People Don’t Listen

People don’t listen. When it comes to politics very few people have an open mind. I wrote an article for my school paper, basically making the point that Christians should move beyond strictly voting Republican, and examine all the issues–especially moving past polarizing issues like abortion. My assumption was that abortion is no more important than education or taxes or social justice or the death penalty. So why vote strictly on abortion and pay so little attention to the other issues? Apparently some people didn’t get that from my article.

I find it very frustrating. I wish I could sit down with each person and hear their reasoning. They obviously missed my point and I’d love to be able to explain it again. I’d love to hear their reaction and figure out why they think the way they do.

Christians confuse me. Many Christians respond in anger and outrage to abortion, they start quoting scripture, and tell graphic stories of what actually happens during an abortion. Now I’m not in favor of abortion. Make sure you hear this, I do not condone abortion. I do not accept the practice. I do not like abortion. But I find it very perplexing that so many Christians take such a vehement stand on abortion, yet seem unmoved on other issues. The Bible is full of examples of God favoring the poor over the rich, yet few Christians vote this way. The death penalty is another troubling issue. Texas has put to death more inmates than any other state, and George W. Bush fully supports this practice. Yet pro-life Christians don’t seem to mind.

And we get so bent out of shape over abortion, as if it were a new social evil. Abortion has been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years. At some times abortion was considered completely acceptable by Christians. The church understood life to begin at “quickening,” which was when the mother could feel the baby moving. Therefore if the abortion was terminated before like began, it was perfectly acceptable. Hence a woman four months pregnant could have an abortion without the church calling hellfire down upon her. Yet now we seem to know when life begins. Christians declare abortion the ultimate evil. Then comes the abortion pill, recently legalized by the Food and Drug Administration. The abortion occurs even earlier in the pregnancy, yet we still consider it abortion. Now here’s where it gets fun, turn to methods of contraception that unnaturally mess with a woman’s hormones and make it nearly impossible for her to become pregnant, and Christians seem to fully support them. Some Christians seem to have a drawn a fine line between where life starts and where it doesn’t.

I find it troubling that Christians can so vehemently reject abortion and so nonchalantly accept contraceptives.

One thought on “People Don’t Listen”

  1. Kevin-

    As someone who responded negatively to your article way back when, I want to first apologize for misunderstanding you at the time, and second to let you know that opinions change. While my thinking has been shaped by a number of things, I’m sure your article helped spark further thinking on my journey. I wanted to share a link to some of my updated thoughts (this is already a couple years old):

    http://amateurtheologian.org/2006/09/10/god-is-not-a-republican-revisited/

    Anyhow, thanks, and God bless.

    Aaron

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *