Check out Brian Mclaren’s open letter to President Obama. He encapsulates both my frustration with Obama and my hope that he can make better choices. It is time for a third option to be tried in America.
I just got a mass email from an old friend. In this email, he urged me to urge legislation of a certain bill, fight against another bill, all for the sake of protecting unborn babies from dying through abortion. I will just go ahead and say it upfront. I am not pro-choice. I can support abortion (begrudgingly) in extreme cases, but by and large, it is a brutal, ugly thing that indeed kills a being with the potential to live a full human life. Why is it then that I feel so angry right now about most pro-life people I know? It is because they are not really pro-life. They are anti-abortion. There is a difference.
Why were these same “pro-life” people all for the war in Afganistan, the war in Iraq? Why do they look with fondness at how we kicked the Axis’ ass in WW2? Why are most of them against gun control? Why are most of them in favor of capital punishment? Being pro-life is a joke in America. It is a thinly disguised attempt to make ourselves feel better at the expense of those who make different choices than us. If you are really pro-life, support a consistent ethic of human life. If you are against abortion, be against war. Be against guns. Be against violence. Be against the death penalty. At least be consistent.
If you are interested, one of the biggest turning points for me in my worldview/theology/growth was the point that I realized that if I believed what I said about God and people, then abortion was actually serving a good purpose (by allowing babies safe passage to Heaven before they had the chance to experience a hard life or sin). Also, the death penalty was bad because it didn’t allow the people who really needed to repent (so they could go to Heaven) more time to do so. So under my old assumptions, fighting abortions and administering the death penalty was fighting against God’s ultimate desires.
Now, I believe God indeed values all life (as attested to in the scriptures). God calls us all to live in harmony with each other. If you want me to get on board your politcal train without a consistent ethic of human life, I won’t even meet you at the station. Show me a polititian with real values, or legislation that doesn’t just make you feel better while ignoring the root issues.
Mike Goldsworthy posted these on his blog on MLK day, and I just read them today. These are some of the things that Martin Luther King expected of his volunteers. Profound, and perhaps Eikon should adopt something like this…
Meditate daily on the life and teachings of Jesus
Remember always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation – not victory
Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love
Sacrifice personal wishes that all men might be free
Seek to perform regular service to others and the world
Refrain from the violence of the fist, tongue and heart
