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Lacking basis, Christians fight abortion
Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 3/20/06 | C. Joshua Villines

Posted on 03/20/2006 2:23:32 PM PST by madprof98

Those who seek to outlaw abortion often use the rhetoric of "protecting the most vulnerable and helpless" in our communities. Many of them are Christians who see their opposition to abortion rights as inextricably linked with their faith and their understanding of Christian ethics. After all, wouldn't a God of love and life want us to protect life wherever we found it?

If only it were that simple.

In practice, there are other questions we must ask. Does a God of love and life ever support war? Does such a God understand that some innocent civilians will die when we fight to protect our freedoms? In other words, does God approve when we make the decision to kill other people to protect our quality of life? What about when we kill to prevent genocide? Does God have a holy balancing scale that weighs intangibles like "intent" and "the greater good" or one that compares the number of innocent lives lost against the number of innocent lives saved?

We do not know. For every Christian with a "God Bless Our Troops" sticker on their bumper there is another with "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" on their rear windshield.

If my experience as a pastor is any indication, it is unlikely that the driver of either car would be making their point from the kind of complex theological arguments I learned in seminary. In practice, our upbringings, our biases and our circumstances have much more to do with what we believe God thinks; and we are often inconsistent.

How else could we spend millions of dollars to oppose abortion --- despite no clear biblical argument for or against it --- and ignore the overwhelming number of biblical texts that explicitly command us to care for the poor?

For the vast majority of Christians, it is not about consistency --- it is about convenience. Even those of us who speak passionately about protecting the weak often forget that our willingness to purchase cheap goods produced by exploited workers sentences children to poverty, disease, violence and death. The cars that we drive, the food that we allow to be marketed to children, the tax breaks we support or oppose, they all have a life-or-death impact on the most vulnerable among us. It is not only in war that we make decisions to value one life over another. Consciously or not, we do it every time we go to the supermarket.

The issue of abortion is not about whether life starts at conception. There are convincing arguments either way. The issue is which carries more weight: the life that may be in the embryo, or the life and needs of the woman in whose body that embryo was conceived?

After spending time in women's health clinics, I have come to realize that the "most vulnerable and helpless" who need our active protection are the women and couples who are faced with the agonizingly difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy. As a Christian pastor, I strongly support protecting the right of women to make this decision. Other Christian pastors have chosen otherwise, and our division on this issue is proof that there is no Christian consensus here.

The far right, however, has been able to set the issue of abortion apart from all of the other controversial, life-or-death decisions we make every day. Abortion is not a special case; and I pray that the guardians of our Constitution will continue to protect our freedom to choose our own priorities in all of these weighty matters.

The beliefs or prejudices of some, regardless of who has a majority, should not be used to take the choice out of the hands of the woman who will be the main bearer, perhaps the only bearer, of the consequences of her decision.

The Rev. C. Joshua Villines of Decatur is a regional spokesman for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. An ordained United Church of Christ pastor, he is completing a doctorate degree at Vanderbilt University.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: abortion; humansacrifice; religiousleft; ritualmurder; selfcontrol; theologicalbs; ucc; urinalconstipation
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To: cgk; madprof98

Google the man's name and his email CjoshuaV, and you end up on the far left side of the political spectrum, including DU and websites that advocate societaly "evolution to anarchy."

He's the subject of my blog today.


81 posted on 03/20/2006 7:21:10 PM PST by hocndoc (http://www.lifeethics.org/www.lifeethics.org/index.html)
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To: ziggygrey

As someone who miscarried my first pregnancy, I can promise you that I was not indifferent. I examined every action and to look for something I could have done differntly.

The solace was/is that virtually every early pregnancy loss is due to genetic deformities rightly called "incompatible with life."

Which is worlds away from intentionally ending a life before birth because of money or relationship problems. And one reason - beides some pretty impressive poor-ness in my own history - that I fight abortion and try to make a difference with tangible help, crochet for the crisis pregnancy center, teaching abstinence in the schools, etc.


82 posted on 03/20/2006 7:36:41 PM PST by hocndoc (http://www.lifeethics.org/www.lifeethics.org/index.html)
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To: Waryone
The reason they don't see the truth is because of a love of money.
“For the love of money is a root of all evils, of which some having lusted after, they were seduced from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows”, 1Tim.6:10

Also there is a defined link between organized crime and abortion clinics.
http://www.texlife.org/docs/organized.html
83 posted on 03/20/2006 7:44:26 PM PST by LuxMaker
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To: madprof98
You too can become a minister with a degree from our Online Divinity School
84 posted on 03/20/2006 7:46:12 PM PST by ElkGroveDan (California bashers will be called out)
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To: madprof98; GatorGirl; maryz; afraidfortherepublic; Antoninus; Aquinasfan; livius; ...

+


85 posted on 03/20/2006 7:47:27 PM PST by narses (St Thomas says “lex injusta non obligat”)
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To: ziggygrey
Both sides should get behind a "save the unborn" movement, if we all decided to end miscarriage, like we eradicated smallpox or polio. An estimated 1/4 to 1/3 of the preborns are aborted spontaneously..that's 1-2 million preborn babies a year!

I have run into this absurd moral relative position many times -always from an abortion advocate attempting to turn reality on its head and by false premise insinuate apparent hypocrisy within the pro-life position...

It is real simple --abortion is intentional murder, miscarriage is not intentional murder - no, not even "spontaneous" abortion is intentional murder...

86 posted on 03/20/2006 8:01:51 PM PST by DBeers (†)
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To: loveliberty2

He believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus, so he's my brother and there's nothing I can do about it. I'll just have to love him and ask G_d to sort him out, while attempting to teach him the best I can.


87 posted on 03/20/2006 8:10:10 PM PST by hocndoc (http://www.lifeethics.org/www.lifeethics.org/index.html)
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To: madprof98

He may know much about God......but he don't know God. Join a church he pastors? NOT!


88 posted on 03/20/2006 8:13:20 PM PST by Doctor Don
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To: madprof98

For the truth on abortion, this man needs to click below:

http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/pictures_2.html


89 posted on 03/20/2006 8:14:45 PM PST by Cedar
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To: FormerACLUmember

He's a paid propagandist, and anti-Christian.


90 posted on 03/20/2006 8:15:21 PM PST by Giant Conservative
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To: madprof98; P-Marlowe; xzins; OrthodoxPresbyterian
Even those of us who speak passionately about protecting the weak often forget that our willingness to purchase cheap goods produced by exploited workers sentences children to poverty, disease, violence and death. The cars that we drive, the food that we allow to be marketed to children, the tax breaks we support or oppose, they all have a life-or-death impact on the most vulnerable among us. It is not only in war that we make decisions to value one life over another. Consciously or not, we do it every time we go to the supermarket.

This author is half-right. Abortion is not the end-all of "moral values," and Evangelical Christianity must develop a consistant ethic of respect for human life and dignity which includes the poor as much as the unborn. His solution, however - which seems to elevate socially-conscious economics over abortion is worse.

91 posted on 03/20/2006 8:24:00 PM PST by jude24 ("The Church is a harlot, but she is my mother." - St. Augustine)
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To: hocndoc

An article on confronting with truth:
http://misslink.org/cover/basics81.txt
Jesus did not come to the world to unite it, but to divide it. Divide it between the goats and the lambs.


92 posted on 03/20/2006 8:25:36 PM PST by LuxMaker
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To: madprof98
How else could we spend millions of dollars to oppose abortion --- despite no clear biblical argument for or against it --- and ignore the overwhelming number of biblical texts that explicitly command us to care for the poor?

Try Genesis 9:6 for starters.

93 posted on 03/20/2006 8:56:55 PM PST by LiteKeeper (Beware the secularization of America; the Islamization of Eurabia)
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To: madprof98

This person lacks wisdom in the biggest way!


94 posted on 03/20/2006 9:00:12 PM PST by Fruitbat
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To: MBB1984
What an idiot. The Bible clearly says that man shall not kill innocent life. It also reveals that God is the author of life. Abortion is rebellion against God and murder.

Funny, I just made another post about people opining on who God is. This guy makes it clear that he thinks God is whomever he wants god to be.

95 posted on 03/20/2006 9:01:16 PM PST by Fruitbat
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To: MBB1984
An ordained United Church of Christ pastor

There we have it.

96 posted on 03/20/2006 9:02:07 PM PST by Fruitbat
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To: madprof98

I can't think of a single culture in all of recorded history which long survived widespread infanticide.

There IS an Almighty God in His Heaven.

And HE DOES care about the affairs of men . . . especially regarding the defenseless and very especially regarding children.


97 posted on 03/20/2006 9:07:10 PM PST by Quix (GOD IS LOVE and full of mercy HE IS ALSO JUST & fiercely HOLY. Groups choosing death can reap it)
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To: 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; annalex; ...


98 posted on 03/20/2006 9:18:10 PM PST by Coleus (Roe v. Wade and Endangered Species Act both passed in 1973, Murder Babies/save trees, birds, algae)
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To: jude24

What is it you are trying to say?


99 posted on 03/20/2006 10:06:59 PM PST by P-Marlowe (((172 * 3.141592653589793238462) / 180) * 10 = 30.0196631)
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To: cgk

Thanks for the ping!


100 posted on 03/20/2006 10:19:27 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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