Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily of Live Action or Live Action News.
If one looks at an overview of the American church and its relationship to the pro-life movement, some profoundly troubling issues have been prevalent and ignored.
First, it is evident that churches generally embrace the Johnson Amendment, which has lasted 69 years. Then-Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson sponsored an amendment that prevented non-profits, such as churches, from endorsing or opposing any political candidate. There hasn’t been any outcry from pastors or other church leaders to repeal this amendment, so it stands today. The apparent result of this legislation is that many churches have unbelievably expanded the amendment’s reach to include any topic with a political element to it, including abortion.
It’s a convenient cover for them to exclude taking a stand from the pulpit, so consequently, the congregation doesn’t have anyone leading them to fight this atrocity.
As many know, the Catholic Church in America has often been vocal about the sanctity of life, but sadly, so many other churches have not. It could easily be surmised that if my church doesn’t think abortion is essential to talk about it, then why should I care? Even if the Johnson Amendment didn’t exist, the church may still choose to be quiet by hiding behind Romans 13:1, which states that we must be subject to governing authorities.
Also, many churches proclaim today that their focus needs to be on spreading the Gospel, and everything else should be on the back burner or nowhere in sight. Obviously, evangelism is important, but there should be room to multitask and be proactive in stopping the horror of abortion.
This silence from the pulpit does not deter a few courageous souls from publicly announcing their pro-life beliefs and acting on them by using a Christianity defense of the unborn human. They usually will refer to God as the creator of life, that the small child was knit together in the womb by God, or even tell the abortion-minded woman that it’s against God’s word to abort her baby. Consequently, the pro-abortion movement for decades has called pro-lifers religious nuts. Their goal is to shut down the debate, and often this tactic has been successful. Ironically, the churches have often framed it as a political issue.
This Christianity-based method has been a huge strategic mistake by pro-lifers because they have forced themselves to fight two battles. They probably don’t know if the person they are trying to reach is a Christian or an Atheist. If they aren’t a believer, which includes many on the pro-abortion side, then the pro-lifer has to convince them, usually in a short period, to believe in Christianity and then move on to say that abortion is wrong because of this Christianity. Two battles are being fought, but only one needs to be.
Nearly everyone on this planet thinks it is wrong to kill a child of any age, whether they are a week old, a month old, or five years of age. When a child is beaten to death, the automatic response isn’t that the killing is wrong because the Bible or Christianity says it is. The consensus is that this shouldn’t have happened because it is wrong to do so.
The focus for the pro-lifer is to bridge the gap of responses between the unacceptable act of killing a born child and the acceptable belief by many of killing a child a little younger in the womb.
There are many methods to use, such as the SLED Test, where they can say that the unborn child is only smaller in Size, at an earlier Level of development, in a different Environment, and possessing a different Degree of dependency. These four differences do not give the child in the womb any less value as a human than the older child or an adult at any stage. Probably the most noteworthy of these is environment or location because if the baby was born prematurely and placed in the NICU, nobody would think it should then be intentionally killed.
Of course, there is a different discussion about where these morals come from that state it is wrong to kill, but it is not necessary at that time to bring up God to make the point that this act is unconscionable. Bringing God and the Bible into the conversation could easily be added at the appropriate time. Connecting the gap between the unborn and the born in a logical, understandable fashion could have the desired result more quickly than having to fight two battles.
What is the solution? Christians need to hear from the pulpit that abortion must stop, and if the Christians don’t end it, who will? Consequently, they need to be educated on the proper ways of interacting with those on the other side, where they can have meaningful dialogue and potentially positive results. They also need to know what other resources and organizations are available to assist in their pro-life journey. This also includes knowing how to respond to pro-abortion rhetoric in a logical, loving manner.
In general, it appears that those pro-lifers outside of the church have an easier path because church teachings or its silence do not hinder them from fighting for the unborn. They don’t need to hide behind any legislation or verses that could render them impotent in exposing and fighting this greatest of all human rights violations. Although millions have been killed on the churches’ watch in America, it is never too late to rescue those who are being taken away to death, as Proverbs 24:11 states. The time of inaction needs to be over because silence from the churches about abortion is equal to approval of it.
