Posted on 04/26/2023 2:25:26 PM PDT by Morgana
A Nebraska Methodist pastor slammed pro-life advocates in a recent interview, claiming their “pro-birth” mission has “corrupted” Christians into thinking aborting unborn babies should be illegal.
Nebraska News Connection reports the Rev. Debra McKnight, founding pastor of Urban Abbey Methodist Church in Omaha, made the comment as state lawmakers prepare to debate a heartbeat bill Thursday. The pro-life bill would protect unborn babies by banning most elective abortions once their heartbeat is detectable, about six weeks of pregnancy.
McKnight claimed pro-life lawmakers do not really care about children or families. She argued that if they did care, they would pass bills to make childcare more affordable and improve maternal health care, according to the report. These are things many pro-life states already are doing.
“I would want to be clear that Christianity has a diversity of voices, and you don’t have to understand this ‘pro-birth’ narrative as the only appropriate Christian response,” the Methodist pastor said.
McKnight claimed pro-life advocates have “corrupted” Christians, especially evangelicals, into thinking abortions are wrong, the report continues.
She also erroneously claimed the heartbeat bill could jeopardize medical care for miscarriages. However, the bill only prohibits elective abortions; treatments for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and other conditions that put the pregnant mother at risk are allowed under the bill — and every other abortion restriction in the country.
Medical professionals confirmed this in testimony to state lawmakers earlier this year. During a February hearing, Dr. Robert Bonebrake, an OB-GYN and maternal fetal specialist, said the heartbeat bill protects both mothers’ and unborn babies’ lives, and does not hinder doctors from treating mothers with pregnancy complications, according to the Unicameral Update.
“LB626 lays out the clear standard for protecting a woman’s life and health,” Bonebrake said. “Any physician providing best medical practice is safe under this framework.”
Even with these clear protections, however, McKnight still opposes the bill. In February, she joined more than 100 other clergy members with the Nebraska Religious Council for Reproductive Freedom in signing onto a newspaper ad urging voters to oppose the life-saving bill.
The Nebraska Heartbeat Act (LB 626), sponsored by state Sen. Joni Albrecht, R-Thurston, is scheduled for debate Thursday on the Senate floor. If it passes, Nebraska would become the 16th state to protect unborn babies from abortion.
Currently, aborting unborn babies is legal for any reason up to 20 weeks. In 2021, 2,360 unborn babies were aborted and nearly two thirds were later than six weeks of pregnancy, according to the state health department.
State pro-life advocates also are urging Nebraskans to contact their senators and encourage them to support the bill. Nebraska has a single-body state legislature, and the bill appears to have just enough votes (a two-thirds majority) to overcome pro-abortion Democrats’ planned filibuster and pass.
A January poll by WPA Intelligence found 58 percent of Nebraskans support protecting an unborn baby with a beating heart from abortion.
Another female pastor....when you abandon the Biblical guide for pastors then all bets are off.
Thank you, that makes a lot of sense.
Definitely not a real pastor, just a social justice warrior.
This is what you get out of an admitted “progressive” Methodist female “pastor”. Her job is to make people happy as they go to hell.
100% right, No name.
Hey, the Army of Satan is not adverse to possessing alleged ministers of the Gospel.
The real question when it comes to abortion is when does that life have a soul. The Bible (OT and NT) is clear that the soul (or spirit, small s) is also established at conception.
He said that Christianity is the only religion that has that belief! I found that hard to believe so I did just a tiny bit of research. IIRC I only looked at Hindu, Buddhist and Islam - but they all had the soul entering the person at various weeks/months after conception. And IIRC, in Islam there were a couple of different times depending on which verse was used.
Like Ronald Reagan said (paraphrased) “Ya know, it’s interesting how all the people that are for abortion have already been born!”
The website says she was previously at first methodist church of Omaha, where the current pastor is a woman who lists Buddha as an inspiration.
“a woman who lists Buddha as an inspiration”
Buddha the man, or “buddha” the botanical?
1) She’s claiming not helping someone is the same as murdering someone, which is clearly false. This is a false equivalence fallacy.
2) She’s giving us a false choice, we can support policies she supports, or you can do nothing, and not helping gets us back to her first fallacy.
Untied United Methodist Church
Rev. Debra McKnight, founding pastor
Shouldn’t that be pastoress A female pastor
(person who tends to a flock)
Another reason the UMC resembles the Titanic.
This is worth looking at:https://www.theurbanabbey.org/meet-pastor
And there's your problem ...
That about says it all. A coffee shop that doubles as a bookstore, and also as a church as well. Three hats in one.
If the bank ever threatens to foreclose on her mortgage, she could meet payments by adding even more hats: How about a Tattoo Parlor / Pawn Shop / Medical Marijuana Dispensary / Coffee shop / bookstore / church?
Thank you for your insights and kind words. The congregation’s “disaffiliate” vote was 95%. The result didn’t surprise me, but the margin did; I expected a tighter outcome.
The Methodist/UMC drift into “friendship with the world” is not a recent thing; it began over a hundred years ago, and accelerated exponentially with the merger that formed the UMC in 1968(? I think that was the year, if not it’s close).
Riley Case is a retired UMC elder who has written a fascinating (IMO) series of posts on this drift in “Juicy Ecumenism”:
https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/02/28/methodist-gaps/
https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/02/09/methodism-mediating-elite-part-i/
https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/03/08/methodism-mediating-elite-part-ii/
https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/02/02/methodist-division/
Blessings, brother!
>> How about a Tattoo Parlor / Pawn Shop / Medical Marijuana Dispensary / Coffee shop / bookstore / church?
ROFL. Throw in “gay bath house” and you’ve nailed it!
>> Allowing women to be pastors
What’s a “woman”?
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