Posted on 01/23/2015 9:51:57 AM PST by Morgana
I will never forget the first ultrasound of my unborn child. Expecting an idle smudge on a grainy screen, my wife and I were greeted by a hyperactive baby, all four flailing limbs foiling the doctor’s attempt at accurate measurement. Our child was beautiful, and very much alive.
This week marks the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and across the country pro-lifers gather to profess the humanity of unborn children. However, as Brennan Manning noted in The Ragamuffin Gospel, “the danger of the pro-life position… is that it can be frighteningly selective.” Recent events provide repeated and disturbing evidence of this selectivity. Pro-Life Generation - courtesy of American Life League via Flickr
For example, the Internet is littered with conservatives decrying the abortion of children conceived through rape, yet many of these same conservatives minimize, ignore, and otherwise dehumanize the rape survivors themselves.
We see this in the popular conservative blogger who glibly dismisses the prevalence of sexual assault with an unrelated hyperlink and the question, “Does any rational person really believe that the numbers are this high?” We see this in the perverse portrayal of those who condemn Cosby as “liberals” who, of course, whole-heartedly endorse Clinton’s sexual conduct. We see this in the many Christian institutions that publicly proclaim a pro-life ethic, while actively marginalizing abuse survivors and concealing predators. We see this in repeated incredulity towards abuse allegations, shackling victims in the shadows. We see this in the calloused right-wing pundits who dismiss rape survivors as little girls in need of attention. We see this in the culture warrior who only mentions child abuse if a homosexual is involved.
There is a common thread: a dehumanizing prioritization of partisanship over people, of political platforms over Biblical principles. Mark 12 lists the two greatest commandments: love God and love people. That’s it. No partisan talking points: just the simple command to love others as we love ourselves. How we treat “the least of these” is how we treat Christ (Matthew 25:40). God created man in His image (Genesis 1:27). Life is sacred, precious, and beautiful. If you ignore or exploit rape allegations to score political points, you demean the image of God. You’re not pro-life.
All too often we see the same dehumanizing lack of empathy in the context of racial issues. Regardless of one’s perspective on recent police-related killings, humanity must be unconditionally affirmed. It is intolerable that “pro-lifers” express their support of law enforcement by posting “I Can Breathe Because I Obey The Law.”
In the first place, this slogan is simply incorrect. Civil liberties attorney Harvey Silverglate wrote the book Three Felonies a Day, which is the estimated number of crimes committed by the average American due to the rise of the administrative state and vague drafting. Thankfully, those broadcasting their moral superiority have not yet been choked to death for their extensive criminal activity.
This pesky reality will not deter many conservatives from persisting in their own misplaced self-righteousness. They fail to acknowledge a world filled with tragedy, injustice, and sin, regardless of political party or ideology. Thus whenever tragedy occurs, they find some way to blame the victim: Did they commit a crime? How were they dressed? Did they do something objectionable that makes us feel better about their demise?
This is simply un-Biblical; all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6) God’s grace is the sole cause of any blessing; without Christ we can do nothing. (John 15:5)
Why, then, are we so eager to demean the departed? Where is the Biblical concern for those suffering, regardless of culpability? In the wake of Eric Garner’s death and the killing of two NYPD officers, MaleSurvivor Executive Director Christopher Anderson’s response was poignant: “If you feel that you cannot offer the same compassion to the human beings on both sides of a protest line, you are part of the problem, and not the solution.”
Why is life so expendable? Why do we tirelessly fight for the unborn, but discard the life (and worth) of a father if he sells a cigarette and says “Do not touch me”?
I weep at the killing of Eric Garner and the execution of NYPD officers. I weep at the ignorant dismissal of rape survivors for partisan or institutional gain. I weep at the precious movements of my unborn child.
All for the same reason: I am pro-life.
Moral Absolutes Ping!
Freepmail Responsibility2nd or wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list. FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search [ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]
I believe what he is saying is that we should be prolife in and outside of the womb. At least that is how I took the article when I read it.
He also speaks of rape victims and abortion. I know many don’t feel a woman is raped if she does not seek an abortion. So was a woman raped if she is pro life and does not wish to kill the baby? Yes she was still raped! That just means she will not give a death sentenced to the baby.
As for Eric Garner yes he was a thug but we usually hang criminals in this country after a fair trial. That is the way it’s always been and always should be. Even though some are still on death row and not made the hangman’s noose.
Nice try Boz Tschckyzm
An abortion supporter once tried to find an inconsistency with my opposition to abortion and approval of capital punishment.
A child could answer that question: Kill the guilty; save the innocent. Duh!
Thanks for posting these kinds of articles Morgana. It’s one of the few reasons I still come to this site from time to time.
The death penalty is merited in a few cases when a person has killed other humans and the crime is so heinous it calls for vengeance in kind.
But being pro-life means valuing all forms of human life, from the most defenseless of people to victims of crime to even many criminals. Resisting arrest should not result in the death penalty. Being created under less than perfect circumstances should not result in abortion. Life has value and we shouldn’t be so blasse when it’s snuffed out in violence.
You need to read more of my threads. There are people who do believe this. They have this attitude that if a woman is raped, gets pregnant by the rape she should automatically go for an abortion. There have been rape victims hounded because they did not obtain an abortion and were told "you were not really raped".
A lot of libertarians look at things this way. Fiercely pro-life, but decidedly anti-police and anti-authority. And yes, they view the killing of Eric Garner for selling cigarettes in the same vein as the butchery of pre-born children.
Given the choice between that and the overt and covert endorsement of infanticide by both wings of the uniparty...I think I can live with it.
I argued with a lot of libertarians over the Eric Garner case. It was often very hard to tell if they were libertarians or if they were part of the I can’t breathe crowd.
As regards Eric Garner, the views aren’t all that different. Most libertarians view it as an example of a police murder for doing something that shouldn’t be illegal. The race identity crowd view it as a police murder based on race. The common thread is both groups view it as a police murder.
A man killed during resisting arrest is not being punished for it, and is not being executed. To equate the two is a serious error in logic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.