Abortion continues to be America’s greatest shame and embarrassment.
Yes, slavery left an indelible stain that affects the country yet today, but a war in the 1860s in which hundreds of thousands died and a Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s ended this tragedy. Abortion marches on.
Since 1973, more than 61 million babies have been aborted in the United States.
What logic leads a politician like Gov. Tony Evers, WI, to say that President Trump stating, Doctors in the state of Wisconsin are executing babies "is just blasphemy” and that this is “a horrific statement”? This was a reaction to the governor saying he would veto a born-alive bill or what pro-life proponents called life-saving legislation.
Gov. Ralph Northam said born-alive babies should be “kept comfortable” till their fate is determined by doctors and the mother.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called abortion “life sustaining” for women.
Meanwhile, abortion remains America’s worst injustice, racism, and sin.
“Nearly 2,400 every day. Ninety-eight babies every hour. About one baby every twelve seconds. Innocent human beings are dismembered, poisoned, crushed, harvested for organs, put in trash cans, and disposed of in the name of ‘women’s rights’ and ‘the right to choose.’ This happens day after day, week after week, and the church largely remains silent. The most forgotten, marginalized human beings today are the preborn.”
Evangelicals, Mainline Protestants, Catholics
And ostensible Christian commitment doesn’t seem to make much impact: “According to Pew Research, one third of evangelical protestants, sixty percent of mainline protestants, and forty eight percent of Catholics believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.”
“One in three women were attending church at least once a month (if not more) at the time they had their first abortion. Around 75% of women indicate churches had no real influence in their decision to end their baby’s life, and most of them expect the reaction to be one of judgment if it is ever found out they obtained an abortion. Only four in ten women believe churches are a safe place to talk about having had an abortion.”
There is a “complete ignorance as to what Scripture teaches:
‘According to data from the Barna Research Group, 60 percent of Americans can't name even five of the Ten Commandments...According to 82 percent of Americans, ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ is a Bible verse.’”
“Though people hear Scripture on Sunday and may read some of it during the week, a solid understanding of a biblical worldview and how Scriptural principles are applied to cultural issues is strikingly absent. Due to this lack of Biblical knowledge, we are surrounded by people who claim to know Jesus and yet do not understand His teachings. They have no idea how to properly apply a biblical worldview.”
Meanwhile, in the run-up to the 2020 Presidential election, a group called Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden is arguing that somehow, a Christian ethic of life demands Americans vote for a Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate who are as radically pro-abortion as any candidates have ever been. They claim that “Poverty, lack of accessible health care services, smoking, racism and climate change are all pro-life issues…Faithful evangelical civic engagement and witness must champion a biblically balanced agenda. Therefore we oppose ‘one issue’ political thinking because it lacks biblical balance.”
“These “pro-life” evangelicals are voting for the party that has supported these barbaric procedures for years. Indeed, they are calling on other Christians to vote for the party that opposes the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would guarantee medical care for a baby that survives abortion.”
I find the Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden rationale incredible, which is to say lacking both evidence and persuasive authenticity, not to mention consistency with Scripture.
Why we should consider one-issue voting suspect is not explained, other than they say it lacks biblical balance. As to what “biblical balance” means, if it allows for supporting a radical abortion candidate, I am at a loss to say.
One or Single-Issue Voting
There is nothing in Scripture or the U.S. Constitution that indicates one should not or cannot be a single-issue voter. Actually, one-issue or single-issue voting “can in some cases be morally justifiable and even required. Single-issue voting can in some cases be an appropriate expression of the politics of principle.”
Throw-Away Voting
While some may argue this “throws away one’s vote,” I’d argue there is no such thing. As long as people vote their conscience in a free society there is no throw-away vote. The vote matters, even a single-issue one, because it records the voter’s view. It lodges his or her disposition on the single-issue or the candidate at hand. This is morally defensible and a privilege.
Life and Death
Abortion is literally a life and death issue. More than two thousand individuals are ushered into eternity every day in the United States, simply because they were an “unwanted pregnancy” and thus inconvenient for the mother. This represents a far greater toll on human life than any that emerged from the calamity of slavery or destruction of the Native American population in the 19th Century. I don’t mean these other sins don’t matter. Quite the opposite. I mean, like those examples of genocide, the infanticide of abortion is murder and a horrible culture of death.
I understand when some friends or associates indicate they cannot vote for President Donald Trump, that they have profound problems with his persona and behavior, or perhaps some of his policies. They are free to make this decision. What I cannot understand is some of these friends or associates, Christians, saying they will cast their vote for Joe Biden. While I could list many issue concerns, the abortion stance of the former Vice President and this running mate are non-starters for me. If you cannot vote for Trump, OK; write in someone else.
Call this single-issue thinking if you want, but it’s a moral issue, a life and death issue. How can anyone claiming to be Christian, including self-identified evangelicals, support a candidate affirming abortion on demand and saying he would make Roe vs Wade the law of the land?
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020
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