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Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Can you really vote for this?

I came across this blog through a friend's, and It put something into words I have been struggling with. I don't want this to become a political debate, but I just had to post this.

"it's just so polarizing..." by joshuap
I believe that you cannot be a Christian and support abortion rights. it is totally against the teachings of the Bible to be for a procedure that ends life in the unborn. with that said, how can people who claim to be Christians support someone like barack obama? this is a man who has, for his entire public/political life, supported unfettered abortion rights. first trimester, second trimester, and partial birth abortions...he has even supported ending the life of a baby who survived the horrific abortion procedure since putting limitations on that would "erode roe-v-wade". he has even been quoted as saying "if my teenaged daughter got pregnant i wouldn't want her to be punished with a baby" (since there should be no consequences for a senators daughter ever...). this man has little or no care for the unborn...the born (those babies who survived an abortion)...and has, in his entire political career, supported a murderous, un-Biblical policy.

yet "post-modern" christians are flocking to his table...flocking to his events to hear him speak...and are "energized" (according to christianity today) about the prospects of him being elected. how is this possible? how are christians flocking to a man who, from a Biblical perspective, supports murder? who has such a low view of human life? i hear time and time again how abortion is "too polarizing"..."nothing gets done by republicans anyways"..."there are other issues besides abortion"...yes, there are "other issues" but none of which dive deeper to the heart of ones character and faith than abortion. you can be a christian and be for gun control. you can be a christian and be for socialized health care. you can be a christian and be for private health care. those things are temporal...earthly...they are matters of political opinion that have very little (if anything) to do with Christ and His teaching. yet abortion is not just a temporal issue...it is a heavenly issue. a matter of ones heart. God said "before you were in the womb I knew you"..."before you were born I concecrated you"...and i could list verse after verse about God, His perfect plan (which sometimes involves pregnancy) and Him being the author of LIFE.
so this is my question for any Christian out there who is voting for obama:

how do i vote for obama when he believes that the life of the unborn is equal to the contents of the trash can behind planned parenthood?

9 comments:

Erica said...

This is certainly a poignant piece. Puts some things into perspective, especially with Sarah Palin's 17 y.o. daughter being pregnant...

Josh H. said...

thanks for the kind words on my blog. abortion is such a tragic thing yet the real tradegy is when the issue is pushed aside and Christians look the other way. God bless,
-josh

Speckledpup said...

atta girl.

Anonymous said...

I believe it would be more accurate to state that Obama, and other Christians who support him, support the right of a woman to choose. As a Christian, abortion would not be the right choice for me personally, but it is not up to me to make that choice for everyone--or anyone--else. I do understand that abortion is quite the polarizing issue, but it is not always black and white, no matter what people want you to believe. In fact, it is RARELY black and white and the majority of women have an excruciating time with the decision.

There are conditions possible in babies that you do not want to know about and far be it for me to tell parents they do not have a choice. It is certainly laudable to continue a pregnancy (espcially when the outcome is known to be poor), but it is also not condemmable should they make the painful choice to end a pregnancy.

Also, don't you think that we Christians should do a little less judging (especially when we don't know peoples' individual situations) and more loving, forgiving, and accepting?

--S

Josh H. said...

anonymous,

you said "as Christians" so i am assuming you are talking as one. as Christians the Bible is clear on a number of topics that are black and white. murder being one of them. God's perfect plan for each of us. God being the "author" of Life. knowing us before we were formed. consecrating us before we were even born. not giving us more of a burden than we can handle.
the Bible is clear on God knowing us while in the womb. knowing us before the egg was fertalized. so saying "but it's not up to me to make that decision" is reducing it to this morality free zone where what you know "life" to be isn't important enough to stand up for it.
it's like saying people should be able to choose to murder if they want. i wouldn't choose that path but if they do i can't tell them not to. yes, you can and even if the law here in the u.s. allowed murder, as christians we would still be held to what the Bible teaches us about murder. Biblical Truth trumps temporal law for the christian.
i can't expect non-christians to believe that life begins at conception or that abortion is the taking of a human life. they don't believe so my standard can't be held to them. my issue is with christians who said what you said. it isn't your choice but if others make it so be it. how, with all that the Bible teaches us can we make statements like that? we are held to a moral standard. the "world" is not.
now is hating abortionists or people who support abortion the answer? no...not at all. we should be reaching out in love to them. praying for them. whether they have had abortions or not. whether they perform them or not. praying to end abortion in all cases. but, to the christian who supports abortion and turns a blind eye to the Truth laid out before us in the Bible, shame on them for not standing up for the weakest of humans in our society. shame on them for not "calling a spade a spade"...ie. calling abortion what it is. murder. that isn't a candy coated response but for the christian that is what it is. murder, adultery, having idols before God...etc...black and white.

just know i am not posting this with anger...but as a response to another christian about a really difficult topic.
God bless,
-josh

Anonymous said...

@joshuap:

I pray that you will never have to see what I have seen. That you will never be put in situations I have seen people put in. I'm glad for you that this issue is black and white. This is a much more gray issue than people (especially those who have never truly been faced with a difficult decision) will ever realize. Many times, abortion is not about not wanting a baby. Just know that. I have to admit though, I hope you never have to understand what else it could be about.

For I know the plans I have for you, to prosper you and not to harm you.

He always knows and will take care of all of his children, no matter what choices they may make in life.

I will say no more.

--S

Josh H. said...

anon,

by posting what you did you are implying that i have never had to make hard decisions or that i have never "viewed" anything as hard as you have. a little unfair don't you think?
you never answered any of my questions...you just personalized your opinion and absolved yourself from actually answering anything. it's an internet discussion and no where in my post was i condescending or rude to you.

"He always knows and will take care of all of his children, no matter what choices they may make in life."

God always knows and He always takes care of His children...regardless of us fouling up...over and over again. i'm near the top of that list. regardless of our choices, but we can make choices that are clearly wrong. just because God forgives us doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. if that is true there is nothing black and white. everything is relative. for the Christian we have absolute Truths we live by...or strive to live by. we have a model set up for us and it doesn't mean we can act as though everything is "my choice" when God is clear about it being wrong.

regardless of the horrific nature of abortion. regardless of girls having them and God forgiving them and restoring them (amen to that). regardless of all of those things the root of the problem is that for the Christian, abortion is the taking of another life. playing God. not only with the baby but in ones life. "you" (not you personally but a person) choose when life begins and ends. you choose what burdens you can bear. you choose the timing that is right for you. what arrogance we show when it comes to our lives and our "will". when did God bestow that power on us?

Katrina said...

I agree, and as far as someone choosing to abort a baby because there is something physically wrong with it... God created that baby too, and there is a reason it is the way it is. Is it not a human too, just because it is deformed?
I know several families who have chosen against abortion in a situation where others might choose it, and those babies have been huge blessings in their family. Just because they may not be perfect physically in the world's eyes, doesn't mean that they aren't here for a specific purpose.

Anonymous said...

I want to throw this out there while you are all talking about it. I have always said I could not judge unless I have been in their shoes. Abortion is not something I support. I have miscarried 3 babies myself. 3 babies that I would love to have here with me now. My heart aches all the time for them. It was by far not my choice. They were just taken from me.
Anyways... I always wondered what I would do if I got pregnant as a result of being rapped. What would you tell that chld about their father? That is one predictatment I do not want to ever face. But have wondered about.
Again having lost 3 babies I could never have one taken from my body unless it was God's decision to do so.