My name is Aaron Taylor and I’m a pro-life Christian. What I mean by calling myself pro-life is to say that I believe life begins at conception and no human being has the right to take another life. Period. If you ask me whether I believe abortion is a sin I’ll give you an unequivocal yes, and then I’ll be sure to point you to the cross of Jesus Christ if I sense you’re struggling with guilt over a dark past. On the other hand, if you ask me whether I think Christians should try to outlaw abortion, I’m not going to give you a straight answer. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m pro-abortion, and neither does it mean I’m pro-choice. It simply means that I can’t give you a straight answer, and the funny thing is, it’s precisely because of my Christian faith that I can’t come right out and say that Christians are obligated to pass laws to declare abortions illegal.
As a Christian and as a citizen I would love to see the abortion rate in the United States of America reduced to zero. But the question is how do we make that happen? Is it simply a matter of passing a law declaring abortion illegal? My conservative Christian background would answer with an immediate yes to this question, but these days my heart is telling me that passing a law outlawing abortion doesn’t quite solve the problem. For starters, we know that before Roe Vs Wade there were countless backyard abortions taking place. And given that little has changed in the past 30 years to address the root causes of systemic poverty in our nation, there’s little reason to believe this would change if abortion would be outlawed tomorrow.
Then there’s the question of rape and abuse. I think female rape victims that choose to keep their babies are saints, but as a man I have to wonder if I really understand the pain a female rape victims that choose to deliver their babies full term goes through—even if they give them up for adoption later. And what about women—or young girls—in abusive situations? There’s been a lot of media attention lately about Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s 17 year-old daughter’s unplanned pregnancy and, make no mistake about it, I’m thrilled that Todd and Sarah Palin have chosen to love and support their daughter to guide her in the right direction to keep her baby. But let’s get real for a moment. Does anybody seriously think that every teenage girl has loving parents to come home to that can guide them through an unplanned pregnancy?
What about the girl who’s father molested her when she was young and fears bringing the child up under the same roof? Or what about the girl whose parents would kill them—literally—if they found out she had sex outside of marriage? Or how about the financially struggling woman that fears the father of her baby will abuse both her and the child if she decides to keep her baby? Even in these extreme cases, my Christian ethic on the sanctity of human life still demands that I could never counsel a woman to have an abortion, but the question is: Do I have an obligation as a Christian to take the further step and impose my view of morality on others by forcing them to do so?
The question isn’t just a moral one. It’s also a Biblical one. If the Bible commands Christians to implement God’s law over society through systems of laws and penalties, then by all means, Christians are obligated to declare anything that contradicts God’s law illegal. While we’re at it, if we’re going to be consistent, we might want to consider the death penalty for the 16- year old girl that takes the morning after pill. After all, life begins at conception and murder is murder. If, on the other hand, it can be sufficiently proven that Christians are not obligated to pursue political power to control other people’s behavior, then the question becomes how should followers of Jesus be salt and light in a world that’s gone mad?
I’m going to simplify this by answering my own question with a question. What would the Church look like if there were a universal consensus that our only moral agenda is to imitate Jesus? Throughout the three years of Christ’s ministry on earth, Jesus displayed the sum total of zero interest in pursuing political power to control other people’s behavior. Jesus was offered political power three times—once by Satan—and He turned it down each and every time. In the Roman culture of Jesus’ day, they had something worse than abortion. People could legally kill their children up until age two, but strangely we never see Jesus leading a campaign to outlaw this barbaric practice. Perhaps more surprising is the fact that the Apostle Paul could care less about how people outside the church behaved. His sole concern was for the moral lives of those inside the church. Those inside the church guilty of gross immorality were judged by excommunication, but those outside the Church, Paul made it very clear that Christians are to have nothing to do with judging them (I Corinthians 5:12).
I realize that what I’ve written so far challenges a deeply held notion in many Christian circles that God has called Bible believing Christians to be the moral guardians of society, but frankly, I don’t give a rip about offending religious people. What matters is what the Bible actually says, not the opinions of man. I ask the question again. What would Christianity look like if followers of Jesus decided that their only moral agenda in this life is to imitate Jesus? Would we condemn the sinner with a sword or would we serve the sinner with a towel?
Aaron D. Taylor is an author, a speaker, and the founder of Great Commission Society, an organization dedicated to sharing the love of Christ and serving Christians living in countries hostile to the gospel. Aaron is the author of "Alone with a Jihadist" a book scheduled to be released in January 2009.
To contact Aaron, go to http://www.greatcommissionsociety.com
Aaron blogs at http://www.aarondtaylor.blogspot.com
This author of this Article has choosen to make this article available with free reprint rights. Click here to copy this article.
Arron, beautiful job. The only thing that is going to reduce abortion is a heart change. Understanding why God has "rules", which is because he loves us and knows the pain the sin causes. All the behaviors and reasons a women would consider murdering her unborn child are listed in your article. If we spent more time praying for a change of heart we might see a decline in all sin. Less premarital sex, less reasons to abort, less wicked behavior such as incest and rape, less reason to consider abortion. It all boils down to the sinful heart of man. Thank you for speaking out on this touchy subject. I believe it very Biblical and heart felt.
I appreciate your article. I know god exists. I believe wholeheartedly in god, but I don't want or need a church or a religion to support my understanding that god is there. I don't want or need the bible to support my understanding that god is here, all intelligent, all loving and perfect.
I like to keep it simple. Here is my simple way of looking at this: Regardless of the circumstances by which a baby is conceived (love, rape, abuse, etc), life is better for the baby than death. Abortion is never for the baby. Abortion is for the convenience of the parents that don't want to care for the baby. There is never a reason or an excuse for abortion.
Aaron, well I'm no scientist but I have seen much about the formation of life from conception forward. If one looks at the visual material out there one might have a hard time denying that is life. Yet the precise moment life begins I don't know. Now with new science I understand life is initiated at the moment of conception. It may be worth investigating. One would need to study that one hard. I fall back on this. The act given by God was to procreate and multiply within the union of marraige. He did not say go out an enjoy and do with all. He is very explicit about fornication and adultery. So yes, enjoy the union only in the concept of the marriage bed and if life starts with that, then who are we to interfere? Now that opens the door to responsibility, contraception, etc. Another large controversy. Good article, best wishes.
Excellent article, Aaron, and I agree with you for the most part. I believe I am to follow Matt 22:37 - 39. I also believe that I can't expect an unbeliever to act or live as a believer should act and live. That said, we are under grace and as hard as it is to give it sometimes, it is something we have to do. There has to be a place where you love those who have had an abortion without condoning it. A girl would be stoned for her unwed pregnancy in some parts of our world today. I think, though, that we have mistaken grace for an 'anything goes' attitude. If there is someone who believes life is sacred in the White House, there is some balance for those who believe an unborn child is just tissue. I believe pro-life needs to be an issue. Not to reverse Roe v Wade; I don't think that could ever happen, but to help up remember what is important. Sin is progressive if left alone. What lives will be deemed expendible or not worth the cost of care next? Maybe all this election talk is part of Phil 2:12. Are we just to sit quietly by while all morals fall away?
Aaron, a great article but there are a few points that you either miss or I miss your concept. We already have laws condemning and punishing for murder, as it should be. There is no possible means of excusing murder simply because it is a helpless unborn infant. Murder in the first degree.
I realize that Jesus did not interfere with Roman law, but rather gave instructions to be subject to it. But in no way was that advocating to kill a child up to age 2. You also have to consider that their rule was in no way a Democracy or Republic with citizen rule. In our society and under our constitution, it is a Christian duty to try and influence our laws towards morality and righteousness.
Excellent article! While this is a very sensitive subject you mentioned many aspects of the reason why it may happen and my favorite - "What would Jesus Do?" I think you wrote this with very much emotion and you covered a lot that most won't talk about.
» left by Dane Tyner from Tulsa, OK (89 days 7 hours ago.)
Aaron, I believe that abortion is wrong as you do. I even believe it is wrong in every case except when needed to save the life of the mother. I know that the majority of Americans are sympathetic to the rape and incest situation; therefore, that exception to abortion restrictions will probably always be accepted in our culture. I find it interesting, however, that very few would advocate the death penalty for a rapist, while that is precisely what is given the one conceived by the rapist. That difference is because we view the rapist as a person with rights, and we do not see the child in the womb as a person with rights. That was the essence of Roe V Wade. You refer to Jesus not wielding political power to effect righteousness which is true. You also remind us that Jesus said nothing about abortion or infanticide, which is true. I would remind you that Jesus said nothing about slavery or “cruel and unusual punishment”. Based on your assumptions, Christians were amiss to fight against the slave trade, which was fought in the legal systems of nations, including our own. I would bet that the same arguments you propose here were applied then and there. Somehow I cannot imagine Jesus disinterested in the subject of abortion. As for me, I shall die trying to end abortion as an acceptable answer for women facing very hard life circumstances. I believe we are morally obligated to the Creator of life to choose rightly, even if it be personally costly. One thing Jesus would do is be vocal about truth, even if it got Him killed. That we know because He did and it did.
I am not sure that we can say that there are Biblical mandates for this dilemma. What you have provided are your interpretations based upon your understanding of the Bible. The Bible, rather than being a “cookbook” on every practical issue of life, is more importantly God’s revelation to a world in need. The issue of pro-life vs. pro-choice is obscured by simplistic thinking. Anyone who thinks seriously about this subject with integrity should be torn by polar perspectives. In one way, there is no question that abortion is murder of a sort and that abortion on demand does diminish the sanctity of life. On the other hand, there is no question as to the magnitude of suffering that would result for both parent and children if abortion of a rape or incest victim were not an option. With integrity we must be left with the tension. I agree that to say "Thou shalt abort" is simplistic and is not the community of believers mission. Nevertheless, I don't think there is anything “saintly” about the decision under these circumstances to continue a pregnancy. I will leave that decision up to the families and their God.
If we are to create a scenario where “killing a pregnancy” is considered murder and warrants prosecution, them we must also look at the issue of pre-emptive war and the necessity of holding those responsible for deception in the lead-up to the deaths of thousands of lives which also violates the sanctity of life. The Republicans have once again shifted the political debate to an ideological one. Therefore, we must all ask the question, “Now that Bristol Palin has chosen to keep her baby, what responsibility does her mother have OTHER than supporting and nurturing her daughter and granddaughter? Is there no responsibility for proposing sex education for teens rather than an abstinence-based program that her mother supports? Is there no responsibility for preventative sexual measures, something that Bristol’s mother does not support? Anyway, all of this obscures the real issue of how to put food on the tables of Americans in need.
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