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.
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5 comments:
Amen... you = awesome..
Thanks for taking time to elaborate. Your thoughts are much more clear.
I agree that we play God in a number of situations. Personally it challenges me to think more seriously about all of the ways that I play God... things that have become the "norm" and that are socially acceptable. It does not make me want to lump abortion in the mix. I understand what you are saying about God giving us minds and resources to interfere in other situations. However I think hindering a life from ever developing and using medicine to keep a baby alive inside the womb are very different things.
Your second point says that God causes every pregnancy and I have to say does He? Personally I think that God allows it. But it certainly doesn't please Him. It is yet another thing that God intended for good that has gotten out of control down here on earth. Again, I don't think God interferes in our affairs to that extent. Does He have the power to? Absolutely! Does He work that way? I don't believe so. So in the case of women who shouldn't be mothers having babies while women who should be cannot- I say that God doesn't cause any of that to happen. He simply works good out of the bad for those who love him.
I don't think that each and every pregancy is ordained by God. People are irresponsible. Yes there are a hundred people who won't survive the ghettos and the drug addicted parents for each one that will. But those are our consequences to deal with. God tries to redeem those situations whenever He can but when it doesn't happen, it is because we are standing in the way. Not because He is causing it. So abortion doesn't seem to be the answer there either. It is a poor solution to a bigger problem.
Ultimately I agree that there are SO MANY things in this world that we don't have clear answers on in scripture. We are supposed to rely on our abilities, good logic, and most of all the Holy Spirit in order to know God's will in that situation. In many cases God's direction might vary from situation to situation. But I don't think abortion is one of those things. There are just as many things that God is very clear on and I think that this is one of them.
Is it still a complicated issue? Absolutely! But I think more from a political point of view than from a scriptural. It is a painful and confusing thing to think about and I don't understand it. I can't comprehend it all. I certainly understand your need to hash out some of the tough questions surrouding it. (Obviously by my long commentary back.) But I don't question God's sovereignty on the issue. I don't think abortion is okay in any circumstance but I also don't think that our government banning them completely is any way to deal with it, which is what I was trying to communicate in my other comment.
Anyway, thanks for the engaging discussion. I think it is helpful and I personally enjoy it a lot. I hope you see it as that too. I'm not trying to pick a fight. ;)
For me, the topic is not even so much about the morality of abortion in itself, but consistency in developing a politic around the "sanctity of life". If anyone has any credible statistics, feel free to show them, but I would be surprised to learn that abortions contribute more deaths than do world hunger, or maybe even just hunger in the US, as well as deaths suffered on account of the poor not being able to afford sufficient healthcare or living environment. Has anyone considered how many bums probably die each year simply from being cold? So in terms of politics, how can you support a candidate on the grounds of protecting life, due to their abortion policy, while their socio-economic outlook leaves a great number more at risk of death because they cannot afford to live (literally, not just comfortably, they will actually suffer death because of the financial need)in America?
Hey Chris,
It is me again. I got the chance to read some more of your story and I know exactly what you mean to be called to a place and then being willing to move to the call. I have certainly experienced that in my life. I also got a chance to read your views on abortion and I must say, they were surprising. Once again you stated that you welcome thoughts and inputs so here it goes.
I did not grow up in Oklahoma, but I have lived in the south my entire life. I will say that although I agree that the issue of abortion does divide – and it should – I am not sure I would stereo-type Republicans as Christians and Democrats as pagans. I am hoping that was done tongue-in-cheek. I guess I will go down your list and see what I where you and I differ and agree.
You stated that abortion should be legal because it is the lesser evil that if a person gets raped or because a girl is desperate. Chris, you must do research in order to make a decision and not allow emotions of a movie to guide you.
There are so many myths that the pro-choice have used to cloud the issue and Chris, you are buying into it. Do I think that if we made abortions illegal that abortions would just stop – absolutely not. As I stated before – you cannot legislate morality, BUT let me ask you. Currently, we are aborting babies at 1 every 39 seconds – do you think that would remain the rate after it was illegal . . . no way.
So what about rape and incest??? I could quote you all kinds of stats from Christian organizations but let me give you something from the New York Times. Rape and incest account for 1% of all abortions and of that 1% that were getting abortions 95% gave other reasons. So you believe we should keep this legal so that 5% of 1% of all abortions can occur. Unbelievable.
Killing and abortion – Chris, it clearly is murder. We have elected a president that believes that if his girls have sex as teenagers, he doesn’t believe they should be punished with a baby. I hope you realize that we have a president that believes in partial birth abortions. I am assuming you know what that is. There are no two ways about it – it is murder. This is the slope that we have gone down because of the logic that you are using. Yes, as Christians we have nothing to fear when it comes to death – but even with that knowledge, God says do not murder. Is God’s view of death messed up? God does not speak of killing people because they are in bad situations. The why to that question is because God is about giving life. When God created he gave life to the plants and animals. When Adam was created God breathed life into him. When man fell, he became dead and it was through the sacrifice (death) of his Son that Christ took what was due to us so that we might have LIFE. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the LIFE. You even quote Paul as saying, “To die is gain” but you fail to put the passage in context. Paul wrote, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.” So you speak of the “perfect storm” in which babies are addicted to crack and born to a prostitute. Yet, here is Paul, in prison, facing trial and he cannot decide between death and life. . . He still wants life even though he knows that to die is gain. Later Paul wrote, “I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.” So Paul knows that he will continue to live. Paul does not choose suicide even though “to die is gain.” You completely misrepresented the passage.
Again, let’s look at statistics. You write as if all these babies are being aborted because of crack and pimps. Again, I am not quoting from a Christian website, so the numbers are not stacked for the Christian point of view.
1 abortion every 39 seconds
73.8% of abortions are to single women while a little more than 18% are to married women
Here is the big one . . . 93% of abortions occur for social reasons – the child is unwanted or inconvenient.
Oh yeah, that health of the mother issue – You might be too young to remember Dr. C. Everett Koop. He was the Surgeon General at one time and he stated that not one single time in his 38 years as a pediatric surgeon was he aware of 1 single time that a baby had to be aborted in order to save the life of a mother. So the idea that all these abortion doctors are right there ready to save the lives of mothers is nothing but a myth.
You might also find it interesting that just this week a new study came out that showed that 90% of Down Syndrome babies are being aborted. Are those abortions of convenience or are they being born to those crack house mothers?
We cannot prove where human life begins??? I am assuming since you are a new husband and I have not read where you mentioned a child that you are not yet a dad. So let me speak to you as a husband and father. Believe me, the minute you hear that your wife is pregnant – you will know that life has already begun. Chris, do not fall into the foolishness of this age. When David speaks of being woven in his mother’s womb – that is life. So according to the foolishness of man – God is busy weaving and then we come in and destroy. There is a straight biblical answer. We have science down to the point where we can put a sperm and an egg together – but we cannot make it come alive. Do you know what we have to do? We have to wait for God to give it life. If you and your spouse desire to have children and you find it difficult – will you pray to God for a child? Why? If it is not He that creates that life in your spouse – why go to him?
Lastly, I find it strange that you are simply falling into a neo-Darwinian viewpoint. You talked a lot about playing God and having choices. The whole debate about pro-choice happens before the baby is conceived. The pro-choice movement absolutely neglects the choice that people have concerning sex. We are not animals and we can make the choice to not have sex. You write as if choice only begins at the time the baby comes on the scene. No one wants to talk about this because it again speaks to being responsible for self.
Chris, you are correct that you are in a dark place and you are correct that you need to be a light. You will never be a light if you use the foolishness of this age. You must use the Bible which is the eternal wisdom of God. Obama once again talks a good game and says that we ought to take care of the least of these. Who is more “least” than the unborn children? Again, he doesn’t even consider that a child that is partially born should be taken care of.
One comment asked the question – what about world hunger and those stats. According to stats- one site stated that 16,000 children die each day because of hunger. Again, worldwide each day 115,000 children are aborted.
Was that the NY post again for that stat? Do you have your own blog?
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