Evangelicals and Abortion

As an evangelical, I'm troubled by the tone of Kilgore's post. It sounds like he's analyzing some newly-discovered tribe in the Amazon. But I'll try to respond in a spirit of goodwill anyway...

Young evangelicals (my three kids, for example) probably are even more anti-abortion than their parents. They know they've been lied to by secular society about sex, war, consumerism, the meaning of life. They see the mainline church as having sold out to the sexual-industrial complex, just as they recognize that the fundamentalist church has sold out to the military-industrial complex. They really believe what they were taught in Sunday School: that the Ten Commandments mean what they say. They say to their society: "What part of Thou Shalt Not Kill don't you understand?"

My kids are leaning toward Obama, although they are deeply, deeply troubled by his pro-choice policies. But overall, they suspect he may be more pro-life than McCain (when you factor in war, environment, capital punishment and other life issues). If Obama were to select a pro-lifer as his running mate, they would feel far more comfortable with the ticket.

I, as a lifelong Democrat, am almost totally disillusioned with the party because of its pro-choice stand (and, here in my home state of Oregon, because of its support for doctor-assisted suicide and gay marriage). I'm reluctant to vote Democratic again until my party makes some effort to welcome people like me. I refuse to vote Republican, because the GOP is in the pocket of big business and warmongers.

As someone has said, the Democrats are the Party of Lust and the Republicans are the Party of Greed. That doesn't give Christians much of a choice.

Perhaps it hinges on whether you believe that life begins at conception and ends at birth as practiced by the Republican Party -OR- as the Democrats are trying to do which is allow abortion to remain a choice, but work to help pro-life issues for those who are already born and those who choose to give birth.

As Pro-life I am suppoting and voting for the only pro-life cannidate: Chuck Baldwin. http://www.baldwin08.com
If you are pro-life you only have one choice: Chuck Baldwin in 2008

Ed, it's because you're comparing all apples to a single particular type of orange. If you compared Catholics in general to Protestants in general, you'd probably find a fairly close correspondence - or if you compared conservative Catholic abortion views to conservative evangelical views.

But it's not surprising that when you line up all Catholics vs. a subset of "conservative evangelical Protestants" as you put it, there are differences. It would be surprising if there were not. And of course you could obtain a similar result by comparing conservative Catholics to all Protestants, not just churchgoing evangelicals.

Self-selection comes into play here as well - as some pro-life Catholics become pro-abortion, they usually still remain Catholic at least in name. But as some pro-life evangelicals become pro-abort, they will more often join a non-evangelical pro-abort congregation or denomination and thus stop being counted as evangelicals.

Ed, I think perhaps you're just trying too hard. As for church-state separations, I don't know that the traditional Baptist stance is any different than it always has been. I am a member of a traditionally Baptist church, and I think a poll of our congregation would show a more libertarian sense than what you're describing. We're in Texas, so perhaps that's a distinguishing factor.

As to abortion: I don't know what you're referring to when you accuse us of "circular reasoning". I am the canonical individual you're writing about (28 years old, white, native Texan, evangelical Christian raised in a Baptist church environment), but it doesn't seem circular to me at all. I don't think anyone would disagree that it's consistent with the Bible to call homicide wrong, and there are a number of passages used to justify the idea that personhood is initiated at conception (the most prominent of which is in Job, saying "You knew me when I was in my mother's womb"). Once you've established that personhood begins at conception, it's a slam-dunk to be opposed to abortion in all but the most extreme (and life-threatening) cases. The establishment of personhood is central to all this, and Sola Scriptura evangelicals find that scripture generally supports the idea that conception confers personhood. A further explanation for the fervor might include:

• that the number of abortions has skyrocketed in the previous decades


• evangelicals teaching their children, who are multiplying faster than the population as a whole

As to the 1971 resolution you mentioned: are you sure you aren't confusing the SBC with the GBCT? My church has been a member of SBC since before 1971, and I'm sure they would have left it had such a resolution actually passed.

"I've yet to read or hear a purely scriptural justification for banning abortions that doesn't ultimately come down to circular reasoning based on the condemnations of homicide from the Decalogue onward."

Then you've not read my article, "A Critical Appraisal of the Theological Arguments for Abortion Rights." Bibliotheca Sacra 148 (July-September 1991): 337-355.

You can access it on francisbeckwith.com here: homepage.mac.com/francis.beckwith/bibsac.pdf

FJB

How about evangelicals pro-liberty/anti-tyranny political angle rooted in the Founding Fathers defense of democracy via promotion of "inate" human rights?

Reaganites decried the Century of Death long before National Geographic charted it in a recent issue (as I alluded to in my comment under BeliefNet's CrunchyCon thread on the news of the passing of the Russian emigre Alexander Solzhenitsyn:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/08/
alexander-solzhenitsyn-witness.html#more )

Evangelical Federalists probably do a better job of understanding and promoting the social justice teaching of the Catholic Church called Subsidiarity than those faithful to the See of Peter, even if they may not be able to articulate the thology behind that position, the political philosophy is a reality for them on which they have formed their conscience and conform their will to defend. Too many Roman Catholics have been infantilized by a pastoral-care mindset of N.a.n.n.y.S.t.a.t.e.K.n.o.w.s.B.e.s.t (see "Why I am a Catholic Democrat" at insidecatholic.com / Joomla / index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=280&Itemid=48 ) that has permitted a heinous and traumatic assault on the wombs of the poorest minority women (foetimatricide-by-baby-daddy is the leading cause of death for pregnant African American women 35) that is not worthy of the epithet in scare quotes, perhaps ethnic-gender-cleansing is too insensitive a term to apply to the self-loathing endemic among women in America in the third millenium, but how else do you describe such widespread surrender to oppressive forces? Janet Smith has an interesting take on how mood-altering drugs may play a role in the poor choices our young women are making (and no, you'll be surprised to learn its not the recreational drug of choice being consumed by the teens at your local neighborhood rave):

www .youtube .com / watch? v = Bevk4s1I0XM

or Google "contraception" and "libido" for the negative correlation...

Why are evangelical Protestants more strongly opposed to abortion than Catholics?

A no-brainer, IMO. Patriarchy.

I think that there are two reasons why people are opposed to abortion. Many consider it tantamount to murder. This is the RC position, and the ostensible position of evangelical Protestants.

However, many consider abortion as an unnatural interference with a social structure laid down by God. Womens' sexuality is a wrongness (except perhaps in marriage) and pregnancy is God's natural punishment for this sin. (Note that Protestant anti-abortion people tend to be anti-contraception, while there is a big split on this among Catholics, despite clear Church teaching.) This reasoning cannot speak its name, but note the correlations. What does abortion-as-murder have to do with homosexuality or contraception? How can an anti-abortionist condone our death penalty system?

It doesn't sound like any of you understand evangelicals at all. Perhaps this Sunday you should visit one of their churches and get to know some of them personally before spouting off like you know anything about them at all.

I was raised evangelical protestant, and my dad is still an elder at an Assembly of God church, where I am actively involved. And, at 36 years old, I fall within the demographic that you claim would be swayed to vote for Obama, should he "move to the center" on abortion.

First of all let me say that my contemporaries and I would rather cut off our right arms then ever vote for Obama, regardless of how much he flip flops to try and win my vote. Abortion isn't the only reason we would never vote for him. In addition to being pro-murder, he is a pinko anti-American socialist, and a liar, too. And anybody who would take a stand AGAINST a newborn baby who just had its brains sucked out through a hole drilled in its head being held until it dies, is akin to Hitler, in my eyes! That very telling voting history, and his very vocal opposition to the partial birth abortion survivor policy in Chicago, would belie any "moving to the center", in my opinion.

Come on - we young evangelicals may have a simple faith, but we're not stupid.

Speaking of which, never in my entire life have I ever been taught that my sexuality was wrong, nor that a pregnancy was "God's punishment" for sin. God's punishment for sin is eternal separation from Him, i.e. an eternity in Hell - not pregnancy.

And yes I keep my sexuality within the bounds of my marriage, but it is the most wonderful, beautiful experience of my lifetime, in contrast to my rebellious teen years of meaningless promiscuity. No boyfriend was ever able to meet my every physical and emotional need like my husband has been able to, for the past 17 years! How dare you come off so blase' about marriage - the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me and all my friends - like it's some kind of yoke of bondage.

Furthermore, I am barren. We have never been able to have any children in 17 years. Due to this fact, abortion is an enormous slap in the face to women like me, who would give their right arm for a child.