Abortion

As you already know, I abhor abortion. I certainly do not do enough to get rid of it. I guess it's a product of my laziness and how much everyone downplays the issue. Not many other things have caused nearly 50 million deaths in the past 33 years in the United States alone.

Also as a devout Catholic, I expect all other Catholics, even if they don't agree, to obey the Church's teachings on morality and ethics, particularly abortion. Yet there are many "Catholics" who claim to be as such as well as pro-choice. I in my foolishness think all Catholics give a hoot about the Catechism paragraphs 2270-2275. I am spoiled as it were, surrounding myself with faithful Catholics who attend mass more than once a week and spend time in adoration at least once a week. Catholics who know the Love of God, some of which are new converts. Catholics who own a catechism and trust it with moral questions they may have. Catholics who act on what they believe.

And still there are Catholics and Christians alike who feel that "Thou shalt not murder" does not apply to what they see as "blobs of tissue." They don't understand that the Lord knew us before he formed us in the womb. That Christians of the 1st century wrote against abortion. That we cannot have true peace while abortion exists.

These are the folks who belong to groups like Concerned Clergy for Choice. The folks who do not appreciate the irony of the Planned Parenthood Prayer breakfast. Groups who seem to think that the Holy Spirit is speaking through them.

There is only one Holy Spirit. A house divided against himself cannot stand. Just as Jesus cannot drive out demons through the power of Beezlebul, the Holy Spirit cannot direct someone to cooperate directly in the promotion of evil. It's impossible. So spirits may influence them, yes, but the Holy Spirit, not so much. We are constantly tempted by the evil one. His greatest trick of course was to convince the world that he didn't exist. His next act was convincing people that he was the voice of God.

He then coaches his victim to allow all sorts of sin. Not only personal sin, but the sin of others. The brothers and sisters who need our love and care. "Judge not lest ye be judged" is often cited, thinking we do ourselves and others good by ignoring their sins. Matthew 7:1-5 is talking about hypocrisy. Jesus later tells us not to ignore the splinter in our brothers eye, but to remove the plank in ours so that we might see clearly to remove the splinter in our brother's eye. If we do not recognize that we are great sinners we cannot tell our brothers with mercy and love that they are sinners. We must recognize the faults in ourselves before we can chastise others for theirs.

James concludes his epistle with an exhortation to correct sinners. "My brethren, if any of you err from the truth, and one convert him: He must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." James 5:19f

Back to the "prayer breakfast."

There is an article here from the Old Gray Lady online. (No, that's not an elderly porn site... the NY Times online!) The writer of the article is a bit on the side of the liberal-leaning folks at the breakfast, but I still got something out of it. One of the speakers, a Presbyterian minister spoke about a rabid pro-lifer, someone so passionate for life that she went to the extreme and frightened a young child in her exuberance. His comments:

Mr. MacColl said of the abortion protester: "She would, I suspect, count herself a lover of life, a lover of the unborn, a lover of God. And yet she spoke in harshness, hatred and frightened a little child."

Mr. MacColl quoted the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: " 'Sometimes the worst evil is done by good people who do not know that they are not good.' "

The crowd murmured its assent.

Then Mr. MacColl challenged them. "The trouble is, I find myself reflected in that woman," he said. "Because I can get trapped in self-righteousness and paint those who oppose me in dark colors they do not deserve. Is that, at times, true of you, as well?"

This time, people were silent.

Mr MacColl frightened them to silence. They were quick to agree that the pro-lifer was wrong, but they were silent when the minister suggested that they themselves may be self-righteous and unfair in their treatment of others. Why do they gather at the prayer breakfast? To be with like-minded individuals and convinced that they are right. To be encouraged in the fight against what they see as neanderthals stuck in the dark ages where women were chained to the stove. Mr MacColl was right to challenge them. He, though on the wrong side of the abortion debate, understands his own sinfulness. He understands that he can, in his exuberance, be uncharitable. Unfortunately for him he also supports the murder of unborn children.

So what must we do as Christians? We must love our brothers and sisters first and foremost. If we truly love our brothers and sisters, we want them to spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus Christ the Lord. Christ says that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend, but I feel that the desire for a soul's salvation is a close second.

We must pray. We must pray not only for an end to abortion, women who may consider one, and women already hurt by it, but also for our brothers and sisters who are not on the side of Truth on this issue. We must pray for these, especially those in positions of moral authority, clergymen, catechists and theologians. For these are the folks who out of love act to provide people with ease on earth. Out of love they try to accept everyone just the way they are. This love is authentic, but misguided and far from complete. For Jesus did not condemn, but he asked us to change from our sinful ways.

Look at John 8: 1-11. The woman caught in adultery. After the men realize their sinfulness and abandon the desire to stone the woman, Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more."” Christ calls us to conversion. Christ loves us as we are, and that is why he wants us to change for the better, so that we may be with him in paradise.

So, I humbly exhort you to read this and take this to heart. I humbly ask that you pray for our brothers and sisters who are in the very stranglehold of Satan himself. Pray for those of us who are in the truth that we may not be motivated by self-righteousness or tempted by the ugly sin of Pride. Spread the word. Bring more to Christ, to conversion, and to prayer. Our political action must be accompanied by and based in prayer and love, else it is but a clashing cymbal, empty noise which will not bring about the change we wish to see in this country and the world.