Carnal Reason

Christians, especially Catholics and evangelicals, have led the fight against abortion. They believe, as do I, that abortion is infanticide. My atheistic reasons for this belief are described here.

I think that the Christian opposition to abortion has been less effective that it might have been, because many Christians are more concerned with appearances than with reducing the number of abortions. Let me explain.

In an earlier post I quoted Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group: “Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex“.

Ms. Maher is more concerned with appearances than with substance. She would rather keep girls from getting a medically useful vaccine than risk giving them a mistaken impression. Let’s cut to the chase: she wants to keep these girls from having sex, and is prepared to risk their health to do so. As with vaccines, so with birth control. Christian parents are faced with a tough choice.

Allow me to suggest an analogy. Consider the case of teenage drinking and driving. None of us, Christian or atheist, want our kids driving while drunk. Most of us don’t want them drinking at all, but it is certain that some kids are going to drink. Suppose the kid next door is drunk. Should he drive himself home? Should he compound one bad thing with another, and maybe kill someone? Of course not.

So too with sex.

Scandalous behavior is rapidly destroying American Christianity. By their daily activity, most “Christians” regularly commit treason. With their mouths they claim that Jesus is Lord, but with their actions they demonstrate allegiance to money, sex, and self-fulfillment.

The findings in numerous national polls conducted by highly respected pollsters like The Gallup Organization and The Barna Group are simply shocking. “Gallup and Barna,” laments evangelical theologian Michael Horton, “hand us survey after survey demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general.”1 Divorce is more common among “born-again” Christians than in the general American population. Only 6 percent of evangelicals tithe. White evangelicals are the most likely people to object to neighbors of another race. Josh McDowell has pointed out that the sexual promiscuity of evangelical youth is only a little less outrageous than that of their nonevangelical peers.

Ronald Sider in Christianity Today

By all means, teach your children abstinence, from both alcohol and sex. But don’t delude yourself. Some will not abstain. What precautions should they take? One needs a taxi, the other should do what? Hope for the best?

Abortion will remain legal in the US for the foreseeable future. Given this, the way to reduce the number of abortions is to teach chastity and to make sure that when the sinner stumbles, the birth control works. These approaches are not mutually exclusive.

What is comes down to is a choice. Which is more important?
1: keeping Suzy from having sex, or
2: keeping Suzy from having an abortion

If you tell me that 1 is the only way to accomplish 2, I’ll tell you that you are demonstrably mistaken, and that your commitment to ending abortion is half-hearted. You would would rather play the Pharisee than do what it takes to avoid the murder of innocents.

Posted on June 8th, 2005 by pwyll
Filed under: religion