Politics: Abortion (continued)

The other day I got really fed up with people always writing very one-sided views of all the politics that are going on, so I decided I wanted to write a series of blogs about my opinion. Now, I don't expect everyone (or maybe anyone) to agree with everything I write, so I hope that if you disagree you will let me know. Misty, thanks for the comment, part of what I write will be a response. I want to reiterate at the beginning of this that I am pro-life, but I think there are some pretty good arguments to allow abortions in some situations. I also think that some of what I said in my last post could have been put better, so I will try to do that some.

1. The first thing that I think I need to explain my thoughts better on is "playing God." Many times people will say that to have an abortion is to take control away from God and give it to yourself. God has ordained the pregnancy, according to this view, and if we do anything against that then we are declaring ourselves in control and removing God from control. I think this is a flawed argument for a lot of reasons.

The first is that if we take this position, then in any and every situation we must allow to happen what will happen. If we are diagnosed with cancer, then that must be God's will and unless we allow the cancer to run its course, we are then "playing God" because he gave us cancer for a reason. We should not use any birth control, because it then does not allow God to do his work. We should not, as some do, count days between periods to avoid pregnancy. These all seem like ways to "play God" if contraception is not allowed. On the flip side, are we allowed to help the babies that are growing inside the mother at this point? I have a very good friend who had a lot of issues with her baby, and the doctors had to help in a lot of ways, was she "playing God" by not allowing God to do what he wanted? I think not.

My second problem with that position is that the people who advocate it still allow for the baby to be put up for adoption. This strikes me as strange, because I think that God knows who he is causing to be pregnant, why wouldn't he just have the couple that would eventually adopt the baby get pregnant, and leave the poor single mother barren? Isn't it "playing God" to decide who can raise the child? In other words, by allowing a child to be put up for adoption, would we not be "playing God" by saying that some other parents should raise that child? If God has ordained a certain mother to get pregnant, then why would God ordain that child to be put up for adoption?

My third problem with this is that if God desired to have complete control, there is nothing you or I could do to prevent it. God created the world and is fully capable of taking control at any point in time. If we are going to say that EACH and EVERY pregnancy was ordained by God, then we must also say that God can overcome any obstacle we put in the way of that pregnancy. God could overcome contraceptives, and God could overcome an abortion. We cannot take this title away from God. Instead, I would say that God has set the conditions for life to occur and he allows the laws of the universe to determine when it does occur. I do not think God cares if we change the conditions for life to occur (i.e. it can only happen when we aren't on birth control or using other contraceptives), in fact I believe that God desires us to be responsible with this wonderful gift of life!

My last problem with this point of view is that it relegates humans to a very passive participant in the universe. If we are not allowed to make decisions that matter because that would be "playing God" then what decisions are we allowed to make? The fact is God has given us choice because he wants us to use choice. He does not want us to make poor choices, but he does want us to make a choice. He wants us to be active participants in how this all turns out. He invites us, in a way, to "play God" because that is the role he designated for us. Again, I don't think God desires us to have abortions, but I don't think it is for the reason that we would then be "playing God." We are perfectly OK with "playing God" in other situations, such as allowing a heart transplant or euthanizing a pet.

2. I said that sometimes the child may be better off if the parent aborts it. I still believe that. For every child that escapes a life of poverty, for every son or daughter of addicts that manages to avoid those bonds, there are too many to count that do not escape. I think we, especially Americans, are so fearful of death that it clouds our judgment on this issue. Was it Paul that said "to live is Christ and to die is gain"? If we believe that God will be gracious on children that had no say in their lives, wouldn't death be gain for them? The problem is that many of us do not have a proper view of what happens after we die. We are so enamored with this life that we think that if someone missed it and went straight to the "second life" that they would be missing out. The truth is, WE WOULD BE MISSING OUT!! All of us would be better off if we had simply immediately gone to be with God. That does not, again, mean that we should abort every child. I believe that God wants us to live lives that serve him and bring him disciples. But we should not pity those babies who were aborted, maybe they should pity us! CS Lewis writes that "we are like children that are happy with mud pies, because we cannot imagine what it would be like to have a holiday at sea." (rough paraphrase)

I think maybe I have called so much into question, it would be good to clarify what I actually believe about abortion. I believe that it should be legal. My reasons are those that I have said in my previous post, but to reiterate; some would attempt to have an abortion illegally, resulting in more harm to both the mother and the child; sometimes if a pregnancy is taken all the way, it will endanger both the mother and the child, if it is certain death for both, it seems better to save the mother; in cases of incest or rape, sometimes the child would be better off going to be with God (this is due to many factors, including serious health problems in the case of incest and serious psychological problems in the case of rape). I do not believe a healthy Christian couple should get an abortion in lieu of birth control. I think God has told us clearly not to take life and I believe he means that (though we do not know when life begins, I think for the Christian once pregnancy begins it should be allowed to run its course, unless it is an extreme situation).

I believe for the non-Christian there are serious ramifications for abortions. I think that those are two types of guilt: The internal guilt of the would-be mother, and the guilt of taking a life from God.

Internal guilt has all sorts of awful results. The mother could do all sorts of things as a result of feeling so guilty about ending a pregnancy. Sometimes it leads to a downward spiral of sin, sometimes it leads to a spiral of a mother trying to earn forgiveness, and I believe that it always gets in the way of the mother being able to accept that she is accepted by God.

The external guilt comes from God. God has told us not to take life. Even though we are not sure when life actually begins, as Christians we should let pregnancy run its course. God has made it clear that we are not allowed to take life, except in extreme situations.

I realize, again that these thoughts are incomplete and not perfect. I am not sure what exactly I think about all of this, but I am trying to think through what I think. This blog gives me a place to write and "think out loud." So, I welcome more input and appreciate thoughts you guys might have. I think the most dangerous thing any of us can do is think we have it all figured out. I guess what I am saying is, take this all with a grain of salt. Most of this is a reaction to other Christians who present abortion as an incredibly simple issue: Christians must vote pro-life no matter what. I think there are situations where abortions are acceptable, not a lot, but there are some.