Monday 30 January 2017

pro-life

So, yesterday I posted this on Facebook:
Just thinking here... which means this will make both sides mad...
Saw an anti-abortion post quoting Dr. Seuss "a person is a person, no matter how small"
And I thought, "even if they come from Syria?"
Which generated the following responses (so far):
Person A: You are BAD! Lol yes even if !
Person B: Every life has great value in the eyes of God no matter where they live. But God put boundaries around His people for protection of His seed. We are His seed who are born of His Spirit, there is no harm in boundaries. God also commanded war when men rose up against His people.
Person C: No boundaries, no country. No country, no help for humanity
Me: I don't deny the purpose of government and laws, borders, etc.
But Christianity ought to see beyond those things. And I'm beginning to think that to claim the title "pro-life" one has to value all of humanity.

Person C:  Of course. Absolutely.  Not pro birth but pro life
Person D: Trump's directive with its immediate enforcement, no planning, and haphazard implementation, has: left families separated across continents; people fleeing oppression even more scared and afraid; individuals with green cards who have already been vetted shut out; translators for our military in Iraq detained; and the elderly and young with existing visas integrated. Whether you are for isolationism or not, this will have long term repercussions.
And I should add, in keeping with your question - does NOT value humanity. Quite the opposite.
Person B: It is not easy to be President. Life and death decisions are made daily. Sometimes when you choose one group of people to save, you condemn others to death. That's the job. Don't know why anyone wants it. Walk a mile in his shoes. I think Trump is more compassionate than many believe, but His job is to protect Americans first. He took that vow with his hand on the Bible. Read the Bible and see the decisions made by kings, not an easy job      
Person D: While it is not easy being president, one can strive to be presidential. Compassion? All you need to do is look at Tump's Twitter feed and see his insults, attacks on personal individuals, fixation on inauguration numbers, support of torture, and pompous attitude! Every. Single Day. (And this just in tonight- attack on Republican senators). He has no time to be president or compassionate when he is being petty and lashing out instead.
 "Protect Americans" is the same argument used when when our government put US citizens of Japanese ancestry in internment camps during World War II, turned way Jews seeking to flee Hitler, etc. I too want safety, but tempered with fairness and - "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."
Person E: Their have been religious wars going on ever sense time, wars against good and evil,

So it quickly turned political and finger-pointy. Which is sort of the opposite of what I had intended.

I didn't mean to attack the march-for-life-ers, the president, or even the "bleeding-heart liberals." I meant me. (And maybe hoped someone else would read what I said and think about themselves.) When I say I am pro-life, do I mean I'm pro-birth? Anti-abortion? Pro-American? Or do I mean that I actually value every human I see/hear about?

When I was growing up I heard things about "letting them define the vocabulary" and how when the media uses words like "anti-abortion" they are setting the stage in favor of abortions, and making self-defined "pro-lifers" look bad for being "anti." And that makes some sense if a person explains it better than I have here. But recently I have followed some Catholic blogs on Facebook, and one said once that "Pro-life" is much more than "anti-abortion." To be pro-life you have to be anti-war. Anti-death-penalty. Anti-poverty, even. And then I have been hanging out with Anabaptists (the ultimate pacifists) for a few years. So my brain just made that little comment on that little picture...

I know this stuff is covered in ethics classes to an extent, but I took a few minutes to ponder what it means to believe that "a person is a person."   Leaving aside the "just war" theory for now, though that always puzzled me in the abortion debate, specifically, let me think of self-sacrifice. Obviously I would give up my own life for my husband or my children. I already have in many ways. I feel sure I would go to great lengths to save a random baby, or child. But nevermind a Syrian refugee - what about a terrorist? A known terrorist, on his way to buy fertilizer, steps off the curb in front of a bus. Do I cheer (silently, so as not to alert him)? Do I feebly wave and yell? Or am I willing to do a movie-scene rescue and put myself in the line of fire to push him to safety? If I did save him, would I be responsible for killing all his victims, or am I giving him a reason to change his ways? How can we know what a life may be worth? Shouldn't it be our part simply to do the right thing and let God take care of the results?

And I'm getting off my main point, and this train of thought doesn't really have a caboose. ttyl 

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