Neither are men.
I'm referring to the females who are now crying and wailing that Sarah Palin doesn't speak for them, because she would deny them "The Choice."
Aside: isn't it interesting that you immediately know exactly what choice I'm alluding to? Not the choice of college, mate, employment, church, newspaper, life goal. Not that choice. The Choice. The choice that is the unholy sacrament of modern feminism.
But I'll say that Dahlia Lithwick (second link, above) does have a point. GOP pols can be mushy-mouthed, or two-faced about abortion. John McCain definitely was in the 2000 debate when posed the boilerplate "What If Your Daughter...?" question. McCain's answer was gummy garbage, and Alan Keyes (in one of his sane moments) disassembled him like a Lego statue for it.
I'm not running for office. So I'll just say it. I don't trust women to make that choice. I don't trust men, either.
We used to have a fine expression that isn't much in use anymore. It was "Playing God." We used that when a person tried to arrogate to himself powers or rights proper only to God. Doctor Frankenstein was "playing God." People who wanted to micro-manage the lives of others were "playing God."
We don't use the expression much now, because we don't believe in that distinction in any robust or meaningful way.
But the decision to end an innocent life? Definitely "playing God." And I don't trust you to make that decision; nor do I trust myself to make that decision.
It isn't our decision to make!
It's hard for "I-am-too-God!" Americans to swallow, but some decisions just aren't options. Child acting up? Murder isn't an option. You're not to be trusted with that choice. Nor is that your decision to make if you have an unpleasant neighbor, a demanding boss, or a disagreeable mate. You're not trusted with that decision.
Me, I think we should just be up-front about it.
Which is yet another reason why I'll never hold political office.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
13 comments:
The first link for "crying" doesn't work.
I don't think these are good reasons for you or any other Christian to not hold political office.
I've been very pleased with President Bush with the actual political and legal advances made to restrict abortion, but even he in the 2000 campaign made the exceptions for rape and incest. John McCain makes exceptions for rape and incest.
But I was very pleased Gov. Palin said that except to save the life of the mother, abortion should be illegal.
Now, the more I look at the polls, the more bleak I feel that the electorate cares more about keeping their house than restricting Obamacide, but I think a lot of times, why we don't get the divine protection from the Lord is because we don't put ourselves out on the frontline.
We're so afraid of public opinion we balk. Look at what President Bush said when cornered by the media if the Jews and Muslims believe in the same God. Very, very disappointing.
More Christians should hold political office then I think we will see what kind of divine protection the Lord will provide for Christians in politics.
Of course, we can all start with putting ourselves out in the frontline in our own workplaces.
1. Fixed now.
2. Right, it isn't a reason I shouldn't hold office. To hold office, you must win it. talk like this isn't what sheeple want to hear.
Ok, after reading that first link, I understand where you are coming from. But I don't believe we should frame the discussion around not trusting women (or anyone) to make these choices.
One of the issues is the conflict between rights (or at least perceived rights). Right of women, right of individuals, right of the unborn. One of the issues is does the state have a compelling interest to defend the life of the unborn. The answer is of course yes, and it can be argued from a position of legal law, natural law, and of course, from the Bible.
I don't think we need to fall for to trying to argue against the Obamacide argument when he says it's a decision he believes or trusts that should be made between a woman, her doctor and her pastor. The legality of abortion is not about not trusting people to make these decisions no more than the decision of killing any human life (e.g. euthanasia) is about not trusting people to make these decisions. It's about whether or not the state has a compelling interest to defend that life.
That's the framework Christian politicians should use.
I think about the whole ridiculousness of the "playing God", "legislating morality" play every time I'm late driving my kids to school and stuck at yet another red light. I am frequently tempted to "choose" just to blow through it(especially when there are no cars coming that I can see). It's tempting to intentionally forget that that choice would potentially do harm to me, my kids, my car, other people, other cars, costs lots of money and time to fix, etc. This is something that the governement has considered too, which is why, if I do make that choice and get caught, there will be consequences. I get this, my kids get this, but somehow many Americans don't.
After reading the description in the sidebar of your profile being Calvidispiebaptogelical, which I won't try to mispronunciate here, I will simply say that I am happy at least, that you are not an Episcoslamist.
Well, what do you know. ReformedMommy's picture's on the Interweb!
I wasn't planning on making any official announcement, but I'm working/thinking through two things in tandem - how to have a digital identity that's appropriately connected and consistent with my real identity as a Christian (so using my real name from now on) and I'm also reworking and relaunching my blog (it's Dan, Ray Boltz and Sarah Palin's fault).
So, a little earlier than I planned, ReformedMommy is out of the digital closet, and my new blog will be up soon. Still Reforming, still a mommy, always a child of God. The rest of what I am vs. what I should be on any given day is what I'll be writing about. Won't do it as often as the Pyros, or as well, but for every original there's a thousand half-baked imitations, yes? So, last night I reworked my profile, and that's what happened.
Nice to meet you. :)
You know, even if abortion was outlawed except in cases of rape, incest, and danger to the mother's life (which I think are the standard exceptions conservatives mention), I still wouldn't have been here if my mother had made "The Choice."
She had already had two children and the deliveries had been very complicated. She wasn't planning on any more, but then I came along, and she was 45 at the time. Considering that she barely got through two pregnancies when she was a decade younger, the doctor said there was great potential for her to be seriously harmed during childbirth with me.
Not only that, but considering her age and other factors, I had a 25% chance of being Down syndrome.
So obviously she was offered "The Choice" of terminating the pregnancy, and I'm happy to say she never considered it for a second. If I was Down syndrome or not, if she lived or died, she saw all of that as in God's hands.
And praise God that I was delivered with minimal complications, my mother is still alive and well, and I was a healthy baby with no handicaps. But even if none of those things hadn't turned out true, that still would have been up to God.
That's why I'm resolutely pro-life. A woman has every right to decide what to do with her body. But once she has another life inside of her, then it's not just her body any more, is it?
Oh, and hey ReformedMommy (uh... Mrs. Starke). Good to see you blogging again!
Rachael,
I think John MacArthur said it well, not to long ago, when he said, the abortion issue is about sex. I know odd, but if you think about it, he went on to argue, the issue is about people wanting to have as much sex, where they want to have it, with whomever they want to have it, and when they want to have it. And Obama said it well, people don't want to be "punished" with a child.
People are willing to do anything they possibly can, including murder, just to feed their insatiable desires to have uncontrollable sex.
I know that sounds kinda coarse, but that is reality. Which almost, if you think about it, makes any argument we provide on defending the unborn moot. Because you realize, the issue for many people is not an issue of understanding what the real issues are, but the issue for them is wanting to have a lot of sex without consequences, including, certainly not being "punished" with a child.
But we still need to make the argument because abortion is an important ethical issue, and yes, the purpose of laws, is to legislate morality. They don't legislate the heart, only the Lord can do that, but laws legislate morality.
And that is why it's a men's issue.
That's right, men's issue. I've seen stats indicating what shouldn't surprise anyone on reflection: more men favor unrestricted access to abortion than women.
The notion that the value most dearly cherished by women is the right to get their children dismembered is as false as it is slanderous.
You hit a good point with "playing God". Perhaps as a result of rationalizing abortion, our culture has devalued human life to the point where people will attack each other with deadly force over petty disagreements.
Sometimes I look in the news and wonder what is this world coming to?
My next question is usually, how did we get here?
We've taken things that should have been up to God into our own hands, and well, mucked them up.
The biggest question we face, I believe, is what do we do about it?
We can make the best choices we can for governmental representatives, but to a certain degree, it won't be enough. If the movement continues to strip our leaders of all moral values, where does that leave us? How do we keep fighting this uphill battle?
Good post Dan, good points all around. I very much appreciated, It isn't our decision to make! Agreed. It is selfishness that drives abortion; and desperately wicked, deceitful hearts (male and female) will go to great lengths to justify and camouflage that motive.
Sheeple, nice word!
It is selfishness that drives abortion; and desperately wicked, deceitful hearts (male and female) will go to great lengths to justify and camouflage that motive.
One can only hope for a revelation of sin in the utmost degree, a revelation of the desperate need for a Savior and true repentence after the deed. Otherwise, I think if a person gets an abortion, their hearts only get harder as they take one more step away from life towards death. How can they escape the knowledge in their minds of the deed they did? Many women suffer guilt for years despite their desperate cover-up and pretense that their life really hasn't changed.
So true, Candy. I believe that most women who decide to abort their babies are torn between their natural desire to be a mother, the suppressed realization that it is murder, and the perceived (or real) shame or inconvenience that carrying their child would bring to them. When they have the abortion, as you point out, there is a great deal of pain, as well as guilt.
Thank God there are those whose hearts are broken and are brought to repentance by the Spirit. Only in Christ can they find reconciliation, forgiveness and peace.
Post a Comment