big issue for many Christians, particularly the Christian Right in America. “Why?” I ask. Does that seem like a silly question to you? If you are one of those Christians the answer will probably seem ‘obvious’ . Well I’d like to question some more your vehemence concerning abortion in this post. I also feel the issue is not really debated, discussed and explored as much as it should be – quite often you just hear “It’s wrong”.
Abortion is a big, emotional topic. I’m not going to try and cover all the various arguments for and against it, nor am I stating my personal position on the issue here. I will make such arguments in other posts from time to time. For now I’m just exploring a few questions that come to mind…
My first thought as to why it’s such a hot topic is because of the commandment ‘Thou shalt not commit muder’. Ok…that makes sense. And not committing murder is a universally held moral, whatever your religion, that the majority of people believe is a correct one. But then why, do many of those anti-abortionists favour the death penalty? That is undeniably hypocritical, is it not? (Of course, you may argue in terms of what the definition of ‘murder’ is and the justification of it according to circumstance…but that is another issue.)
Next thought: If the issue is about following what you say are God’s commandments, then why are you not also so vehement, so vocal, about other issues that appear to be in conflict with the other commandments? Surely, if you insist these are God’s commandments, they are all equally important. Or are you saying some are more important than others?
Let’s see…
What about “You shall not commit adultery”? Now why aren’t you all up in arms about the number of people who commit adultery? Why are you not campaigning to get the law to do something about those found to have commited it? Anyone can tell you how much infidelity adversely affects peoples lives. Could it be because many of you have committed it yourselves, and that’s, well, just a bit too close to home for comfort…?
What about “You shall not steal”? Why not be up in arms about the number of burglaries and theft, and say, the number of such crimes that are not solved. I don’t see you with placards protesting about that. These crimes have a real emotional and psychological affect on their victims which can last a long time, and shouldn’t be dismissed lightly.
These are just two of the commandments other than “You shall not commit murder”. So if your argument is that abortion is wrong because it’s murder, and the commandments forbid it, then why aren’t you just as passionate about adherence to the other commandments? Picking and choosing are we?
My other concern is this – what are you doing about the mental and emotional well-being of the mothers and babies/children concerned? Do you wash your hands off them once the law has been changed the way you want it? Who will look after all the babies that are born that are not wanted, or are brought up in homes by mothers who are just not ready to be mothers or are perhaps not good mothers (I’m not for a minute saying all women who would have had an abortion or are in the position of considering it are not good mothers)? What are you doing to ensure that there is enough support for them to deal with giving up their child , raising one when they are not ready to, or are not coping well with being in that situation. What are you doing to ensure those babies will be given good homes – that they will not stay in a system where they are passed about from one foster home to another or grow up in an orphanage (and yes, I know there are alot of people who have been adopted or grown up in foster homes that have been well loved and are happy. My concern is with hose that haven’t been so fortunate. How do we know those numbers won’t increase?). If you want to effect a change, ie make abortion illegal, a change that will affect women’s lives, you must ensure that good systems are there so that this change does not impact negatively on their lives.
We need to ensure first and foremost that women are helped as much as possible not to be in that situation in the first place – through education, good sex and relationship education. Education about contraception, about being in a good relationship, etc…I’m sure you can think of a myriad ways the problem can be tackled. I don’t have all the answers. My point is, if you are so vehement about abortion being illegal, then why aren’t you so vehement about ensuring our societies bring up girls with the education and life skills so they do not find themselves in that situation in the first place, or at least so that the chance that they will is minimized. It’s all very well saying you shouldn’t do this or that, but what are you going to do to help them not do it? As Christians, if you don’t want them to go down the road of having an abortion, and you claim to care so much about human life that you can’t bear the thought of a foetus being killed, then where’s your voice campaigning to ensure the support is there these women will need if they cannot do so.
First, thank you for your comments on my blog.
Second, I really appreciate your bringing up this issue of abortion and some “opposing” thoughts on the matter. I grew up thinking that it was without a doubt SIN to have an abortion. I still think it is some instances, ie partial birth abortion, it is disturbing. I particularly like your thoughts on those so opposed to abortion seemingly having no problems with the death penalty. I heard someone say that in order for a person to classify themselves as “pro-life” there is a lot to consider, the death penalty, war, euthanasia, etc. At what point is “murder” permissible.
Something else you said, I liked, to those that are so opposed to abortions, are they going to take care of the now born babies or are they simply going to move on to the next ‘hot topic’. Good question. Personally, making abortions illegal will lead to more problems than it hopes to solve.
Good post.
I also want to thank you for your comments on my blog.
Abortion is such a difficult topic. I was very pro-life until one of my pastor friends wife had a tubular pregnancy. It was determined with great prayer to end the pregnancy. How could I (or anyone for that matter) tell the expecting mother that she was making a wrong choice.
I would also agree that the politics of abortion, especially as being a single-issue platform, is wrong. Where is the same zeal for the poor? Where is the same zeal for homelessnes or help for people who made poor life decisions as a result of horrible home lifes? It seems to me, that the way to win hearts and save unborn babies is to reach out in love, not in the courts, ballot boxes, etc….
Thanks for sharing.
I whole heartedly agree with you. This situation arose twice in my life where woman thought they were pregnant with my child and wanted an abortion. We were young, and were not in a meaningful relationship, just youthful lust and admiration.
Fortunately they were not pregnant, but at the time the question was asked, we thought they were.
Something inside me said “No.” I can’t explain it, it was there. I told both the same thing. If they are pregnant, I will marry them. If they don’t want marriage, I will still be a father and help. If they didn’t want that, I will look after the baby myself.
I was gentle with them in offering my support as it were. One of the fundamental purposes of life is procreation. That is one of the most important tasks a woman will ever perform in her life. The CEO of the largest corporation, does not have a responsibility as a mother does for a child, it is precious as long as it is alive.
I do not judge other people however. Whoever makes that choice, had better not make it lightly, it is between them and God. And God always has the final word.
Am I waffling on the subject? I don’t believe so. There is much I don’t know in life. I know how I reacted when it came up in my life. I still believe I did the right thing.
To me, the situation is political. It is a group of largely males telling a female what she can and can not do with her own body. Is it a life? It will be. But due to varying truths, the question of when a fetus achieves personhood is vague. Some say it begins at the moment of conception. Some say when the heart starts beating. Some say when it can live on its own outside of the mother, whether with medical assistance or not. But because of these varying viewpoints, to have one law that dictates once and for all a set time is denying the truth of somebody. If a person is against abortion because he believes that live begins at the moment of conception then she should not have an abortion. If it is, in fact, a truly heinous sin, then leave the judgment to God. This is my problem with a lot of religious people, is that they want their truths to be the letter of the law, when in reality, God has taken care of all of that for us. We are not to judge, because that’s God’s job. If they truly have faith in God and his justice, then they do not need to indulge such revenge fantasies of breaking laws and systemic punishment.
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, there are many ethical considerations in this topic such as at what point to we consider a ‘person’ has been created – when the sperm has fertilized the egg or later, when brain activity can be measured, or heart beat. I suspect that there are those,on both sides of the debate, who have not truly explored these questions. How can one arrive at a definite opinion on the matter without doing so. I don’t believe the issue, when you truly look at all the various ethical considerations (there are many more) is as black and white as as pro/anti abortionists make it out to be. But I agree with you Meridian, that ultimately it’s God’s place to judge a person, not ours. We can only give our own opinion and provide ‘unbiased’ information for someone to make their own mind up. “They want their truths to be the letter of the law” seems to be so very, sadly, true with so many who are religious. It is something Jesus warned about in the Bible (for those Christians who may be reading this:) )
I agree with the points you’ve made wholeheartedly also. Why is one heinous sin worse than another? Why should “pro-lifers” be less considerate of the life of a grown person than they are of an unborn child? I think this also finds its parallel in gay rights- conservative Christians are very vocal against allowing recognized monogamous unions of homosexuals, yet they virtually ignore other sexual sins such as adultery and often premarital sex (although unrealistic abstinence-only education campaigns address that to some degree). I think that many Christian politicians who attempt to put their personal moral codes down as the “letter of the law” are no better than modern Pharisees. Thank you for this post- it’s good to see fresh views from Christians addressing today’s hotbed issues.
Catherine
P.S.: My husband is the writer of Rational Christian- thank you for the comment on his blog.
I was interested in what you had to say until your assessment of the hypocrisy of being for the death penalty but against abortion.
How could it possibly be hypocritical to be against killing an unborn child, but to be for killing a murderer as punishment for his murder.
How imbalanced must one’s moral compass be to equate or blurr the difference between killing an innocent child and a murderer?
Please continue with the moral relativism. You are a great help to those who actuallly believe in justice.
Firstly, thanks for the kind comments on my blog.
Good post, abortion can be quite a ‘hot’ topic for the religious. You have made a good assessment of the hypocrisy, in that they are so vehemently opposed to abortion but not to so many other important issues.
Some see the control of abortions as just another way to control women in general. Which ‘the church’, being a very patriarchal society, is prone to do.
I particularly appreciated your comments on the care and upbringing of the child which is not aborted. Many never consider the consequences of what happens when a women is ‘forced’ to have a child she didn’t want.
In response to Harry,
The hypocrisy lies in people who claim that abortion is wrong by quoting the Ten Commandments – namely commandment No. 5 Thou shalt not kill.
Now, rather unfortunately, this commandment has no leeway, there is nothing there that says – thou shalt not kill, unless the person is a murderer.
I don’t condone capital punishment for a variety of reasons, but I can see situations when it could be acceptable to kill someone. I do condone abortions. As I am not basing my opinions on any biblical codes, I can consider my moral compass very balanced.
Finally, I realise I’ve come to this debate rather late, but thought you might appreciate the comment anyway.
Thank you very much ozatheist for sharing your comments – there is no time limit for commenting on any of my posts:)
@ Oz,
(Jason, not Harry)
“Now, rather unfortunately, this commandment has no leeway, there is nothing there that says – thou shalt not kill, unless the person is a murderer.”
I’m sorry, but you need to be sure that you know what you are talking about. It is only if the participle is used that there is no distinction. The regular verbal stem indicates an act that is motivated only by one’s own desires, and no other circumstances exist, and this is how it is used in Exodus 20:13 in the Hebrew bible. When the participle is used, then it carries the possibility of mitigating circumstances.
“I can consider my moral compass very balanced.”
Happy for you. And it is just such an I-am-an-island view to morality which is the distinction between the verb and the participle. In the commandment, you fancy yourself god. Appropriate considering your comment.
This is why the bereans were highly regarded. They checked when people said things. They understood well that people will quite often just say stuff and hope that nobody knows any better.
John 8:44 >>
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
This is the 3rd time I’ve responded to one of your posts. Lest you should think I’m a stalker, let me just say that I’m intrigued by your writings. I see a lot of myself in the things that you write.
Another disclaimer: I didn’t read the responses to your post. They tend to throw me off-message, so if I’m repeating something here, I apologize.
You bring up some good points: It is hypocritical (in my opinion) to oppose abortion and to support the death penalty. There are people – good Christian people – who will use the Bible to support the death penalty. My feeling is that they’re engaging in a form of legalism, which is problematic for a Christian. I try not to “judge” them for this, but I can’t help but notice a certain irony. It’s interesting to see what the Catholic Church says about the death penalty and how it’s meant as a last resort. I wish the RC Church would speak out more vehemently on this point and play the role of prophet here as much as they do about abortion.
I am opposed to abortion because it means ending a human life. Pregnant women don’t say, “I’ve got a fetus!” They say, “I’m going to have a baby.” The mere fact that the pro-choice movement deliberately avoids using the word “baby” is very telling to me, so I’m highly skeptical of the movement. I realize that pro-choice does not necessarily mean “pro-abortion,” but sometimes it does. I can’t abide by that – I feel that it’s an abdication of responsibility.
Unwanted pregnancy is a harsh reality that calls for strong measures, but making abortion illegal is NOT going to help fix the hurt that leads to and that stems from the situation. I think it just makes the problem more complex. I do pray for better solutions than abortion, though. We’re smart and creative, aren’t we? Why can’t we come up with something better?
Thank you again for your comments Robaigh – lol, no I don’t think you are a stalker. I welcome other’s points of view on what I write.
I agree about making abortion illegal. I don’t think it will solve alot of problems. As you say, it would only make the problem more complex. The causes of the feeling of a need to have an abortion needs to be addressed first. Whether they due to a be social, economic, or educational want of sort. No woman truly ever wants an abortion I believe, and the goal should be to help them never put themselves in that situation in the first place. There are many different reasons and circumstances which lead women down that road. Just saying to them “You can’t do that” will not address those reasons and circumstances.
I really appreciate your post and I agree with most of your points. It’s really sad that evangelical Christians have become the modern day Pharisees, always condemning people who are different from them instead of loving them the way Jesus did. No wonder so many don’t believe. My perspective on abortion is very personal. Both my wife and my oldest daughter could have been aborted due to the circumstances in which they were conceived. I can’t imagine the world without them in it. It’s a better place because their mothers chose to let them be born. I feel tremendous sympathy for both unwed mothers and women who have had abortions. There is a heavy weight of guilt and shame that comes with both. As followers of Christ, we are called to love and help people who are in need. This would be a good place to start.
Using a bit of humor. Try “Please look, but don’t touch.” Or turn the tables and say, “You can touch my tummy if I can touch yours.”