I believe abortion should be grieved, not celebrated; discouraged not promoted. I was glad to see the recent statement of Democrats for Life urging the Democratic Party to be more welcoming of them. Decades ago, I wrote a book called COMPLETELY PRO-LIFE and I recently published an Op Ed in USA Today criticizing Joe Biden and the Democratic Party's current position on abortion.
Thank you for this! I grew up in the 80s and 90s with parents that were very active in protesting Planned Parenthood locations, amongst other things. But as I watched the impact of their efforts, and listened to their “the sky is falling” rhetoric, It became obvious to me that their efforts were short sided, and inconsistent with the whole of pro-life positions. For 10+ years I’ve felt like politicians just use the pro-life as a trope, a means to use and even manipulate other-wise well meaning Christians for their own political gain. I see the same thing happening with the sudden attention to child sex trafficking. A serious issue being raised mostly for political gain. I’ve been in the trenches serving people who’ve actually been trafficked and raising awareness, funds and getting volunteers for this work is extremely hard, even in the most pro-life churches.
Yes, abortion matters, human trafficking matters, and does poverty, climate change of the earth we are to steward, and all the things you mentioned.
Let us strongly resist any attempts from others to use our Christian mission for their own political gains.
May we walk with humility and integrity, with love and kindness to all.
You rank climate change with abortion and trafficking? Climate does change, that is clear, otherwise how did the last ice age end? How did humand cause that?
I too grew up with parents in the 70s and 80s who combatted the very issues which plague our society and culture today: "Equal Rights" and "Abortion Rights." They thought, as did millions of sincere believers, that Christian activism would restore America back to her "Christian roots." But the Moral Majority is no longer the majority; and is now becoming a minority even amongs professing Christians. Their mission was noble, but ultimately failed because God's kingdom is not of this world; there is no political solution to mankind's problem, which is sin.
The root of all wickedness and murder is rebellion against God, and a rejection of His Holy Word. The Christian mission is not to "make the world a better place for you and for me." The Great Commission is to seek and to save the lost. The church is not here to restore America; it is here to evangelize and disciple believers to be faithful Bible-reading and Bible-obeying followers of Jesus. Christians are to "do good unto all men; especially those of the household of faith." But social-gospel "good works" programs are not the gospel of Jesus, who declared, "For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always" (Mark 14:7). In other words, no amount of wealth distribution is going to solve poverty; hunger; homelessness; trafficking; and drug addiction.
But the gospel, if it is preached and believed and received, is the antidote to all of these things. (As the Apostle Paul declared, "and such were some of you!") However, we're living in the days of which Paul also prophesied would be increasingly perilous. He also declared that the church would abandon sound doctrine. Indeed, it has, as the social gospel, and "social justice" issues now dominate the majority of the professing church's time and attention as it tries so desperately to conform to the world's mold, in order to be tolerant, relevant, and to gain more "acceptance" of Jesus. Meanwhile, unborn babies continue to be murdered through abortion, which is premeditated killing. Families are destroyed by LGBTQ+ agenda, with adolescent and pre-adolescent children being chemically castrated and physically mutilated.
So I'm sorry, but God is grieved at this blatant corruption of His created order and the utter rejection of His Word and His authority. Yes we are called to be good stewards of His creation; but Earth Day etc. is tied to an antichrist "climate change" agenda which is actually promoting a worship of "mother earth" in preparation for global government and the reign of Antichrist. Ultimately, this earth will pass away and melt with fervent heat, and the Lord will make all things new.
So it is eternal souls that matter; not temporal comfort and bandaid-solutions that are destined to fail and burn up (2 Peter 3). Throughout Scripture, we are called pilgrims; sojourners; who look for a better city, which is heavenly, not earthly (see Hebrews 11). Neither believers nor the church are to be unequally yoked with the humanist, antichrist agendas of the United Nations and the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum, etc.
As Paul so clearly states, is to "have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose and reprove them.... redeeming the time, for the days are evil." (Eph. 5:11, 16). Read the rest of Paul's exhortation concerning the will of God. His epistles have nothing to say about "saving the planet" but are always focused on "saving souls." Everything else is but rearranging chairs on the Titanic. It's time to arise, awake, and call all women, children, and men, into the lifeboat of Jesus Christ.
I get why this advice, opinion, and spin would be appealing and attractive to believe. However, it is subtle and manipulative and it is the exact logic that has taken hold of society and infiltrated hearts and minds into believing that abortion is a "human right" and therefore ok, or not the most important issue. In fact, abortion is the greatest evil in existence. No matter how it is twisted or phrased, there is no denying that abortion is the deliberate taking of an innocent human life. And a society that allows abortion to continue under the guise of social justice, or whatever noble misguided attempt at making it seem normal and necessary, is corrupt and failing its most vulnerable members. "The right to life is a paramount issue because as Pope John Paul II says it is "the first right, on which all the others are based, and which cannot be recuperated once it is lost." If a candidate for office refuses solidarity with the unborn, he has laid the ground for refusing solidarity with anyone." Read this guide on how to vote and you will see there is no gray area when it comes to how one's conscience should direct your choices in the upcoming election. Spoiler alert, it's not for Biden.
I have, but I fail to see how this supports anything other than voting pro life. I understand that life does not end at birth, and that we have an obligation to help the poor, homeless, sick. All of these actions are good and noble, however it still circles back to Pope John Paul II and what he says,
"It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop. A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized. Only respect for life can be the foundation and guarantee of the most precious and essential goods of society, such as democracy and peace." Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae (1995), no. 101
I agree with you wholeheartedly, & wonder if God does not look down on abortion as sacrificing children to Baal & would we be in the state that we are in globally if we regarded the sanctity of life more importantly..Yes we are supposed to take care of the poor & we are all responsible for them..Government should not be responsible for everything..We the American people need to step up to.the plate..& teach our children to work & not rely totally on the government..I believe right now we have an out of balance social justice referendum going on..it is not helping the cause..unfortunately. I believe our children think there going to be in Utopia if the government supplies everything..We have not learned from the days of Russia when they stood in bread lines & Nazi Germany & the Holocaust..It seems to me we are headed back in that direction..Venezuela tried socialism..as well..1 of the richest countries in the world a few years ago..the people are starving now..I challenge all my friends to watch Fox News for a week, maybe 2 weeks..& not all the other news channels & you will see a different side..to what is really going on..My truth again!
Most developed countries, including the USA (e.g. social security, Medicare, Medicaid), have some form of socialism. I think you’re confusing communism (Russian case you referenced) and fascism (Nazi Germany case your referenced), with socialism. Venezuela is a failing state because of other factors, including a failure to diversify its economy away from oil money and corruption (including sever election rigging). Separately, Fox News, which unabashedly supports the President no matter what he does (with the exception of Chris Wallace), fails to explain why socialism led to the collapse of Venezuela... it just bludgeons viewers with that one characteristic (socialism) of Venezuela. It’s an old propaganda trick... repeat something enough times and people will believe it.
The writer of the article is right in saying that focus on abortion is an unbalanced way of living your faith. In fact, most Christians with the exception of Catholics didn’t care about abortion until a faction within the Republican Party decided to weaponize the abortion issue to gain the evangelical vote. It worked masterfully... now some Christians are so brainwashed they’ll vote entirely based on that single issue.
We kill over 2,000 babies every day in the US via abortion. Isn't that enough of a reason to give a lot of weigh to this "single issue"? If all those other issues are allegedly "pro life" as well, then how come those who embrace those issues NEVER include the unborn in their "pro life" beliefs?
The definition of baby is a very young child, especially one newly or recently born.The term infant is also used as formal/legal term for minor; that is, a child in general. A newborn infant is known as a neonate (neonatal, neonatus) after the final stage of gestation throughout the first three months. A human infant which is less than 28 days old is a newborn.
So actually, Vernon, we (who's we, ya got a mouse in your pocket, hahaha) don't kill over 2,000 babies every day in the US via abortion. Or maybe you can provide 2,000 citations or references that show where, just yesterday, the murders of 2,000 born humans occurred. I feel like I would have seen something about that on the news!
I remember when my wife was visiting doctors during her pregnancy and they and the nurses always referred to the "baby" and not the "fetus." Tell me why you think they shouldn't be considered to be the same as babies. Tell me why Ron Sider says abortions should be "grieved." How do you feel about a mature fetus being decapitated before birth? Are you good to go with killing the fetus at any time before birth?
Say it in whatever means you care to abortion is murder. And how dare you to say that Christians are brainwashed. Christians rely on their faith based on the Holy Bible not Fox News not the rants of politicians if you were to study the word you would understand that we rely on Gods teachings not mans
In regard to socialism. I’ve traveled the world over and no where have I seen any good effects of socialism. Even in Sweden the utopia of socialism Their government basically takes their earnings and gives them some walking around money. They are happy to have the government control almost every aspect of their life because they’ve been “brainwashed “ by the government who benefits from this. Of course the government officials live on a much higher lifestyle because you know they are the ones who know best.
A government big enough to give you everything is also a government who can take everything. Do you seriously want someone to tell you what to do what you may eat what you can wear when and where you can vacation.
I’ve talked many times with Russians who lived under communism and seen the effects its had both there and the Ukraine and believe me you don’t want any part of it.
When their water would freeze in the winter and the building heat was off they had to get it restored when the government overseer got around to it. Of course the higher ups never had to wait but the everyday citizen just had to freeze his butt off until someone sobered up enough to pay attention. And it was pretty awful to wait in line in the freezing cold perhaps all day to get your 4 ounces of meat for a family of four and then another line for your loaf of bread. Medicine was free but one bottle of aspirin would not do for an entire city. They had no drugs whatsoever and tried to do the best they could with herbs
Don’t think for a moment that socialism is nothing but communism in the budding process.
Get on your knees and thank God above you are in this wonderful capitalist country where there’s food a plenty at thousands of stores and drive through s
Actually, you still don’t understand the difference between socialism and communism. You cite Russia as an example, but that country went from communism to a form of crony capitalism. I also find it odd that you claim to be a Christian, but then call me an idiot at the end of your post. Separately, I’ve traveled the world as well. In many countries that are democracies and have socialist policies, such as Italy and France, the people are quite happy and benefit from benefits such as universal healthcare. Note that folks there work hard and are driven for professional success as well.
Your comment about capitalism is ill informed. Capitalism works well so long as there is some mechanism that allows some return on public goods. For example, tax payer funded research contributes to the development of drugs all the time, but yet pharmaceutical company shareholders reap huge rewards while we’re stuck paying huge sums for medicines. Is that fair?
Is it fair that the largest American companies do not pay their fair share in taxes while our infrastructure, which they use (eg Amazon delivers using public roads), is crumbling?
Tangentially, income inequality in the US is shockingly high and rising. Real wages for the middle class have remained the same for decades while the wealth of this country goes to the top percentile of earners. In what world do you think that is fair and why do you think that the only alternative to that is communism. We need to fix American capitalism, not turn into communists. We can also have socialist policies for the less fortunate, such as social security and free healthcare. I feel like that is more compassionate and compatible with Jesus’ teachings.
Regarding abortion:
1) not everyone (including some Christians) believe it is murder. Why would you impose your beliefs on other people?
2) if it is outlawed, do you really think that people will not still have them performed?
3) if it is outlawed, do you think rich people will not be able to get them? I could easily imagine some of the wealthiest Republican donors just hopping over to Canada or another country to get safe abortions.
1.) What does it matter if some people don't believe it's murder? Slaveowners didn't think their slave humans. Nazis didn't think Jews were fully human, etc. That is a poor litmus test for whether we should tackle this issue. The science is overwhelmingly clear that a fetus is an independent human in a stage of development, no different from a toddler, pre-teen, or adult (all being independent humans at varying stages of development). The only arguments against personhood are arbitrary timelines or contingencies of viability - as if viability is how we test whether anyone else is a person.
2.) So? We outlaw rape yet it still occurs. Should we legalize it since it still happens?
3.) So bad actors will exist? That's a good argument against abolition?
1) Whataboutism is irrelevant - you failed to answer the question. You’re trying to dictate what someone does with her body based primarily on a religious belief. The key question is why you believe what you do and what was the genesis of fervent Christian support for anti-abortion thinking was (tangentially, you can trace the origins of racist thinking in American too). You can trace anti-abortion thinking back to a handful of Republican political operatives. This is well documented. The purpose was to galvanize Protestants and Catholics in order to align them with the Right. I don’t know anyone who has an anti-abortion position who is not Christian (though I would imagine there is a minority), i.e. you’re imposing your religious beliefs on others.
2) Your example of rape is an ironic one because it’s another example of imposing your will on someone’s body. A more apropos example would be drugs. Examine what the war on drugs and the criminalization of drug use has done to families and communities and you’ll get my point.
3) I bring this up to point out the irony of it all. Republicans and Democrats are constructs. There are and have always been two real parties since the dawn of representative government: the haves and the have nots. The abortion issue was another way for the haves to get some have nots to support their party (refer to what I wrote about in point 2 above). So at the end of the day, folks are willing to allow ultra wealthy individuals free reign to further enrich themselves on corporate welfare (bailouts, tax arbitrage, unpunished environmental destruction, etc.), while further exacerbating massive income inequality in exchange for the banning of abortion, which those ultra wealthy folks couldn’t care less about because they’re not beholden to it. That was the point.
You may have all of your arguments against abortion locked and loaded, but they fail to recognize that the idea itself is just part of a larger play for power. You’re already indoctrinated, so there’s no use debating with you (let’s be honest, no one is changing their views here). Your minority views are about to get a huge boost with the new Supreme Court justice pick. I wonder what will happen after roe v wade is overturned. Will you stop at that, or will you seek a federal ban? If that were to happen, what do you think happens next?
So you're going to rely on the catch-22 crazy test? Maybe you're brainwashed into believing this. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference honestly.
So a bunch of so called prolife evangelicals have decided to ignore the barbaric practices of abortion, abandon the most innocent among us. Who do they, and you their followers, think will go to the aid of unborn babies? Babies whose brains are sucked out while fully alive with legs and arms kicking and flailing, babies born alive from failed abortion attempts? Will the fight against racism end this? Efforts to reverse climate change? It amazes me that while they and all of you pretend to care about injustice, all the social ills, but you deny the humanity of the unborn and just born. It’s hypocrisy at its finest. You really don’t care about anyone but yourselves. This group of men and their followers are not prolife in any shape or form. They are evangelicals of another religion, certainly not Christianity.
Lets step back for a second and evaluate what abortion is. For Christians, life from conception to old age has the same intrinsic value. I am sure you would agree with this. This is because we are all made in the image of God. So the life of an unborn baby has the same value as a 24 year old or an elderly lady. I am sure we all can agree on that.
Some this is true, let's change the demographics of the abortion.
Lets say there is a party running for office that advocates the murdering of 5year old girls. They plan to put up several clinics where mothers can bring their 5 year old girls to be torn apart and thrown in the garbage or given to medical institutions for further research. If you dont like that demographic, then lets insert another life, maybe your wife or grandchildren. Or yet lets insert another demographic like Jewish people.
Now Ron and others who hold to this view, do you think a blog like and its arguments that you represent could stand? Does the killing of 5year old girls not trump everything? Could i have said during world war 2, that the killing of Jews does not trump everything. Would your argument stand and blog make sense if it was called the abortion of jews? Surely not!
For some reason, we have gotten too use to the idea and the word abortion. Lets truly take it in its context and for what it is.
I know Ron that you mean well, but your blog is causing others justification for voting for a party that advocates, in their platform, the murdering of innocent life.
Well, why does a theoretical unborn baby matter more to you than a five year old who girl who needs food and a well provisioned kindergarten classroom? Why does the theoretical unborn baby matter more to you than a fifty year old woman with no health insurance who out off getting a breast lump examined because she doesn’t have health insurance? Why does a theoretical unborn baby matter more to you than environmental protections that will ensure this unborn baby has clean air, water, isn’t subject to extreme weather events caused by climate change? What kind of larger world are you hoping to leave for the babies yet to be born, who will need food, education, healthcare, safety? Getting born is only one moment in a life, and if you throw that baby to the wolves after birth, what good have you really done that child?
I find it interesting that you use the word 'theoretical' when describing the unborn baby. This tells me that you are not convinced that this is life. This is important, because I began my post from a Christian worldview. All Christ followers know that life begins with conception (Psalm 139:13-16). I am not sure what worldview you believe but I will try to entertain your logic.
I said in my post that they all matter... regardless of age. That is why 'life regardless of age has the same value' But being born has the top priority because all the other rights that you mention begins with the right to life. None of those issues can be solved unless you are born to solve them. Plus, just because life is harsh, doesn't give you the right to take it. I know from experience because I was born in poverty and segregation. My life has meaning and purpose. And God gets to decide that not man.
Plus, no party is advocating the death of old woman with no health insurance OR lets kill people and babies because we don't believe in environmental protection OR lets take away food and education and healthcare so the baby and people can die. Their strategies on how to deal with the issue differ but no party is advocating the death of people regarding these issues. These issues gets solved with people being born not killing them off.
The Dem party is advocating the death of the MOST vulnerable. They are running with this platform. I am arguing that this is our top priority. If you saw a 5 year old with no food, a fifty year old woman with no health insurance; a baby being born with no environmental protection policy's; a child lacking education; a mother on her way to a clinic to kill her baby- which one would you save FIRST?
Any decent human knows the answer to this. We all gravitate towards the baby about to be murdered because we know that it is the most vulnerable.
From a concerned father, please save the life of the unborn baby. Your vote and your voice matter to me and the baby who desperately needs us. And let us continue to make life better for those who are born, the five year old, the fifty year old and the school child. Let us bring life in this world so they can help us solve these issues.
I see theoretical because the baby I’m talking about has not been conceived yet. No egg has been released, no sperm has been deposited in somebody’s vagina to make its way to this theoretical egg.It exists as an abstract idea in people’s imaginations.
You write, “...no party is advocating the death of old woman with no health insurance OR lets kill people and babies because we don't believe in environmental protection OR lets take away food and education and healthcare so the baby and people can die. Their strategies on how to deal with the issue differ...” The whole point of this blog post is that the way the parties are dealing with them are different, and one is fundamentally less Christian than the other one. The question here is are you willing to throw away all of the other already living people and all of these other issues that are important to our collective well-being for the sake of theoretical unborn babies?
We are being terrible stewards of God’s creation, and watching the news on the weather channel alone should make you aware of this. We are not showing justice and mercy while police brutalize Black Americans. We are not caring for the least among us when we separate refugees and asylum seekers from their children, turn them away from our borders, and keep their children in detention cells. I find most of the Republican platform to be most unchristian. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and so should Christians rebuke the current administration and its Congressional sycophants.
Work locally and at a state level to provide for the needs of women. Low cost, easy to access birth control methods of women’s choosing as one of the best ways to prevent abortions. No pregnancy, no abortion. And it is not anyone’s role to judge their sexual behavior choices. One of the main reasons that women give for having abortions is lack of financial resources to care for another child. When the minimum wage is too low to support a working family, when food and housing benefits or two meager to feed and house and expanding family, people do what they need to do to keep their already existing children clothes and fed and housed. You could also work on lobbying efforts to get the federal minimum wage is raised. That would help prevent abortions.
Katherine, wonderful response. I agree that we need to fight the injustice and speak up for the poor and vulnerable. I stand with you when it comes to injustice and mercy. I received this myself from God through our Lord Jesus Christ who came to save me while I was a sinner.
Please note, I am NOT advocating that you vote Republican, I am just advocating not to vote for a party that wants to kill innocent children.
In my first post I noted that the Christ follower sees life having the same value from conception to old age. So regardless of what age or demographic you insert, you are still taking a life.
Let us say, that tomorrow the Dem party is going to announce that they are changing the demographic of abortion to 5 year old girls. Parents can now opt to take them to clinics to get ripped apart and killed. Now let me know if these arguments which you presented make sense.
We want 5 year old girls killed because....
1. We know parents lack financial resources to care for children beyond 5 years of age.
2. We know parents are receiving minimum wage and struggling to support a full family on food and housing.
Option 1: Would your FIRST action be to abolish the law that kills the 5 year old girls? Or
Option 2: Would your FIRST action be birth control, teaching about sexual behavior, increasing minimum wage.... so that we can decrease the number of 5 year old girls dying while the law remains in place.
I bet your strategy would be to abolish the law. In fact, I bet you would be passionately zealous in pursuing to save the life of these 5 year old girls. I also bet that environmental protection, police brutality, refugees, would take a LITTLE back step so that you could concentrate on saving the 5 year old girls who are being brutally killed. I doubt you would be lobbying for federal minimum wage while thousands and millions of girls are getting killed.
Let us be honest with ourselves, if we cannot stomach 5 year old girls getting killed before us, then why are we creating excuses when it comes to unborn babies.
Looking forward to hearing what option you would choose.
But nobody is advocating killing kindergartners. There are people advocating for reducing access to healthcare, moving funding from public schools to private sector schools, increasing work requirements for people to qualify for good stamps or Medicaid, decreasing environmental protections, selling our nation’s natural
resources to private, for-profit enterprises, restructuring taxes to benefit corporations and the ultra-wealthy.
I have to reject an argument about killing five year olds and redirect to what is actually going on right now in this country. And to answer your question, I would STILL vote for the greater good for the greater number right now and work on reproductive justice issues alongside these other important issues. Again, the best way to reduce abortion numbers is to address family planning and contraception access, and to make sure that people don’t feel backed into a poverty corner with no options.
You mark my words here though - we are devolving into an authoritarian regime run by a strong-man with dynastic aspirations. This election decides the fate of this country and our democracy. I am not willing to trade our collective rights and freedoms for a vote that hinges on this one issue. There is too much for too many at stake here.
They might not be advocating kindergartners, but they are advocating the taking life which is the same regardless of age. You cannot reject that argument unless you believe that the unborn baby is not life.
But I am saddened and shocked to hear that you would STILL vote for a party even though they would advocate the killing of life (from unborn to old age).
I am speechless and do not know what more to say to that.
I will continue to pray that God opens up our eyes to the true reality of abortion. That abortion is the taking of life regardless of age. No other issue is at greater steak right now. I agree that there are important issues but none so grave than the deliberate taking of life.
Abortion is an issue that no party will ever solve. It's like the war on terror, or widespread drug use....our best strategy is to do what we can to reduce abortion rates. You're never going to convince someone where you believe life begins is the right moment. As Sider said, the main reason women abort is because they cannot afford the child. Democratic policies such as free health care and distribution of free birth control do more for lowering the rate of abortion than Republican policies which want to take that away. It makes me wonder if pro-lifers are truly pro-life or mad about something they're not saying.
Thanks for your response to my post. I can see in your reply that you desire to see life. You know it took many years for slavery and segregation to be abolished. I am thankful for those who persevered and never gave up. My life is better today because of the heroes who stood against those evils. I pray you will do the same and be remembered as a hero of life.
So d we give up on problems that we can't eliminate. If you want answer yes for abortion, then how about gun violence, sex trafficking, pollution, child porn, ... or do you only give up on evils that you think are 'not that bad'
So why is it that those who care about "social justice" are happy to see babies murdered by Planned Parenthood? Why don't they care about justice for the unborn? If they embrace this injustice, it seems reasonable to question their motives about fixing what they call unjust. Also, it's wrong to presume that wanting protection for the unborn means that there is no concern for the born. It's just a dodge.
You make some excellent points. However, you need to know that late-term abortions are done to save the mother’s life. The baby is already doomed. They aren’t done because the mother decided she didn’t want the baby. In that case, the baby is given up for adoption.
Abortion proponents tend to either imply or outright claim that few if any late-term abortions are elective. At the same time they do not support reporting of data that could verify these claims, and as a result there are extremely little data to bear on this question. But some data is available. Three states report some data on reasons given for obtaining abortions in cases of late-term abortions: Arizona, Florida, and Utah. (To be clear, the term "elective" is used just as it is used in the cited sources; in reality, virtually all of these abortions are by choice as will be seen when "health-related" abortions are examined closely.)
Arizona reported 714 abortions in 2012-2013 and 2015-2017 at >20 weeks' gestation. Of these, maternal medical conditions were cited for only 19 (3%) and fetal medical conditions for only 129 (18%). Thus 79% of these abortions were not health-related.
Nothing in this article is true. God cares for what? John 3:16, Mtt 28...save the world, "make disciples and baptizing. " the avordabke care act is a disaster, Trump is fighting for better health care. Welfare system a disaster, thanks to biden and obama....Trump bringing jobs back and making the best economy weve ever had had done more to help the poor. And if the supreme court did change its position on abortion states would not be allowed to create laws....michelle obama said the dems are the BLM party, that is the party of riots, terror, looting, killing...a chriatian can never vote for a candidate that supports mjrser of hund3of thousands of innocent lives....if you do....your no Christian
The premise here is that one doesn't believe strongly in the value of human life if one doesn't believe that its the governments role to do all these things. Believe in the need to cut federal funding to something does not equal lack of care for an issue.
Belief in the need to cut aid programs or health care for the disadvantaged equates to lack of care for your fellow man. In the main the impoverished can't 'work harder' or 'pull up their socks'. They need a hand up. Either we do that by charitable means or through federal programs. Charities can be partisan and ineffective, so lets use efficient, well directed and well managed federal programs. Vote for that.
Ron, you state that the 8 major sections set out by the National Association of Evangelicals are all issues that are part of a 'biblically balanced political agenda'. You then go on to state that there are many things that public policy shapes that kill persons created in the image of God and you list 6 of these public policies that cause or have resulted in people being killed.
I am wondering why you did not include was as one of the biggest (if not THE biggest public policy) that has caused or resulted in millions upon millions of persons created in the image of God being killed. I am also wondering why the National Association of Evangelicals did not state that part of a biblically balanced agenda' would be that no human has the right to kill another human. How can one person kill another person (created in the image of God) and still believe that they keeping the first and second greatest commandments and following Jesus's teaching as set out in chapter 22 of the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus responded to the following question: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
How can I say I am keeping these two commandments if I kill another human being, even if my country makes it legal for me to do so by issuing a law instructing me to do so .
This statement is superb! This is the first balanced reasonable approach to abortion I’ve seen! I have always accepted abortion as a temporary fix to a many sided problem and have supported programs to deal with the underlying problems that create the need for them! I am part of the 70% who wants reasonable boundaries set to it’s practice! You’re right, banning it on a federal level won’t end it either.
But the government can lead the way on all these other issues that, in the end, could result in a significant reduction in abortions!
Wouldn’t it be great if we eventually got to a place where:
EVERY CONCEPTION WAS
A WANTED CONCEPTION!
Lord, help us to win these battles!
They are all...
BATTLES FOR BABIES!!
Thanks so much for your blog! It is light in a time of great darkness!
I think there are many reasons for abortion, some I sympathize with and some I don't. (Walk a mile in my shoes...) In the small amount of research I've done it seems the fetus feels pain at about the 8th to 12th week. Maybe an abortion before that time is humane. I cannot sympathize with allowing a baby to be born who is going to suffer physically for a short time on this earth & then dies. Why put a baby through that? Having said that, would you, Ron Sider, speak to all the death God caused in the Old Testament? (Like, killing Achan's whole family when it was Achan who stole the spoil of war.) Sometimes I think God is not all that pro-life.
Thank you for this! I grew up in the 80s and 90s with parents that were very active in protesting Planned Parenthood locations, amongst other things. But as I watched the impact of their efforts, and listened to their “the sky is falling” rhetoric, It became obvious to me that their efforts were short sided, and inconsistent with the whole of pro-life positions. For 10+ years I’ve felt like politicians just use the pro-life as a trope, a means to use and even manipulate other-wise well meaning Christians for their own political gain. I see the same thing happening with the sudden attention to child sex trafficking. A serious issue being raised mostly for political gain. I’ve been in the trenches serving people who’ve actually been trafficked and raising awareness, funds and getting volunteers for this work is extremely hard, even in the most pro-life churches.
Yes, abortion matters, human trafficking matters, and does poverty, climate change of the earth we are to steward, and all the things you mentioned.
Let us strongly resist any attempts from others to use our Christian mission for their own political gains.
May we walk with humility and integrity, with love and kindness to all.
I agree with this article and your comment. I would love to further connect. Rebecca Price
You rank climate change with abortion and trafficking? Climate does change, that is clear, otherwise how did the last ice age end? How did humand cause that?
I too grew up with parents in the 70s and 80s who combatted the very issues which plague our society and culture today: "Equal Rights" and "Abortion Rights." They thought, as did millions of sincere believers, that Christian activism would restore America back to her "Christian roots." But the Moral Majority is no longer the majority; and is now becoming a minority even amongs professing Christians. Their mission was noble, but ultimately failed because God's kingdom is not of this world; there is no political solution to mankind's problem, which is sin.
The root of all wickedness and murder is rebellion against God, and a rejection of His Holy Word. The Christian mission is not to "make the world a better place for you and for me." The Great Commission is to seek and to save the lost. The church is not here to restore America; it is here to evangelize and disciple believers to be faithful Bible-reading and Bible-obeying followers of Jesus. Christians are to "do good unto all men; especially those of the household of faith." But social-gospel "good works" programs are not the gospel of Jesus, who declared, "For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always" (Mark 14:7). In other words, no amount of wealth distribution is going to solve poverty; hunger; homelessness; trafficking; and drug addiction.
But the gospel, if it is preached and believed and received, is the antidote to all of these things. (As the Apostle Paul declared, "and such were some of you!") However, we're living in the days of which Paul also prophesied would be increasingly perilous. He also declared that the church would abandon sound doctrine. Indeed, it has, as the social gospel, and "social justice" issues now dominate the majority of the professing church's time and attention as it tries so desperately to conform to the world's mold, in order to be tolerant, relevant, and to gain more "acceptance" of Jesus. Meanwhile, unborn babies continue to be murdered through abortion, which is premeditated killing. Families are destroyed by LGBTQ+ agenda, with adolescent and pre-adolescent children being chemically castrated and physically mutilated.
So I'm sorry, but God is grieved at this blatant corruption of His created order and the utter rejection of His Word and His authority. Yes we are called to be good stewards of His creation; but Earth Day etc. is tied to an antichrist "climate change" agenda which is actually promoting a worship of "mother earth" in preparation for global government and the reign of Antichrist. Ultimately, this earth will pass away and melt with fervent heat, and the Lord will make all things new.
So it is eternal souls that matter; not temporal comfort and bandaid-solutions that are destined to fail and burn up (2 Peter 3). Throughout Scripture, we are called pilgrims; sojourners; who look for a better city, which is heavenly, not earthly (see Hebrews 11). Neither believers nor the church are to be unequally yoked with the humanist, antichrist agendas of the United Nations and the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum, etc.
As Paul so clearly states, is to "have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose and reprove them.... redeeming the time, for the days are evil." (Eph. 5:11, 16). Read the rest of Paul's exhortation concerning the will of God. His epistles have nothing to say about "saving the planet" but are always focused on "saving souls." Everything else is but rearranging chairs on the Titanic. It's time to arise, awake, and call all women, children, and men, into the lifeboat of Jesus Christ.
I get why this advice, opinion, and spin would be appealing and attractive to believe. However, it is subtle and manipulative and it is the exact logic that has taken hold of society and infiltrated hearts and minds into believing that abortion is a "human right" and therefore ok, or not the most important issue. In fact, abortion is the greatest evil in existence. No matter how it is twisted or phrased, there is no denying that abortion is the deliberate taking of an innocent human life. And a society that allows abortion to continue under the guise of social justice, or whatever noble misguided attempt at making it seem normal and necessary, is corrupt and failing its most vulnerable members. "The right to life is a paramount issue because as Pope John Paul II says it is "the first right, on which all the others are based, and which cannot be recuperated once it is lost." If a candidate for office refuses solidarity with the unborn, he has laid the ground for refusing solidarity with anyone." Read this guide on how to vote and you will see there is no gray area when it comes to how one's conscience should direct your choices in the upcoming election. Spoiler alert, it's not for Biden.
https://www.ewtn.com/vote/brief-catechism.asp
I suggest you read the OFFICIAL Catholic bishops' document on faithful citizenship at:https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/forming-consciences-for-faithful-citizenship-title
I have, but I fail to see how this supports anything other than voting pro life. I understand that life does not end at birth, and that we have an obligation to help the poor, homeless, sick. All of these actions are good and noble, however it still circles back to Pope John Paul II and what he says,
"It is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop. A society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized. Only respect for life can be the foundation and guarantee of the most precious and essential goods of society, such as democracy and peace." Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae (1995), no. 101
Well said !!! THANK YOU AMP
I agree with you wholeheartedly, & wonder if God does not look down on abortion as sacrificing children to Baal & would we be in the state that we are in globally if we regarded the sanctity of life more importantly..Yes we are supposed to take care of the poor & we are all responsible for them..Government should not be responsible for everything..We the American people need to step up to.the plate..& teach our children to work & not rely totally on the government..I believe right now we have an out of balance social justice referendum going on..it is not helping the cause..unfortunately. I believe our children think there going to be in Utopia if the government supplies everything..We have not learned from the days of Russia when they stood in bread lines & Nazi Germany & the Holocaust..It seems to me we are headed back in that direction..Venezuela tried socialism..as well..1 of the richest countries in the world a few years ago..the people are starving now..I challenge all my friends to watch Fox News for a week, maybe 2 weeks..& not all the other news channels & you will see a different side..to what is really going on..My truth again!
Most developed countries, including the USA (e.g. social security, Medicare, Medicaid), have some form of socialism. I think you’re confusing communism (Russian case you referenced) and fascism (Nazi Germany case your referenced), with socialism. Venezuela is a failing state because of other factors, including a failure to diversify its economy away from oil money and corruption (including sever election rigging). Separately, Fox News, which unabashedly supports the President no matter what he does (with the exception of Chris Wallace), fails to explain why socialism led to the collapse of Venezuela... it just bludgeons viewers with that one characteristic (socialism) of Venezuela. It’s an old propaganda trick... repeat something enough times and people will believe it.
The writer of the article is right in saying that focus on abortion is an unbalanced way of living your faith. In fact, most Christians with the exception of Catholics didn’t care about abortion until a faction within the Republican Party decided to weaponize the abortion issue to gain the evangelical vote. It worked masterfully... now some Christians are so brainwashed they’ll vote entirely based on that single issue.
We kill over 2,000 babies every day in the US via abortion. Isn't that enough of a reason to give a lot of weigh to this "single issue"? If all those other issues are allegedly "pro life" as well, then how come those who embrace those issues NEVER include the unborn in their "pro life" beliefs?
The definition of baby is a very young child, especially one newly or recently born.The term infant is also used as formal/legal term for minor; that is, a child in general. A newborn infant is known as a neonate (neonatal, neonatus) after the final stage of gestation throughout the first three months. A human infant which is less than 28 days old is a newborn.
So actually, Vernon, we (who's we, ya got a mouse in your pocket, hahaha) don't kill over 2,000 babies every day in the US via abortion. Or maybe you can provide 2,000 citations or references that show where, just yesterday, the murders of 2,000 born humans occurred. I feel like I would have seen something about that on the news!
Taber’s medical encyclopedia defines fetus unborn child. Science has always recognized the humanity of the unborn.
Re number of daily abortions here’s some info:
https://lovewillendabortion.com/how-many-daily-abortions-in-the-u-s/
I remember when my wife was visiting doctors during her pregnancy and they and the nurses always referred to the "baby" and not the "fetus." Tell me why you think they shouldn't be considered to be the same as babies. Tell me why Ron Sider says abortions should be "grieved." How do you feel about a mature fetus being decapitated before birth? Are you good to go with killing the fetus at any time before birth?
Say it in whatever means you care to abortion is murder. And how dare you to say that Christians are brainwashed. Christians rely on their faith based on the Holy Bible not Fox News not the rants of politicians if you were to study the word you would understand that we rely on Gods teachings not mans
In regard to socialism. I’ve traveled the world over and no where have I seen any good effects of socialism. Even in Sweden the utopia of socialism Their government basically takes their earnings and gives them some walking around money. They are happy to have the government control almost every aspect of their life because they’ve been “brainwashed “ by the government who benefits from this. Of course the government officials live on a much higher lifestyle because you know they are the ones who know best.
A government big enough to give you everything is also a government who can take everything. Do you seriously want someone to tell you what to do what you may eat what you can wear when and where you can vacation.
I’ve talked many times with Russians who lived under communism and seen the effects its had both there and the Ukraine and believe me you don’t want any part of it.
When their water would freeze in the winter and the building heat was off they had to get it restored when the government overseer got around to it. Of course the higher ups never had to wait but the everyday citizen just had to freeze his butt off until someone sobered up enough to pay attention. And it was pretty awful to wait in line in the freezing cold perhaps all day to get your 4 ounces of meat for a family of four and then another line for your loaf of bread. Medicine was free but one bottle of aspirin would not do for an entire city. They had no drugs whatsoever and tried to do the best they could with herbs
Don’t think for a moment that socialism is nothing but communism in the budding process.
Get on your knees and thank God above you are in this wonderful capitalist country where there’s food a plenty at thousands of stores and drive through s
You idiot!
Actually, you still don’t understand the difference between socialism and communism. You cite Russia as an example, but that country went from communism to a form of crony capitalism. I also find it odd that you claim to be a Christian, but then call me an idiot at the end of your post. Separately, I’ve traveled the world as well. In many countries that are democracies and have socialist policies, such as Italy and France, the people are quite happy and benefit from benefits such as universal healthcare. Note that folks there work hard and are driven for professional success as well.
Your comment about capitalism is ill informed. Capitalism works well so long as there is some mechanism that allows some return on public goods. For example, tax payer funded research contributes to the development of drugs all the time, but yet pharmaceutical company shareholders reap huge rewards while we’re stuck paying huge sums for medicines. Is that fair?
Is it fair that the largest American companies do not pay their fair share in taxes while our infrastructure, which they use (eg Amazon delivers using public roads), is crumbling?
Tangentially, income inequality in the US is shockingly high and rising. Real wages for the middle class have remained the same for decades while the wealth of this country goes to the top percentile of earners. In what world do you think that is fair and why do you think that the only alternative to that is communism. We need to fix American capitalism, not turn into communists. We can also have socialist policies for the less fortunate, such as social security and free healthcare. I feel like that is more compassionate and compatible with Jesus’ teachings.
Regarding abortion:
1) not everyone (including some Christians) believe it is murder. Why would you impose your beliefs on other people?
2) if it is outlawed, do you really think that people will not still have them performed?
3) if it is outlawed, do you think rich people will not be able to get them? I could easily imagine some of the wealthiest Republican donors just hopping over to Canada or another country to get safe abortions.
Regarding abortion:
1.) What does it matter if some people don't believe it's murder? Slaveowners didn't think their slave humans. Nazis didn't think Jews were fully human, etc. That is a poor litmus test for whether we should tackle this issue. The science is overwhelmingly clear that a fetus is an independent human in a stage of development, no different from a toddler, pre-teen, or adult (all being independent humans at varying stages of development). The only arguments against personhood are arbitrary timelines or contingencies of viability - as if viability is how we test whether anyone else is a person.
2.) So? We outlaw rape yet it still occurs. Should we legalize it since it still happens?
3.) So bad actors will exist? That's a good argument against abolition?
1) Whataboutism is irrelevant - you failed to answer the question. You’re trying to dictate what someone does with her body based primarily on a religious belief. The key question is why you believe what you do and what was the genesis of fervent Christian support for anti-abortion thinking was (tangentially, you can trace the origins of racist thinking in American too). You can trace anti-abortion thinking back to a handful of Republican political operatives. This is well documented. The purpose was to galvanize Protestants and Catholics in order to align them with the Right. I don’t know anyone who has an anti-abortion position who is not Christian (though I would imagine there is a minority), i.e. you’re imposing your religious beliefs on others.
2) Your example of rape is an ironic one because it’s another example of imposing your will on someone’s body. A more apropos example would be drugs. Examine what the war on drugs and the criminalization of drug use has done to families and communities and you’ll get my point.
3) I bring this up to point out the irony of it all. Republicans and Democrats are constructs. There are and have always been two real parties since the dawn of representative government: the haves and the have nots. The abortion issue was another way for the haves to get some have nots to support their party (refer to what I wrote about in point 2 above). So at the end of the day, folks are willing to allow ultra wealthy individuals free reign to further enrich themselves on corporate welfare (bailouts, tax arbitrage, unpunished environmental destruction, etc.), while further exacerbating massive income inequality in exchange for the banning of abortion, which those ultra wealthy folks couldn’t care less about because they’re not beholden to it. That was the point.
You may have all of your arguments against abortion locked and loaded, but they fail to recognize that the idea itself is just part of a larger play for power. You’re already indoctrinated, so there’s no use debating with you (let’s be honest, no one is changing their views here). Your minority views are about to get a huge boost with the new Supreme Court justice pick. I wonder what will happen after roe v wade is overturned. Will you stop at that, or will you seek a federal ban? If that were to happen, what do you think happens next?
What you call brainwashed some might call convicted.
I don’t think folks who are brainwashed would be able to tell the difference honestly.
So you're going to rely on the catch-22 crazy test? Maybe you're brainwashed into believing this. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference honestly.
So a bunch of so called prolife evangelicals have decided to ignore the barbaric practices of abortion, abandon the most innocent among us. Who do they, and you their followers, think will go to the aid of unborn babies? Babies whose brains are sucked out while fully alive with legs and arms kicking and flailing, babies born alive from failed abortion attempts? Will the fight against racism end this? Efforts to reverse climate change? It amazes me that while they and all of you pretend to care about injustice, all the social ills, but you deny the humanity of the unborn and just born. It’s hypocrisy at its finest. You really don’t care about anyone but yourselves. This group of men and their followers are not prolife in any shape or form. They are evangelicals of another religion, certainly not Christianity.
Lets step back for a second and evaluate what abortion is. For Christians, life from conception to old age has the same intrinsic value. I am sure you would agree with this. This is because we are all made in the image of God. So the life of an unborn baby has the same value as a 24 year old or an elderly lady. I am sure we all can agree on that.
Some this is true, let's change the demographics of the abortion.
Lets say there is a party running for office that advocates the murdering of 5year old girls. They plan to put up several clinics where mothers can bring their 5 year old girls to be torn apart and thrown in the garbage or given to medical institutions for further research. If you dont like that demographic, then lets insert another life, maybe your wife or grandchildren. Or yet lets insert another demographic like Jewish people.
Now Ron and others who hold to this view, do you think a blog like and its arguments that you represent could stand? Does the killing of 5year old girls not trump everything? Could i have said during world war 2, that the killing of Jews does not trump everything. Would your argument stand and blog make sense if it was called the abortion of jews? Surely not!
For some reason, we have gotten too use to the idea and the word abortion. Lets truly take it in its context and for what it is.
I know Ron that you mean well, but your blog is causing others justification for voting for a party that advocates, in their platform, the murdering of innocent life.
Well, why does a theoretical unborn baby matter more to you than a five year old who girl who needs food and a well provisioned kindergarten classroom? Why does the theoretical unborn baby matter more to you than a fifty year old woman with no health insurance who out off getting a breast lump examined because she doesn’t have health insurance? Why does a theoretical unborn baby matter more to you than environmental protections that will ensure this unborn baby has clean air, water, isn’t subject to extreme weather events caused by climate change? What kind of larger world are you hoping to leave for the babies yet to be born, who will need food, education, healthcare, safety? Getting born is only one moment in a life, and if you throw that baby to the wolves after birth, what good have you really done that child?
I find it interesting that you use the word 'theoretical' when describing the unborn baby. This tells me that you are not convinced that this is life. This is important, because I began my post from a Christian worldview. All Christ followers know that life begins with conception (Psalm 139:13-16). I am not sure what worldview you believe but I will try to entertain your logic.
I said in my post that they all matter... regardless of age. That is why 'life regardless of age has the same value' But being born has the top priority because all the other rights that you mention begins with the right to life. None of those issues can be solved unless you are born to solve them. Plus, just because life is harsh, doesn't give you the right to take it. I know from experience because I was born in poverty and segregation. My life has meaning and purpose. And God gets to decide that not man.
Plus, no party is advocating the death of old woman with no health insurance OR lets kill people and babies because we don't believe in environmental protection OR lets take away food and education and healthcare so the baby and people can die. Their strategies on how to deal with the issue differ but no party is advocating the death of people regarding these issues. These issues gets solved with people being born not killing them off.
The Dem party is advocating the death of the MOST vulnerable. They are running with this platform. I am arguing that this is our top priority. If you saw a 5 year old with no food, a fifty year old woman with no health insurance; a baby being born with no environmental protection policy's; a child lacking education; a mother on her way to a clinic to kill her baby- which one would you save FIRST?
Any decent human knows the answer to this. We all gravitate towards the baby about to be murdered because we know that it is the most vulnerable.
From a concerned father, please save the life of the unborn baby. Your vote and your voice matter to me and the baby who desperately needs us. And let us continue to make life better for those who are born, the five year old, the fifty year old and the school child. Let us bring life in this world so they can help us solve these issues.
Praying for your decision.
Stanton
I see theoretical because the baby I’m talking about has not been conceived yet. No egg has been released, no sperm has been deposited in somebody’s vagina to make its way to this theoretical egg.It exists as an abstract idea in people’s imaginations.
You write, “...no party is advocating the death of old woman with no health insurance OR lets kill people and babies because we don't believe in environmental protection OR lets take away food and education and healthcare so the baby and people can die. Their strategies on how to deal with the issue differ...” The whole point of this blog post is that the way the parties are dealing with them are different, and one is fundamentally less Christian than the other one. The question here is are you willing to throw away all of the other already living people and all of these other issues that are important to our collective well-being for the sake of theoretical unborn babies?
We are being terrible stewards of God’s creation, and watching the news on the weather channel alone should make you aware of this. We are not showing justice and mercy while police brutalize Black Americans. We are not caring for the least among us when we separate refugees and asylum seekers from their children, turn them away from our borders, and keep their children in detention cells. I find most of the Republican platform to be most unchristian. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and so should Christians rebuke the current administration and its Congressional sycophants.
Work locally and at a state level to provide for the needs of women. Low cost, easy to access birth control methods of women’s choosing as one of the best ways to prevent abortions. No pregnancy, no abortion. And it is not anyone’s role to judge their sexual behavior choices. One of the main reasons that women give for having abortions is lack of financial resources to care for another child. When the minimum wage is too low to support a working family, when food and housing benefits or two meager to feed and house and expanding family, people do what they need to do to keep their already existing children clothes and fed and housed. You could also work on lobbying efforts to get the federal minimum wage is raised. That would help prevent abortions.
You gave a litany of left wing talking points as well as problems which have debatable solutions. But none of that excuses murdering unborn babies.
Katherine, wonderful response. I agree that we need to fight the injustice and speak up for the poor and vulnerable. I stand with you when it comes to injustice and mercy. I received this myself from God through our Lord Jesus Christ who came to save me while I was a sinner.
Please note, I am NOT advocating that you vote Republican, I am just advocating not to vote for a party that wants to kill innocent children.
In my first post I noted that the Christ follower sees life having the same value from conception to old age. So regardless of what age or demographic you insert, you are still taking a life.
Let us say, that tomorrow the Dem party is going to announce that they are changing the demographic of abortion to 5 year old girls. Parents can now opt to take them to clinics to get ripped apart and killed. Now let me know if these arguments which you presented make sense.
We want 5 year old girls killed because....
1. We know parents lack financial resources to care for children beyond 5 years of age.
2. We know parents are receiving minimum wage and struggling to support a full family on food and housing.
Option 1: Would your FIRST action be to abolish the law that kills the 5 year old girls? Or
Option 2: Would your FIRST action be birth control, teaching about sexual behavior, increasing minimum wage.... so that we can decrease the number of 5 year old girls dying while the law remains in place.
I bet your strategy would be to abolish the law. In fact, I bet you would be passionately zealous in pursuing to save the life of these 5 year old girls. I also bet that environmental protection, police brutality, refugees, would take a LITTLE back step so that you could concentrate on saving the 5 year old girls who are being brutally killed. I doubt you would be lobbying for federal minimum wage while thousands and millions of girls are getting killed.
Let us be honest with ourselves, if we cannot stomach 5 year old girls getting killed before us, then why are we creating excuses when it comes to unborn babies.
Looking forward to hearing what option you would choose.
But nobody is advocating killing kindergartners. There are people advocating for reducing access to healthcare, moving funding from public schools to private sector schools, increasing work requirements for people to qualify for good stamps or Medicaid, decreasing environmental protections, selling our nation’s natural
resources to private, for-profit enterprises, restructuring taxes to benefit corporations and the ultra-wealthy.
I have to reject an argument about killing five year olds and redirect to what is actually going on right now in this country. And to answer your question, I would STILL vote for the greater good for the greater number right now and work on reproductive justice issues alongside these other important issues. Again, the best way to reduce abortion numbers is to address family planning and contraception access, and to make sure that people don’t feel backed into a poverty corner with no options.
You mark my words here though - we are devolving into an authoritarian regime run by a strong-man with dynastic aspirations. This election decides the fate of this country and our democracy. I am not willing to trade our collective rights and freedoms for a vote that hinges on this one issue. There is too much for too many at stake here.
They might not be advocating kindergartners, but they are advocating the taking life which is the same regardless of age. You cannot reject that argument unless you believe that the unborn baby is not life.
But I am saddened and shocked to hear that you would STILL vote for a party even though they would advocate the killing of life (from unborn to old age).
I am speechless and do not know what more to say to that.
I will continue to pray that God opens up our eyes to the true reality of abortion. That abortion is the taking of life regardless of age. No other issue is at greater steak right now. I agree that there are important issues but none so grave than the deliberate taking of life.
Also, thank you for being willing to engage in a civil discussion about this issue. It is much appreciated.
Abortion is an issue that no party will ever solve. It's like the war on terror, or widespread drug use....our best strategy is to do what we can to reduce abortion rates. You're never going to convince someone where you believe life begins is the right moment. As Sider said, the main reason women abort is because they cannot afford the child. Democratic policies such as free health care and distribution of free birth control do more for lowering the rate of abortion than Republican policies which want to take that away. It makes me wonder if pro-lifers are truly pro-life or mad about something they're not saying.
Thanks for your response to my post. I can see in your reply that you desire to see life. You know it took many years for slavery and segregation to be abolished. I am thankful for those who persevered and never gave up. My life is better today because of the heroes who stood against those evils. I pray you will do the same and be remembered as a hero of life.
So d we give up on problems that we can't eliminate. If you want answer yes for abortion, then how about gun violence, sex trafficking, pollution, child porn, ... or do you only give up on evils that you think are 'not that bad'
Kind of a long winded way to say the killing of unborn babies isn’t that important to you!
So why is it that those who care about "social justice" are happy to see babies murdered by Planned Parenthood? Why don't they care about justice for the unborn? If they embrace this injustice, it seems reasonable to question their motives about fixing what they call unjust. Also, it's wrong to presume that wanting protection for the unborn means that there is no concern for the born. It's just a dodge.
Interesting, these are the same arguments Democrat voters used to justify their vote in times of slavery and segregation.
You make some excellent points. However, you need to know that late-term abortions are done to save the mother’s life. The baby is already doomed. They aren’t done because the mother decided she didn’t want the baby. In that case, the baby is given up for adoption.
Any data on this? Here's what I found (note the statistic that 79%
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/policy/abortion/late_term_abortion_usa.html
Abortion proponents tend to either imply or outright claim that few if any late-term abortions are elective. At the same time they do not support reporting of data that could verify these claims, and as a result there are extremely little data to bear on this question. But some data is available. Three states report some data on reasons given for obtaining abortions in cases of late-term abortions: Arizona, Florida, and Utah. (To be clear, the term "elective" is used just as it is used in the cited sources; in reality, virtually all of these abortions are by choice as will be seen when "health-related" abortions are examined closely.)
Arizona reported 714 abortions in 2012-2013 and 2015-2017 at >20 weeks' gestation. Of these, maternal medical conditions were cited for only 19 (3%) and fetal medical conditions for only 129 (18%). Thus 79% of these abortions were not health-related.
Nothing in this article is true. God cares for what? John 3:16, Mtt 28...save the world, "make disciples and baptizing. " the avordabke care act is a disaster, Trump is fighting for better health care. Welfare system a disaster, thanks to biden and obama....Trump bringing jobs back and making the best economy weve ever had had done more to help the poor. And if the supreme court did change its position on abortion states would not be allowed to create laws....michelle obama said the dems are the BLM party, that is the party of riots, terror, looting, killing...a chriatian can never vote for a candidate that supports mjrser of hund3of thousands of innocent lives....if you do....your no Christian
The premise here is that one doesn't believe strongly in the value of human life if one doesn't believe that its the governments role to do all these things. Believe in the need to cut federal funding to something does not equal lack of care for an issue.
Belief in the need to cut aid programs or health care for the disadvantaged equates to lack of care for your fellow man. In the main the impoverished can't 'work harder' or 'pull up their socks'. They need a hand up. Either we do that by charitable means or through federal programs. Charities can be partisan and ineffective, so lets use efficient, well directed and well managed federal programs. Vote for that.
Why not also protect life in the womb from being unjustly killed by abortion?
A balanced perspective. Thank you! May your fount not run dry!
Thank you , friends. Ron
Ron, you state that the 8 major sections set out by the National Association of Evangelicals are all issues that are part of a 'biblically balanced political agenda'. You then go on to state that there are many things that public policy shapes that kill persons created in the image of God and you list 6 of these public policies that cause or have resulted in people being killed.
I am wondering why you did not include was as one of the biggest (if not THE biggest public policy) that has caused or resulted in millions upon millions of persons created in the image of God being killed. I am also wondering why the National Association of Evangelicals did not state that part of a biblically balanced agenda' would be that no human has the right to kill another human. How can one person kill another person (created in the image of God) and still believe that they keeping the first and second greatest commandments and following Jesus's teaching as set out in chapter 22 of the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus responded to the following question: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
How can I say I am keeping these two commandments if I kill another human being, even if my country makes it legal for me to do so by issuing a law instructing me to do so .
sorry ... a lot of bs in this article.
This statement is superb! This is the first balanced reasonable approach to abortion I’ve seen! I have always accepted abortion as a temporary fix to a many sided problem and have supported programs to deal with the underlying problems that create the need for them! I am part of the 70% who wants reasonable boundaries set to it’s practice! You’re right, banning it on a federal level won’t end it either.
But the government can lead the way on all these other issues that, in the end, could result in a significant reduction in abortions!
Wouldn’t it be great if we eventually got to a place where:
EVERY CONCEPTION WAS
A WANTED CONCEPTION!
Lord, help us to win these battles!
They are all...
BATTLES FOR BABIES!!
Thanks so much for your blog! It is light in a time of great darkness!
I think there are many reasons for abortion, some I sympathize with and some I don't. (Walk a mile in my shoes...) In the small amount of research I've done it seems the fetus feels pain at about the 8th to 12th week. Maybe an abortion before that time is humane. I cannot sympathize with allowing a baby to be born who is going to suffer physically for a short time on this earth & then dies. Why put a baby through that? Having said that, would you, Ron Sider, speak to all the death God caused in the Old Testament? (Like, killing Achan's whole family when it was Achan who stole the spoil of war.) Sometimes I think God is not all that pro-life.
There is no reasoning for abortion!