Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Faithful Democrats

Home
Politics and Religion
An Authentic Democratic Christian Position on Abortion

An Authentic Democratic Christian Position on Abortion

Last updated on: May 9, 2013 at 6:20 am by Faithful Democrats

An Authentic Democratic Christian Position on Abortion 2013-05-09T06:20:27-06:00 Faithful Democrats

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What can break the deadlock between choice vs. life?

Reflective Christians can offer something better.

What is an authentic Democratic Christian message on
abortion?

The
language of choice vs. life, as we know from experience, is a losing
proposition for those of us who understand the need to protect the freedoms of
Roe vs. Wade. It is a losing proposition
because it pits the seemingly self-absorbed concern with freedom of choice
against the moral weight of the protection of life. It makes defenders of legal abortion appear morally frivolous.

But
for those candidates who wish to speak the language of faith, like the sincere
if unreflective Catholicism of John Kerry, there must be a clear, easily
digestible message to offer the country about the issue which, unfortunately,
moves most people of simple faith in their political decisions. Kerry choked when asked about abortion in
the debates. This must not happen
again.

Let
me cut to the chase- here is language that I think may be helpful in validating
people’s gut feeling that abortion is the taking of a life, while holding up
the grave responsibility to make good laws which do not make the situation
worse.

Simply
put, “I believe that abortion is a sin, but that a sin is different from a
crime.”

That’s the soundbite.
The supporting ideas are that the law of God and the law of society are
two different things, and that both are important, but they cannot do each
other’s job.

The
wrongness of abortion is an issue that needs to be addressed with good
preaching, not with government. We know
from experience that it does the country no good if we attempt to control it
through legal prohibition.

This
simple theological insight supports the main policy emphasis of most Democratic
leaders today- that the best way for government to address the tragedy of
abortion is to work to create a society in which the desperate realities that
tempt people to choose abortion are reduced in severity.

Discussions
about whether a fetus constitutes a life lead us into the wrong territory. While I like to say that I won’t call
something a human life until I can baptize him or her, I do think that to deny
that a fetus is still a potential life rings with a not e of dishonesty among
most people.

The
bible is silent on the practice of abortion.
I found my own pro-choice position moderated, however, when I learned
that one of the distinctive points of the early church’s radical value of
nonviolence was that Christians did not practice abortion, as was common in the
Greco-Roman world.

To follow
the non-violence of Jesus, I think we need to be clear in our confession:

Violence
is always a sin.

Killing
is always a sin.

War
is always a sin.

Suicide
is always a sin.

The death
penalty is always a sin

And,
Abortion is always a sin.

But
Jesus died for sinners, and the purpose of our civil law is not to get us right
with God.

Our
civil law permits choices between greater and lesser evils, and respects our
right to privacy in our moral decision-making.
Killing in self-defense is seen as justified. We have fought at least one just war. We are experimenting with getting the state out of people’s
decision to die with dignity.

The 90’s saw a marked
drop in the frequency of people resorting to abortion. I think that it might be fair to say that
two cultural factors were responsible for this. One is that a lot of Christians were getting the message out that
this was wrong. I believe they were
doing this in the wrong way, but it did have it’s effect. The other factor in reducing abortion,
however, was the Clinton presidency, with economic policies that were kinder to
the poor. Clinton fostered a culture
that cared for life beyond delivery, a culture to which I hope we will soon
return and surpass.

Reader Blogs

Previous Post

September 8, 2006

Remembering 9/11

Next Post

September 8, 2006 What Gay-Affirming Christians find in the Bible

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Us About Us Action Center Advertise Ask a Theologian Ask a Theologian Blogs Books Campaign Blog Candidate Spotlights Commentary Donate Facebook Featured Writers Fellows Fellows From the Pulpit General Information Hillary Clinton Interfaith Blog Latest Media Center Media Center Media Center MyBlog MyBlog News Newsflash Newsflashes Our Team Reader Blogs RSS Sermon of the Week Shop Social Networking Static Items Support Talking Points Test blogs The Basics Theology Uncategorized YouTube

Select a Month November 2020 October 2020 February 2020 August 2019 July 2018 July 2017 March 2017 February 2017 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 January 2006 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Genesis" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Origin or beginning Wisdom History Law