Sunday, October 23, 2011

Response to 180: An Interesting Can of Worms

I posted a video on my facebook profile the other day.  It was a share from a friend.  I encourage you to watch it.  Here is the link.  It is closed captioned for those of you who prefer captioned videos. Just don't watch it with small children in the room.  There are some graphic images in it from WWII.
Since I know most of you won't actually watch the video (it's a whole 33 minutes...that's a long time to commit to any task!), I'll summarize what the main thrust of the video was supposed to be.  Basically it was comparing the Holocaust during WWII to abortion in North America and the number of babies that are legally killed.  It talks about morality and heaven and hell and salvation as well, but those weren't the intended main thrusts.  The abortion issue was and how many people were oblivious to the Holocaust as it was happening, and how it happened because Hitler started with little steps and led the entire people astray.  It ended with a political push not to vote for leaders who are in favor of legalizing abortion.
When I reposted to my profile, I added the comment: "A friend posted it and I watched it (it's captioned). I agree with much of what was said, but I struggled a bit with the political push it had. I am pro-life. There's no doubt about that, but I'm not sure I approve of single issue voting. There's always so much more to a politician's platform than whether they are pro-life or pro-choice. When voting, we need to look at the whole, not just a part."

Not surprisingly I received some push-back from friends, mostly centered on my resistance to single issue voting. If you're super interested in the whole conversation and how it developed, let me know and I'll get it to you (minus names) or check it out on my FB page.
The final back and forth on it went like this:
 ME: ...A law cannot dictate behavior. Sexual abuse is illegal. It has been dictated as illegal for years, yet recent statistics show that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys is sexual abused before the age of 18...in this case there is a law dictating that something is bad and illegal, yet it doesn't stop it from happening.
Will a law end abortion? or will it take more education from the bottom up?
FRIEND: Does it matter if the law ended abortion or not? Are you saying you'd vote for someone who would legalize sexual abuse, child abuse, and rape? I mean, as long as they stood for something else that was "more" important? Is it fine since it would happen anyway? Why not make abortion illegal and then on top of that work with those who illegally still choose abortion. Wouldn't it be easier to let people know it's a problem if the nation even thinks so? How would you convince someone who is sexually abusing someone else that what they are doing is wrong if it's LEGAL? Isn't it hard enough already? Do you see what I"m saying? Or, when you pray to end abortion do you say ..."Dear Lord, please let abortion stop even as I am about to vote for someone who is for it." ?
ME: ... I also feel like we are possibly talking past each other, not actually hearing what the other is saying. I never actually said that I would vote for someone who wanted to legalize abortion. I also never said I wouldn't. I said that I'm not a fan of single issue voting and that it would take a lot of prayer and discernment. That applies to any type of voting, whether abortion is on the docket or not.
Abortion is not the only issue facing our nation today. There are lots of them. Who am I to judge what sin is worse than another? Murder is a sin, according to the ten commandments. Should it be illegal? I think so. Lying is also a sin. Are we going to legislate it as illegal to? What about coveting? Failing to honor the Sabbath? Dishonoring our parents? Is murder a worse sin than the others?
I stand a sinner condemned. Am I guilty of murder? According to the words of Heidelberg Catechism, which is based on scripture, yes. (Q&A 105, 106, 107) I am I proud of this? no. Am I cleansed by the blood of Christ and do I stand anew in His presence? yes.
Abortion is wrong. I never said it was right or okay. I never said I supported it. I simply said that I'm not a fan of single issue voting and that any voting I do will be the product of lots of prayer and discernment for all the issues involved, not just a single issue.

Thus far that is where the conversation ended.  I'm not sure if that is good or bad, since I really didn't want to get into an all out argument with my friends, but I can't agree to single issue voting.
Later another friend posted these two quotes in her status:
"We should not look to the state to compel women to complete, nor allow them to terminate, a pregnancy. Rather, God calls us to be our own people and our community - to witness to the world's scandal, to love and bind up those harmed by its values. If the energy now being poured into attempts to affect Supreme Court decisions were dedicated to establishing viable alternatives to abortion and substantive support and long-range care for victimized women, "unwanted" children, and families struggling with poverty, mental illness, and domestic violence, perhaps we would begin to see Christian community being born in our midst-a light to the nations and a sure refuge for these needy ones." - William Durland
and
 "We need to stop telling our non-believing neighbors how wrong their way of life is, and we need to start showing the power of the gospel in the way we live....Let me ask you: Which as greater power? Ten thousand people who fills the streets in front of abortion clinics and shame those seeking abortions, or ten thousand people in California who take to the state capital a petition they have signed stating they will take any unwanted child of any age, any color, any physical condition so that they can love that child in the name of Jesus Christ?" - Bill Tibert

Both of them succinctly sum up what I was trying to say. And since both these quotes were in a book, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they have a little more authority than I do.

It's an interesting can of worms.  What are your thoughts? (all opinions will be respected, not all will be agreed with.  Any disrespectful comment will be deleted.)

4 comments:

April said...

I just wanted to comment in support of your position. I, too, am 100% pro-life, but I also recognize there are other political issues in the world. Will I vote for someone who is pro-life but steals from the poor, marginalizes the outcast, and perpetuates a system of inequality? I don't think I could sleep at night if I did.

Amanda's Goodies said...

First, there are many books written on evolution...does that make the writers opinion true? I think not. However, I see how this is a tricky issue and where you are struggling. However, our nation needs a leader with a Christian, loving, just and clever mind and heart. Can you truly say that someone who supports the destruction of the weakest people in our country has a good enough standard to govern a town, let alone a whole country? Where an individual stands on such important issues as this shows much about their character. Stating that ANY sin is permissible would carry on to mean that all of them are ok, would it not? Being that all sin is equally bad, if our leader states that murder is ok, then stealing, adultery and all of the others are perfectly fine as well. In regard to your statement about things starting from the bottom up....VOTING is exactly one of those ways. You are stating your voice through your vote. Its just one vote...but its working from the bottom up. Now this doesn't mean we should vote and say our job is done. There are also so many other things can be done. Like posting educational/awareness videos like 180 around facebook, volunteering for organizations like PASS (Pregnancy Aid of the South Suburbs, Chicago) or even partaking in foster care or adoption. Or educating young women on the IMPORTANCE of abstinence or at the very least pregnancy prevention. Taking the responsibility to talk to younger cousins or siblings about the consequences of such actions and the trials they could face by being selfish and reckless.

Joy said...

every time we vote we are making a difference. I'm all for increasing voter turn-out (I'm honestly disturbed by the lack of voter turnout in the US, not that Canada fares much better). I agree that it makes a difference.
However, I feel that every time we vote, we are making a choice and sometimes we have to choose between two less than excellent options.
Just because everything is permissible does not mean that everything is okay (1 Cor. 10:23, 1 Cor 6:12). I am not by any means trying to say that abortion is okay. I don't think it is. I think it is wrong and wish it could be stopped with the wave of a magic wand.
I believe education is key. Education is so important. Education in North America could use a complete overhaul. (I was shocked by the number of people in the video who had little to no concept of who Hitler was) The healthcare system could use some work. Social assistance programs could use some work. So many things could use work.
Politicians can affect change. There is no doubt about that. Voting can affect that politician affecting change. There is no doubt about that either. But we can also affect change first hand right in our own communities and our own churches.


Everyone chooses for themselves where they are going to put their vote, what issue the deem as most important and which politician they think is most likely to follow through on their promises. That's part of the beauty of living in a free country. We are all free for ourselves to chose where are vote is going to go.
I'm glad that there is some discussion going on here.

Becky said...

Find me a politician who doesn't support one sin or another (whether stated directly or simply stated by their actions) and I'll, well.... I'll be shocked!