On Abortion, and Abortion Rights

Please read through the whole post with an open mind.  You'll get it.  

As a Christian, I believe that abortion is a wrong choice.  Medical advance has made it relatively safe physically, and so it has become a birth control option among many.  I consider life as a gift, sacred and precious, and the birth of a child, something planned, prepared for, and welcomed. My belief is rooted in the Christian scripture of the New Testament, around the teaching of Christ regarding marriage. 

For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  Matthew 19:5, NRSV

I believe the "choice" in this issue is responsible behavior based on knowledge, commitment to following principles of faith regarding the sanctity of marriage as well as the sanctity of human life, and also based on knowing the potential consequences of a poor choice.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with making the choice to follow Christian principle, abstain from sex until marriage and be faithful to a marriage partner.  Millions of people make those choices all the time and are successful in sticking to them.  Making those choices increases the chances of having a fulfilling, long-lasting marriage, a clear conscience, and having children that are wanted.  

No one is perfect, everyone is tempted, but there's a spiritual strength provided to overcome temptation, a principle of the Christian faith found in the writing of the early church apostle Paul.  Along with references which teach abstinence from sex as a discipline of the faith, and references which support the belief that life begins at conception, making the choice to be responsible and to be obedient to faith principles precludes the need for a "choice" after a pregnancy has occurred because the right choice avoids the consequence of an unwanted pregnancy. 

No testing (temptation) has overtaken you that is not common to everyone,  God is faithful and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.  I Corinthians I0:I3, NRSV

So I believe that faith in God provides both guidance and strength to make the right choice. I have the right to believe this, and  I have the right to talk about it and live by these principles.  I have the right to try and convince others that this is the right path and that it will lead to their own spiritual fulfillment. These are points to be considered.   The decisions I have made are mine alone, though there were multiple influences involved in convincing me it was the right thing to do.  

Please keep reading.

No principle of Christian faith, or acceptance of it as a personal faith, can be coerced or forced.  It must be accepted freely and it is a matter of personal conscience and conviction.  At virtually any time in history when becoming a particular kind of Christian was made into law, it weakened and undermined the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Essentially, it disrupted the natural formation of churches, the "ecclesia," the called-out believers in Jesus, by filling church buildings with non-believers who were only there because they would be arrested and persecuted if they weren't.  Likewise, it corrupted the church's leadership, filling it with those who had political ambitions and used it as a pathway to power.  

In churches that are infected with politics, no gospel message is preached, no spiritual conversion experience occurs and there is no trust, because everyone has an ulterior motive.  The Biblical principles drawn from the text are interpreted with a political meaning rather than a spiritual one, and the salvation message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is distorted by political rivalry and upheaval.  The church cannot identify its mission and purpose and thus cannot justify its existence.  It is no longer a Christian church, it has become a cult.  

As I said before, I believe in the sanctity of human life, and I believe that life begins at conception.  But that is based solely on my faith, and my belief that this is a consistent teaching found in the Bible.  I am free to exercise that belief anywhere and everywhere I want to.  But I also recognize the fact that a majority of Americans don't go to any kind of religious service and are less inclined to accept the belief that life starts at conception.  But as Americans, they are entitled to their belief in equal fashion to the way I am entitled to mine.  

For those who believe that the sanctity of human life extends to the point of conception, it is difficult to accept someone else's belief in terminating a pregnancy.  But the Christian faith that is at the root of that belief cannot be imposed, it must be accepted by conviction.  The law under a constitution that declares that the government "shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" must take into consideration the perspective of the sanctity of human life, and the point where life begins, of those whose religious beliefs or personal convictions aren't in agreement with a distinctively Christian perspective.  

In all honesty, while I may say that I am disturbed by the availability of abortion, the fact that it is legal, and that there are people who have them does not infringe on my rights at all.  And the bottom line is that as a Christian, there are multiple ways to lower the abortion numbers that don't require making the procedure criminal and arresting those who have one.  If I believe in the spiritual transformation that I claim is what converted me to Christianity, there isn't anything stopping me from talking to someone and encouraging them to experience the same.  

There's also nothing stopping me from supporting some kind of program or ministry that offers resources to women considering abortions, but which might tip the balance of their decision in a different direction.  If there were enough of those kinds of resources available, it might help lower the abortion totals.  Those kinds of things cost money, which many conservatives seem loathe to spend, but if they were truly interested in the unborn, instead of the political outcome, they'd be doing it now.  

I do not accept what has become a popular, manipulative technique in the preaching of many Evangelicals when it comes to abortion, and that is the idea that God will judge the United States for allowing it, and that the financial riches we have as a country, which they believe are blessings from God himself because we are a righteous, Christian nation (wrap your mind around that for just a minute)may be taken away from us because of it.  Now they have God bribing us with money.  God never offered a covenant arrangement with the United States and we never asked for one.  

But if the rights of some individuals who are not Christian, or who do not practice any religion, can be taken away, so can the rights of anyone else the majority doesn't particularly like or favor.  That's tyranny, by definition.  Who's to say that a future congressional majority down the road might not have much of a liking for Baptists, or Episcopalians, or Hottentots or tongue-talking Pentecostals?  The number of Americans who worship in a church of any kind on any given Sunday has now dropped into the mid-30% range.  

Justice Alito claims that the right to an abortion is not specified in the constitution.  But freedom of conscience is closely tied to it, and as distasteful as we may find it to be, there is a boundary that separates, and equalizes, the conscience of every American.  We don't like the Ku Klux Klan or all of that ugliness but we don't advocate for its demise.  Conspiracy theories emanating from Q Anon are demonstrating a level of ignorance and stupidity in America that is a shocking abuse of free speech.  But we tolerate its existence, avoiding it as much as possible, because we see the value in protecting the principles of the constitution.  

And no, none of the founding fathers are rolling over in their graves at these words.