Monday, February 13, 2006
There is Faith...
...and there is ascent to some intellectual ideas that people call faith. That was the though that ran through my head as I read this op-ed from last Friday's LATimes. (HT: Lameworldview) It's by Anne Lamont, described as "a novelist and essayist. Her most recent book is "Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith" (Riverhead, 2005)." She relates her appearance on a panel discussing politics and faith, describing herself as a Christian and then the issue of abortion came up.
Exod 15:26 - And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."
Gal 4:4-5 - But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Eccl 9:4 - For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.
John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
I am sorry Ms. Lamont, but as much as I wish to fellowship with you as my Christian sister, you could not be more wrong.
Related Tags: Anne Lamont, abortion, scripture, faith, Christianity
Then, when I was asked to answer the next question, I paused, and returned to the topic of abortion. There was a loud buzzing in my head, the voice of reason that says, "You have the right to remain silent," but the voice of my conscience was insistent. I wanted to express calmly, eloquently, that pro-choice people understand that there are two lives involved in an abortion - one born (the pregnant woman) and one not (the fetus) - but that the born person must be allowed to decide what is right.It seems to me God decides what is right.
Exod 15:26 - And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."
But then I announced that I needed to speak out on behalf of the many women present in the crowd, including myself, who had had abortions, and the women whose daughters might need one in the not-too-distant future - people who must know that teenage girls will have abortions, whether in clinics or dirty backrooms. Women whose lives had been righted and redeemed by Roe vs. Wade. My answer was met with some applause but mostly a shocked silence.It seems to me that God redeems us, thorough His Son Jesus, not some decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Gal 4:4-5 - But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Maybe I could have presented my position in a less strident, divisive manner. But the questioner's use of the words "murder" and "babies" had put me on the defensive. Plus I am so confused about why we are still having to argue with patriarchal sentimentality about teeny weenie so-called babies - some microscopic, some no bigger than the sea monkeys we used to send away for - when real, live, already born women, many of them desperately poor, get such short shrift from the current administration.It seems to me that God values that microscopic life.
Eccl 9:4 - For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.
But as a Christian and a feminist, the most important message I can carry and fight for is the sacredness of each human life, and reproductive rights for all women is a crucial part of that: It is a moral necessity that we not be forced to bring children into the world for whom we cannot be responsible and adoring and present. We must not inflict life on children who will be resented; we must not inflict unwanted children on society.It seems to me, God has a higher moral standard.
John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
I am sorry Ms. Lamont, but as much as I wish to fellowship with you as my Christian sister, you could not be more wrong.
Related Tags: Anne Lamont, abortion, scripture, faith, Christianity
