Tuesday, January 22, 2013

What to do about abortion today

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and, as someone who has always despised legal abortion as well as the excesses done to combat it, I'm still not sure how just how to respond. It seems as though nothing has been effective -- rallies, marches, voting -- in causing a groundswell of grass-roots opposition from the public.

And it's not that folks haven't tried -- I personally know two people who were arrested in Operation Rescue demonstrations in 1988; locally, it was centered in the church that they attended at the time.

It could be that part of the problem with fighting abortion is its prominence in the "culture war" because, outside of some religious types, not all that many people care enough to cast their votes on the issue -- I've seen abortion become an issue in just two political campaigns, ever, and one of those was last year.

I know what you might be thinking -- We're talking about human life here. Isn't there anything more precious than that?

Well, yes, there is -- a walk with God. If your activism no matter the issue detracts from that, it's frankly idolatry and needs to be put away. You simply can't assume that you're obeying God just by being involved because the devil can certainly disguise himself and worm his way in there. Remember that the only thing that Satan cares about is disrupting God's agenda and will use anything, even His Word, to do it.

For that reason it's probably a good thing that abortion isn't even directly mentioned in the Bible, although you can certainly make the case that it is indeed evil.

I do have one prediction: Abortion will not become illegal again unless and until the culture war ends -- with a loss. I say this because only when it's freed from what might be considered its exclusively religious context will folks begin to consider when life truly begins. However, for that to work it also has to be coupled with "quality of life" issues such as poverty and pollution, thus embracing a more comprehensive "pro-life" approach.

And doing that costs time, money and power -- things that folks don't want to give up.

The book "Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America?", which was published in 1999, mentioned how abortion came to be banned before -- around the turn of the last century, and that had to do with men who played the "use 'em and lose 'em game" and left the women that they had seduced in a lurch. The churches weren't involved in banning the practice, simply counseling people about sexual activity; meanwhile, abortion laws were enacted in every state with popular consent.

Times are different today, of course, with women often now seeking sexual fulfillment for its own sake and abortion seen as a "right," but the premise still applies. Deal with the issues between men and women and you deal with the abortion issue.

No comments: