On Abortion and Government
Arguably, the Christian ethic concerning abortion is that killing a fetus willingly is wrong. But even if the GOP (the largely pro-life party) both swings a "super" majority in both houses in the mid-term elections (already having the presidency) and gets several more pro-life justice appointments to the "Top Court" then ultimately it won't help at least in the short run. And I think those judges, the president, and even many of the legislators realize the limits of their powers, and won't do what they might wish they could, i.e., make abortion illegal.
Here's why. We have over 1 (1.2?) million abortions per year out of some 4 million births. This means 20% of conceptions end in abortion. I've also read 55% of minority (black) pregnancies are terminated with extreme prejudice (so to speak). This is by no means "safe, legal, and rare", its more like cheap, quick, and easy. However, law cannot aggressively change a culture, especially in a democracy. For example prohibition tried to legislate alcohol consumption out of our culture. It didn't take. It was an example of putting into law, something ingrained into the culture. Abortion as well, is now part of the American cultural landscape. It may not a part that you or I partake in, but just as the "red-state" pundits seem to have no clue about the worldview and culture of the Christians of the South and flyoverland, we should not follow their example and pretend (or exhibit) ignorance of the fact that our worldview is not shared by "them".
Here are some suggestions for the pro-life agenda:
Here's why. We have over 1 (1.2?) million abortions per year out of some 4 million births. This means 20% of conceptions end in abortion. I've also read 55% of minority (black) pregnancies are terminated with extreme prejudice (so to speak). This is by no means "safe, legal, and rare", its more like cheap, quick, and easy. However, law cannot aggressively change a culture, especially in a democracy. For example prohibition tried to legislate alcohol consumption out of our culture. It didn't take. It was an example of putting into law, something ingrained into the culture. Abortion as well, is now part of the American cultural landscape. It may not a part that you or I partake in, but just as the "red-state" pundits seem to have no clue about the worldview and culture of the Christians of the South and flyoverland, we should not follow their example and pretend (or exhibit) ignorance of the fact that our worldview is not shared by "them".
Here are some suggestions for the pro-life agenda:
- Understand the pro-abortion argument, and especially their worldview. Attack them via their own reasoning. You can't convince anyone by referring to assumptions based in a world-view not shared. So in attacking abortion, it must be in terms that don't necessarily find traction where you live, but where they do.
- Work at bringing back the stigma associated with choosing abortion, especially those who facilitate it.
- The pro-abortion crowd (following Derrida) have been working at adjusting the "language" to further their agenda. Resist this. For starters, stop using the term pro-choice. Call it pro-abortion. Stop using their euphemisms
posted by Mark at 11/12/2004 09:30:00 PM
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