Posted on 05/18/2015 2:16:18 PM PDT by Morgana
The United Methodist Church has been a subject of controversy for years as it supports legalized abortion within the context of supposedly being a Christian denomination. Now, one pro-life advocate has uncovered a quote from a Methodist pastor who says that caring about unborn babies who die in abortions is “idolatry.”
Sarah Terzo, who has a knack for documenting the history of the abortion debate and the abortion advocacy movement by posting quotes from pro-abortion activists through the years, posted a new quote today that features Minister John M Swomley.
Swomley is an ordained United Methodist minister, Terzo explains and, from 1960 to 1984 he was professor of Christian Ethics at St. Paul’s school of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time he was active in ministry, he was president of Americans for Religious Liberty and a longtime board member and sometimes vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union and chair of its Church – State committee. So here is a Christian pastor serving on the board of a prominent pro-abortion group.
Here’s what he had to say about pro-life Americans in his 1999 book Compulsory Pregnancy: the War against American Women:
“Opponents of abortion in America have attributed to fetal life a sacredness that is actually idolatry… Fetal idolatry denies a woman’s right to control her body, her life, her destiny, all of which must be sacrificed to an embryo or fetus once she is pregnant…
Fetal idolatry shows no mercy. … One of the major critiques of idolatry about unborn life is its lack of concern for the abundant or purposeful life to which all of us should be called. No one of us should be an unwanted child or have to experience emotional abandonment or lack of compassion and love in childhood.”
Granted, the quote is from 1999, but has much changed in the United Methodist Church since then? Unfortunately, no.
In January, Bill Mefford, director of civil and human rights at the UMC’s Washington office, used the March for Life to mock the event with a sign and picture he posted on Twitter, saying, “I march for sandwiches.” Many are upset that a church leader used a solemn event to liken an unborn baby to a sandwich.
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Last year, Methodist Health Care Ministries, whose logo claims they are serving humanity to honor God, gave almost half a million to the nation’s top abortion provider Planned Parenthood. In 2013, a pro-abortion article was posted on the General Board of Church and Society website and the United Methodist Church opposed the bill to ban late-term abortions.
This is why pro-life Methodists have left the denomination over the last couple of decades and continue to leave the church in droves, causing historic low membership rolls for the church.
among this jokers books is one loosely..title Liberation Theology,
now there’s a surprise.
The Christian churches are embracing liberalism and abandoning Christianity.
One of our local Methodist churches had a session on earth worship. Didn’t call it that but that’s what it was. Green Christianity or some such.
May the Holy Spirit descend upon them, and fill them with the grace of repentance and conversion.
Some of the mainline denominations have gone so far astray the teachings of the Bible that it is revolting. We joined a non denominational church several years ago after attending Bible studies there for awhile.
bkmk
he at least recognizes the unborn as living beings. True Christians will abandon this cult that calls itself Christian. Killing unborn human babies is of Satan and those who believe differently and those who do the aborting are being deceived.
Deuteronomy 30:19. But it seems they’ve evolved beyond The Bible then.
Who’s the idolater here?
“Idolatry is the worship of an idol or a physical object as a representation of a god.”
The act of abortion is probably one of the more idolatrist things one could do. Putting one’s self above God in determining the life of an innocent person.
Of course it is for the other idols that one does it, just like Baal worship and making human sacrifices. Only now the human sacrifice is made so one can keep their career, lifestyle, wealth, beauty, etc.
[ Of course it is for the other idols that one does it, just like Baal worship and making human sacrifices. Only now the human sacrifice is made so one can keep their career, lifestyle, wealth, beauty, etc. ]
BAAL worship was all about taking babies and sacrificing them on altars, effectively making a LIVE child into a ITEM to be OFFERED up to their FALSE GOD BaaL.
Abortion is a sacrement to the “Gods” of liberalism....
The population control god, the Gaia God and the purely evil satanic anti-life god, and the god of conveinence over consequences...
How does Protestantism refute such a claim?
Job 8:11-19 (NIV):
11
Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh?
Can reeds thrive without water?
12
While still growing and uncut,
they wither more quickly than grass.
13
Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
14
What they trust in is fragile[a];
what they rely on is a spider’s web.
15
They lean on the web, but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.
16
They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine,
spreading its shoots over the garden;
17
it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks
and looks for a place among the stones.
18
But when it is torn from its spot,
that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
19
Surely its life withers away,
and[b] from the soil other plants grow.
It saddens me that my once United Methodist sister and brother-in-law who wisely left the UMC for a more conservative Bible church 10 years ago have decided to return to it when it’s only gotten worse since they left. I really question their ability to discern between good and bad.
I understand your concern about your family members. I don’t know if this is true in their case or not, but often people are influenced more by the social aspects of where they go to church, more so than what they give and receive spiritually.
Deception is such an incidious thing. It happens gradually over time. If they left before and get another reminder of how much worse things have become, maybe they will leave for good. All we can do is pray that they will be where God wants them to be. The same is true for all of us.
Then ask him how John the baptist moved in his mother's womb at 5 months because he recognized Jesus in his mama's womb at one month was his
lord and Savior.
The first time abortion was ever officially addressed in our Social Principles was in the 1972 version:
1972 "Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy. In continuity with past Christian teaching, we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion. We call all Christians to a searching and prayerful inquiry into the sorts of conditions that may warrant abortion. We support the removal of abortion from the criminal code, placing it instead under laws relating to other procedures of standard medical practice. A decision concerning abortion should be made only after thorough and thoughtful consideration by the parties involved, with medical and pastoral counsel."
The above statement was adopted in an era of liberal ascendancy following the 60's. It was based, as I understand it, on a nationally hyped 'population crisis', an era of secular support for abortion culminating in the Scotus' decision a year later to force abortion on the nation, and on broad acceptance throughout the culture of 'contraception'.
It has been fought ever since by conservative Methodists (LifeWatch), and incremental improvements in the denominational statement have been made ever since. One thing that is important to understand is that our denomination has no leader. The only denominational voice is the General Conference that meets every 4 years for about 10 days. So, since 1972 there have been only about 100 days of deliberation on ANYTHING in this denomination.
Here is our 2012 Statement on Abortion. It is up to other pro-life Christians to determine if LifeWatch has made incremental improvements since 1972. This was not the only issue on which liberal inroads have caused great conflict within the denomination.
Abortion
The beginning of life and the ending of life are the God-given boundaries of human existence. While individuals have always had some degree of control over when they would die, they now have the awesome power to determine when and even whether new individuals will be born. Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion.
But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child.
We recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures by certified medical providers. We support parental, guardian, or other responsible adult notification and consent before abortions can be performed on girls who have not yet reached the age of legal adulthood. We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection or eugenics (see Resolution 3184).
We oppose the use of late-term abortion known as dilation and extraction (partial-birth abortion) and call for the end of this practice except when the physical life of the mother is in danger and no other medical procedure is available, or in the case of severe fetal anomalies incompatible with life. This procedure shall be performed only by certified medical providers. Before providing their services, abortion providers should be required to offer women the option of anesthesia.
We call all Christians to a searching and prayerful inquiry into the sorts of conditions that may cause them to consider abortion. We entrust God to provide guidance, wisdom, and discernment to those facing an unintended pregnancy.
The Church shall offer ministries to reduce unintended pregnancies. We commit our Church to continue to provide nurturing ministries to those who terminate a pregnancy, to those in the midst of a crisis pregnancy, and to those who give birth.
We mourn and are committed to promoting the diminishment of high abortion rates. The Church shall encourage ministries to reduce unintended pregnancies such as comprehensive, age-appropriate sexuality education, advocacy in regard to contraception, and support of initiatives that enhance the quality of life for all women and girls around the globe.
Young adult women disproportionately face situations in which they feel that they have no choice due to financial, educational, relational, or other circumstances beyond their control. The Church and its local congregations and campus ministries should be in the forefront of supporting existing ministries and developing new ministries that help such women in their communities. They should also support those crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women explore all options related to unplanned pregnancy. We particularly encourage the Church, the government, and social service agencies to support and facilitate the option of adoption. (See ¶ 161L.) We affirm and encourage the Church to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion.
Governmental laws and regulations do not provide all the guidance required by the informed Christian conscience. Therefore, a decision concerning abortion should be made only after thoughtful and prayerful consideration by the parties involved, with medical, family, pastoral, and other appropriate counsel.
Ministry to Those Who Have Experienced an Abortion
We urge local pastors to become informed about the symptoms and behaviors associated with post-abortion stress. We further encourage local churches to make available contact information for counseling agencies that offer programs to address post-abortion stress for all seeking help.
Because of this alone, I am starting to think of the UMC as part of the same club as the ECUSA. I urge you to leave it or change this -- there must be some more orthodox Methodist denomination for a conservative person. I really, really do not like to call for this splitting, but baby-murder can't be condoned.
2261 Scripture specifies the prohibition contained in the fifth commandment: "Do not slay the innocent and the righteous."61 The deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human being, to the golden rule, and to the holiness of the Creator. The law forbidding it is universally valid: it obliges each and everyone, always and everywhere.or this
2262 In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, "You shall not kill,"62 and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies.63 He did not defend himself and told Peter to leave his sword in its sheath.64
Legitimate defense
2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. "The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one's own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not."65
2270 Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.72for me, this is not a Catholic thing, it's a question of murder of innocents.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.73 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.74
2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:
You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.75 God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.76
2272 Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life. "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae,"77 "by the very commission of the offense,"78 and subject to the conditions provided by Canon Law.79 The Church does not thereby intend to restrict the scope of mercy. Rather, she makes clear the gravity of the crime committed, the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death, as well as to the parents and the whole of society.
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