Why I Vote for Life

Some of you will wonder why I am writing this blog post after the election. I have been thinking about the subject for several weeks now and trying to determine the best way to articulate my views so that anyone can understand why I choose life over other social justice issues when I vote. Once I had determined how to articulate my position, I saw how negative people were being in social media, especially those on my friend lists, and I decided to post after we knew the results. I am a single issue voter. I determine my position in any given election for any candidate based solely on that person's position regarding abortion. I know that this seems irresponsible or irrational to some/most of you. However, I feel that this is the most biblical position to take. It is my conviction. The Bible is clear that the life of a child begins at conception. It is not a gray area. The stories of Jacob and Esau, Samson, David, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and ultimately Jesus (to name a select few) all support the position that life begins before the baby is born. Therefore, any abortion is the killing of a life. It is murder. Even worse, it is murder based on selfish and sinful decisions. I have not heard a case made for a selfless abortion. In case some of you are going to argue about the quality of life in the case of severe physical or mental disabilities, who are we to judge the quality of life that a person can have? We know that all life is precious. Plus, a doctor cannot really predict the potential of a child before it is born. In the case of rape, why should the child be killed for the sins of the father? Think of how special it could be to tell the child that what their father meant for evil, God meant for good. Finally the health of the mother is cited quite a bit as well. The problem with that justification is shouldn't a parent be willing to die to give their child an opportunity to live? It seems that abortion points to heart problems and often results from a mother finding herself in a scary place and making a decision that is difficult, yet sinful. Thank God that He is able to forgive and restore women who have made the decision! The Bible is also clear that the government and society is not to oppress the poor and is to take care of the widows and orphans. Poverty alleviation is a biblical goal for the government. I believe that many of my friends who chose other social issues over abortion are seeking to fulfill the biblical mandate to help the poor. I think that the problem with the governmental structure currently in place in our country is that it is set up as relief instead of developmental and therefore further oppresses the poor by making them dependent on the government for survival. Since it will take too much space to explain what I mean, I would refer anyone interested in reading about relief and recovery versus developmental and how relief becomes oppressive in the book called When Helping Hurts. It is not an attack on the American welfare system (in case that scares some away), but more of an attack on how Christians have been assisting the poor at a church level. Knowing what I believe, I have to choose between the pro-life stance on the right and the social issues stance on the left. I have chosen to vote life over social justice. I cannot legally prevent a woman from having an abortion to protect the life of the unborn child without the help of the government. I can counsel. I can pray. I can offer resources. However, the decision is ultimately up to the woman, and I believe that abortion is like any murder and therefore should be legislated as illegal. The child should not die for the sins of the parents. It is as simple as that. Poverty and social issues are different. I can do my part to alleviate the poverty of some or all of the persons I encounter. I can feed the hungry and clothe the naked. I can open my home to provide a place for someone to stay. Some in poverty are reaping the consequences of their choices in life. For those, I should show mercy where appropriate. Some are in the situation due to circumstances beyond their control, and for those I should be an instrument of justice. I cannot support a government system that is oppressive to those in poverty. The current system keeps the impoverished in poverty because they are constantly in fear of making too much money to have the benefits taken away instead of learning and taking pride in living independent of government assistance. I do not know the answer to welfare reform. What I do know is that I am responsible as a human being and a Christian for each person in poverty that I meet and therefore I have to do my part. I also know that the government has to have something in place to keep from oppressing its citizens. Politicians cannot buy the votes of babies with benefits like they can the votes of the poor and oppressed. I often feel like my vote is being bought with a promise to protect the life of the unborn, but I would prefer to err on the side of standing against murder and using other means to alleviate poverty. Social justice issues are not as clear cut as abortion. If I am ever presented with two pro-life candidates for president, I will be forced to think deeper about social and economic plans. Until then, I will continue to vote on the single issue and the party that is most likely to defeat the party taking the opposite stance, whether that be Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or some other independent candidate. I will also continue to try to alleviate the stresses of poverty for the impoverished I encounter. Finally, I will put my hope in God instead of the government because He is the only one who can provide for my daily needs whether He chooses to use the government or some other means. If I put my hope in politics or religion instead of God, I am putting my hope in the wrong place and sinning. If I have a selfish motive instead of a pure motive, I am sinning. I only pray that my motives can be pure and I can walk this journey staying true to my convictions so long as they line up with God's word. The methods used can be disagreed upon at times, but the biblical mandates remain the same - to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.

Forgiveness

I have probably written on the topic of forgiveness before, but since unforgiveness continually pops up in this life, I can never write enough about forgiveness. Forgiveness is one of those lessons that is painful to learn because it can only be learned by forgiving. You have to be sinned against in order to learn to forgive. In our human relationships, we are constantly being sinned against and sinning against others. Some sins are more painful than others. Some betrayals run deep. At some point we are all faced with the need to forgive.

There is a common misconception in the idea of forgiveness. I have noticed that us humans tend to see forgiveness as something we do for ourselves. We think that we need to forgive to keep ourselves from becoming bitter. We think we need to forgive to heal our own hearts. Although a true attitude of forgiveness will result in a healed heart, this is not the purpose of forgiveness. The purpose of forgiveness is to restore our relationship with God.

When we have an attitude of unforgiveness, our heart is sinning against God. Our heart is telling God that the sin someone else committed against us is worse than the sins we have committed against God. We put our pride ahead of God. We fail to see the correct perspective of our own sins. The absolute worst sin someone has committed against you cannot compare to the sins you commit against God on a day to day basis. This is a difficult realization to come to when you are on the path to forgiving others. No human wants to admit or even come face to face with the magnitude of the sin that we commit against God. However, when we have a heart of unforgiveness, we are sinning against God. The bitterness and discontent in an unforgiving heart comes because our heart is sinning against God. Unforgiveness affects our relationship with God. We cannot draw close to Him because we are not being honest about our own sinfulness.

Forgiveness is not easy. It is never easy to confront your own sinfulness so that you can put the sins of the other person in perspective. The Holy Spirit must give a spirit of conviction and humility to the person seeking to forgive. It is not a pleasant process, but it is a process that leads to a closer relationship with God. Only then can the heart begin to heal because the most special relationship is being restored. Only then can the Holy Spirit begin to reconcile relationships. Only then will the forgiver reap the benefits of the forgiveness. So yes, forgiveness is the only way to make yourself feel better, but it is not the purpose of forgiveness. Forgiveness has to flow from a heart of gratitude towards God for His willingness to forgive us when we have sinned against Him.

Trayvon Martin

This post is barely coherent, and if I took more time, I could probably make it make sense. One of the things that has struck me about the Trayvon Martin story is that it seems too many (mostly white) people are refusing to see one of the real issues in this case. A black boy who was doing nothing wrong was basically chased by a man who thought he was doing wrong based on an irrational fear. Although I understand that there may have been some illegal activity in the area in the past, this man chased this boy down instead of allowing law enforcement to check the boy out. The boy was guilty only of walking to the corner store to buy a snack in the rain, and wearing a hoodie to do it.

This police department failed both the victim and Zimmerman by failing to treat the investigation as a homicide until the defense of self-defense was proven. Self-defense is just that - a defense to a killing. The investigation should have been conducted as if there was a homicide, and leave it to the DA or a jury of Zimmerman's peers to determine if there is a sufficient self-defense argument to determine if the case should be thrown out. This police department acted as a jury and accepted the credibility of Zimmerman on the scene instead of collecting evidence. Now Zimmerman is being tried in the court of public opinion, which is never a good court to be tried in. Martin was failed by the police department because he was treated differently than another victim would have been treated.

One thing that I think that most white people do not understand is how they react when they see a black man or teen walking around them. Do you pull your purse closer to yourself when you see a black man but not when you see a white man? Do you automatically assume that a black person walking through your neighborhood is up to no good but do not think twice about the white person? Those actions are based on irrational fears of a person who is different from you. If you are a white woman living in the South, a black man is very rarely going to do anything to you because they understand that it would be a max sentence if they did. You do not need to fear "them." They may speak to hit on you, so just politely respond declining the advances. Do not fear someone just because of their race! It is ok to watch someone you do not know in your neighborhood to make sure they are not up to something, but it is not ok to track them down with a gun so that an altercation ensues and someone ends up dead. It is ok to be vigilant, but not ok to have irrational fears that someone is up to no good because they are dressed in a hoodie or any other way.

I realize that I come from an entirely different perspective than most people I know because of my life experiences. I cannot help but think though that one of my innocent boys (and I have a few of those) could easily be Trayvon. My boys look like him. My boys walk to the corner store for snacks like him. My boys even wear hoodies in the rain like him. My boys would probably fight if they were followed like him. The police department probably would not do as thorough of an investigation if they were shot like him. If the tables were flipped and one of them followed Zimmerman and acted as Zimmerman did, there is not a doubt in my mind that a proper investigation and arrest would have occurred at that time. Our society values certain lives above others, and you can see it the most when those who are valued least are victims instead of perpetrators. It is time to do a reality check as a whole and start addressing the irrational fears. I think some are learning from Trayvon, and at least his death will not be in vain if some change their irrational fears. Justice will not be served because we are humans living in a fallen world. However, maybe change will come in the way that certain victims are treated and how some laws are applied. And maybe we can overcome some of our irrational fears and not take matters into our own hands.