I just read two posts on 10 reasons why abortion is the greatest moral issue of our time, and I have to say it is difficult to argue with. Check out the posts to see what I mean. He connects abortion to eugenics, infanticide, racism, sexism, cloning, consumerism, and a host of other issues. Honestly it took my breath away to read it, and confirmed for me that abortion is a really big deal.
- Abortion as the Greatest Moral Issue of our Time, Reasons 1-3
- Abortion as the Greatest Moral Issue of our Time, Reasons 4-10
What do you think?
I find his arguments compelling. But saying that abortion is “the greatest moral issue” doesn’t suggest how to solve the problem. Would making abortion illegal (how exactly do we do that anyway?) change the culture of despair where Western populations are shrinking? It seems like the prevalence of abortion, and the lightness with which it is accepted is a symptom of deeper issues, not necessarily the cause.
That’s a really good point, Maria. If it is the greatest moral “issue” how can we address it unless we first address the underlying culture of despair from which it emanates?
And how, exactly, are Christians to confront and address the culture around us? I think about the early church and their engagement with the pagan culture they encountered (arguably more blatantly and openly pagan than current Western culture). They didn’t seem to mind or care too much who was in power, they simply went about their radically new way of life. Instead of just decrying the immorality of the pagan practice of exposing unwanted children, they went out to the town dumps and rescued those children.
I also dislike that the author claims, “No one can be truly concerned for the poor, the weak, the helpless, the elderly, the frail, the handicapped, the minority, the economically disadvantaged or the victims of discrimination who is not pro-life.”
It is naive and/or unfair to claim this, for humans like myself are astonishingly capable of sincerely and even passionately believing logically contradictory things. To doubt the sincerity of a person in one action due to a logical incompatibility with another action or belief is to wrongly imagine humans to be logical above all else.
Having finished the article, the rest is a great overlay of the many serious concerns about a culture that accepts abortion.
And whether or not outlawing abortion would fix the core problems, it should still be done. Outlawing murder of those already born has not prevented all murders nor fixed the deeper issues that lead people to kill each other, but it is the responsibility of a civilized government nonetheless. Abortion needs to be outlawed. Heck, even moving the line closer to conception and choosing something less fuzzy than birth as the line between legal abortion and murder (e.g. start of measurable brain activity, all major organs present, etc) would at least show an honest effort to acknowledge the humanity (and right to life) of the unborn, rather than this nonsensical pretense that they are just part of the mother’s body, which she can treat as she pleases.
I long for a real conversation on this issue. However, if the best Christians who take an anti-abortion stance can do is to say ‘Killing babies is bad’ then we will never have a real dialogue.
The argument has become so polarized and politicized that there might be some pro-lifers who would argue against that statement, but that is not where the argument really is. This issue can only be understood through the real, almost always tragic, stories of those who seek abortions. I would hope that politics-aside, any sensible person will agree that it would be best if no abortions were ever carried-out. What we really disagree on is whether a law to ban abortion is the right way to proceed. Personally I can’t bring myself to subscribe to either ‘abortion on demand up to birth’ nor ‘make all abortions in any circumstance illegal’ – why does that have to be my choice?
I like Maria’s thoughts and Nathan’s call for some a possible third-way and I love Ben’s reminder that maybe we are called to loving action for the needy rather than just talking politics.
Talking of politics – as for this being the ‘greatest moral issue’ I’m afraid that just tastes like ‘vote for my candidate, not the other one’ to me and I have little patience with people who suggest that the choice of who to vote for should be decided on one or two black/white moral issues – the world has too many shades of gray (and color too!).
Any story we tell has to be grounded in the reality of the people who we are talking about – in the case of abortion this means the mother AS WELL AS the baby – when we start to see issues instead of real people, we have I think lost sight of our calling.
I tried the links, Ben, and the blog or article is no more?
Like many, I have strong feelings about this; and it’s totally right that we should, as serious as it is. I’ve learned to tread lightly, as people get pretty intense about it. So, I only want to comment about 1 specific thing.
As far as the role of authorities (who all derive their authority from God, whether they use it for Him or not) – I go back to Proverbs 31. King Lemuel’s mom told him to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. I was reading in there one day and thought of that in terms of abortion. I had never connected the two before.
So, God’s order for those in authority is to be a leader and Father like He is, to defend those who can’t defend themselves.