Christians have been against abortion since the very beginning. For years they have fought against this medical and non-medical procedure of the killing of an unborn baby. Christians claim that they value life; therefore, they stand against the role of abortion. But this is not new information. Everybody knows that Christians are against abortion.
Everyone also knows that Christians protest against abortion. They protest abortion clinics, in front of planned parenthood offices, and at political happenings and political places. Some of these protests have been violent, but the majority of the protests involve signs and banners and chants. Besides protests, Christians spend an inordinate amount of time on abortion related ventures. They write letters to politicians. They hold rallies and raise money to stop it. They wear t-shirts, buttons, and such. In all, Christians take very seriously the value of human life - and that is why they spend a lot of energy exhausting every avenue possible to try to stop it.
But on many levels, these things are extremely arrogant and even more ignorant.
How can Christians claim to value human life while so many children are dying from AIDS in Africa and other developing countries? How can we as Christians be so arrogant in our own stances on abortion while being so ignorant of situations outside of our line of sight?
It is literally ridiculous when you think about it. Christians spend so much time and money and energy trying to stop abortion with little to no success. For all of the resources that we put into it, we have very little to show. Granted, some things have been done - but nowhere near what we are seeking. For all of the protests, arguments, and rallies - babies are still being aborted everyday.
But in our arrogance and short-sightedness, we doggedly fight on with our protesting and raving and ranting. We put the full weight of the religious right behind trying to stop something that we have not been able to stop in forty years. We tarnish our Christian reputation by participating in violent protests at abortion clinics. We make our faith look horrible when we stand out in front of clinics and offices holding up pictures of dead babies. We make people even more annoyed with Christianity when all we constantly talk about is how terrible abortion is because of the value of each human life. 
And yet the worst part is that we don't even value human life enough to look outside of our borders!!! We say that each life is precious while we turn a blind eye to the tragedies happening in Africa and other developing with AIDS. We try to save the life of a child who may or may not be born WHILE THERE ARE MILLIONS OF CHILDREN WHO ARE BORN WHO ARE DYING OF AIDS IN AFRICA AND OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. We spend time protesting and praying about the evils of abortion while we don't even know about the crisis that is happening across the Atlantic Ocean. How can we say that we value human life when we haven't done virtually anything to help the children dying from AIDS in Africa and other developing countries? What the heck, Christianity.
I could write a novel about all of this. I could go on and on about how we have failed - and how we continue to fail with this.
But instead of doing that, I will try to offer an apology and a challenge - an apology to those we have neglected and hurt and a challenge to those who are humble enough to see the light.
We have been arrogant in our stance...and we have been ignorant in our sight.
For far too long.
2 comments:
Lee, good points. You've really shown how adulterated the term Christian is. Change is needed within this topic, even more than within the topic of Vlade's beard.
Loved this post.
Post a Comment