Do you stand with murder?

By: Steve Huston

January 2019, A standing ovation for abortion? That’s what New York’s Reproductive Health Act got in the Senate chamber when it passed. Lawmakers and bystanders stood and applauded a law that legalizes abortion all the way up until birth, for any reason. (USA Today Jan. 30, 2019)

Recently, Bill Maher admitted that when Pro-life absolutists call abortion murder, they’re right, but he’s “just okay with that.”

That should send chills up and down our spines. To think that each person is “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness;” to know life is sacred and that each of us are created in the image of God; yet, we hear someone from the Left admit it’s murder but it’s acceptable because they’re “just okay with that” should cause us to pause reflectively.

Some politicians and people who are in the “pro-life” camp make exceptions for abortion. Some are okay with aborting a baby from rape, or who may be unhealthy, or they give their consent before a certain week of gestation is reached. To the degree that one doesn’t value life as sacred from conception to natural death, aren’t they also “just okay with that”? Are we okay with murder?

What about the politicians we support or the platform they claim to stand on? Let’s look back:

* Even though it was declared that “The delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention passed a very strong party platform including the strongest pro-life language in decades.”

* Even though Terry Schilling, executive director of American Principles Project, stated, “The pro-life wording of the platform is the strongest that it has ever been in the history of the Republican Party” and “The platform also endorses the First Amendment Defense Act, calling for religious freedom protections for gay marriage dissenters,” calling these “critical planks.”

We must not just listen to what politicians say, we must watch what they do. Any platform described as good or strong doesn’t mean anything unless those who claim such a platform are willing to stand and walk on said platform. Unfortunately, there are many in the Republican Party who have avoided these “critical planks” as if they were rotted through. There are some who have stood firmly, but many others either through lack of moral fortitude, or at their core having a moral turpitude, or simply being fearful of falling through that plank and thereby falling out of the good graces of the public, have often either gingerly stepped upon or avoided these “critical planks” all together.

Now, eight short years later, these good, sturdy, and “critical planks” are being torn out and replaced with such planks that are deemed more acceptable to walk on…FOR NOW! As culture continues to change, it’s probable that these planks will also change, for the sake of the Party. But what ever happened to “for the sake of the children,” for the sake of liberty, for righteousness’ sake?

One Christian commentator, regarding the new pro-life plank, wrote: “But it does clearly state, ‘We proudly stand for families and Life,’ and it goes on to reaffirm the 14th Amendment’s guarantees that ‘no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process.’”

I’m wondering, how does one know what these politicians will stand for when we see such waffling on the Life issue? When simple terms like “families” and “Life” are left undefined while culture is redefining them and often redefining their redefinitions, can we help but wonder if this is a “wobbly plank,” giving this “pro-life” and “pro-family” party a lot of wiggle room? I have yet to see the 14^th Amendment applied in the case of a child whose Life AND Liberty are about to be taken away from him or her without “Due Process.”

This Christian commentator continues: “The reality, however, is that we live in a constitutional Republic, and the American people just aren’t there yet. We have seen this in clear votes, even in conservative states.”

Even though I generally hold high regard for this man, it seems to me that he has forgotten what a constitutional Republic actually means. It’s a form of government wherein the people elect representatives who execute their duties under the constraints of a prevailing constitution that specifies the powers and limits of government. In other words, our Constitution is a set of laws which act as boundaries to what the government AND the people can do. Citizens have the civic duty to express their preferences through voting, but their voice is heard within a balance not a vacuum; it’s a delicate balance between constitutional constraints and representative governance. As one online source rightly points out: “This blend ensures that the nation adheres to the desires of its citizens and to a larger, enduring legal and ethical framework designed by the founding fathers to guide generations toward a fair and just nation.” When we ignore the Constitution for the will of the masses, fairness and justice are swept into the dustbin of history.

We must also ask ourselves why the shift of acceptance regarding abortion and LGBTQ+ principles within our society, particularly among the young. The answer is: Legalizing it legitimizes it in the minds of those who grew up in the wake of that decision. Even this platform is now, although subtly, legitimizing what their base has long stood against. As John Wesley said, “What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.” What do we want the next generation to embrace?

Finally, this Christian, who so often gets the issues correct, declared: “That said, this platform, in its support for life, is far superior to the pro-abortion demands of Joe Biden and the Democrat Party. Donald Trump understands that you can’t govern and you can’t legislate if you don’t win elections.”

If I were to declare that a moral atheist is better than a mass murderer, one might say, “Of course.” But spiritually speaking we’d have to admit that the end, without Christ, will be extremely bitter for both of them. To compare the Life plank of the Republican Party to the heinous and murderous desires of the Democrat Party isn’t a good enough reason to be content with the new platform being hailed as conservative.

Even if this weak and pathetic platform were strong enough to hold enough voters to win the election, how will they govern and legislate? Look at the platform; it will be the “death by a thousand cuts” for America. Some will object, “That’s better than the quick abortion of America from her Constitutional womb.”

There will be people who fall along all the spaces of this spectrum. It’s important to show love and grace as we deal with others who come to different conclusions from our own. In the words of Aaron M. Renn: “…not all evangelicals will come to the same conclusion about where and how to be involved politically and socially. We should be tolerant of evangelicals who make a different decision than we do in this matter. That doesn’t mean we avoid political conversations or refrain from critical evaluations of other people’s approaches. It’s perfectly valid to say, as I just did, that the counsel advocating political disengagement should be rejected.

“But we should respect those who hold views different from our own and seek to be attuned to them when they’ve honestly made a different decision. Given the complexities of differing backgrounds, experiences, and geographical contexts, we’re unlikely as Christians to always agree on every issue. We must respect those who arrive at their convictions through a serious, bona fide, good-faith process of prudential judgment.” (Life in the Negative World, p. 196)

True, we must show grace; we must also show truth. The Bible must still be our guide in “the negative world,” where Christianity is disdained by the largest portion of society. I would add to Mr. Renn’s words that as we have these conversations, we need to follow the exhortation of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:2. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season (the “negative world”); reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine.” To the glory of God, for the love of God, our neighbor, and nation.

 

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