Thank you, Jim. I really appreciate this.
When all is said and done, the pro-life position being “God's command, not man's” really **IS** the bottom line.
After an election defeat, the after-action reports quite correctly ask the question of what we could have done differently. Those discussions always include moderates trying to get conservatives to compromise, and I do agree that temporary tactical concessions for longer-term victories may be helpful on some issues.
Killing babies is not one of them.
Lots of ink and lots of electrons can and will be used to explain the conservative position on abortion. Many of those arguments are important and valuable. For me the most important issue is that God said it, that settles it, and if I don't believe it, that's my problem.
However, this is more than a social conservative issue. Even from a secular constitutional perspective, if we do not affirm the right of people to live, no other right is safe. Protecting the lives of its citizens is the most important role of government.
This is and must remain a no-compromise issue for conservatives — not only conservative Christians but also any conservative who values “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” in the words of the Declaration of Independence. If our government will not protect the right to life, we have no reason to believe it will protect any other right enumerated in the Constitution.
It really is that simple.
BTTT