Comments on: Good luck President Obama! http://troyhamby.com/2009/01/19/good-luck-obama/ meditations from a postmodern, incarnational, missional church planter Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:30:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: charlie mcclelland http://troyhamby.com/2009/01/19/good-luck-obama/#comment-80 charlie mcclelland Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:47:19 +0000 http://troyhamby.com/?p=188#comment-80 I did not vote for either McCain or Obama--while voting for every other office. In my view the lessor of two evils is still voting for evil. The issue of abortion and homosexual marriage have been the lightening rod that has attracted most conservative christians to the Republican party. I have begun to wonder about the rationale for making these two issues the litmus test of a candidate for office. For one thing, it has not ever done any good. Even the "pro-life" judges seem to buckle once they are in office. Furthermore, abortions reportedly dropped during Bill Clinton (the abortion president). I am beginning to wonder if the whole approach of the Pro-Life movement is flawed. It resembles the fight to prohibit alcohol in spite of the fact that most people wanted to drink. It also seems to miss the real problem--sex outside of marriage. This is a moral issue that is almost impossible to legislate or enforce if we could. Fighting the Pro-Life battle in the a permissive culture is like attempting to outlaw the law of gravity. Christians have been fed the idea that to follow Christ, we must fight to outlaw abortion. This has been repeated so often we believe it is in the Bible somewhere. However, during the time the New Testament was being written, the romans practiced abortion, with no mention of it in any of the letters of Paul. It seems to me that the fight rests upon two ideas. First, that the United States has a covenant with God similar to Israel with not only the blessings, but also the curses. I can't find that in the Bible at all. Secondly, it rests upon the fight against slavery. In this there seems to be not only some validity, but it is also the high "moral" ground. Unfortunately, we must realize that the abolitionist movement prospered mostly among people who did not own slaves, whereas somewhere around 50% of the pregnancies in the US are unintended and 40% of those end in abortion. People who claim this is a cultural war need to realize that culture is the outgrowth of the belief system of people. Outlawing someone's belief did not work for the Romans against the Christians, and it will not work against abortion. At some point, people will need to realize that sex is meant to be an act of love between a man and a woman who have made a life time commitment to each other. This is destroyed by divorce, and undermined by extra-marital sex. Abortion, like homosexual activity show up in a culture that has decided believe a lie. I did not vote for either McCain or Obama–while voting for every other office. In my view the lessor of two evils is still voting for evil. The issue of abortion and homosexual marriage have been the lightening rod that has attracted most conservative christians to the Republican party. I have begun to wonder about the rationale for making these two issues the litmus test of a candidate for office. For one thing, it has not ever done any good. Even the “pro-life” judges seem to buckle once they are in office. Furthermore, abortions reportedly dropped during Bill Clinton (the abortion president).

I am beginning to wonder if the whole approach of the Pro-Life movement is flawed. It resembles the fight to prohibit alcohol in spite of the fact that most people wanted to drink.

It also seems to miss the real problem–sex outside of marriage. This is a moral issue that is almost impossible to legislate or enforce if we could. Fighting the Pro-Life battle in the a permissive culture is like attempting to outlaw the law of gravity.

Christians have been fed the idea that to follow Christ, we must fight to outlaw abortion. This has been repeated so often we believe it is in the Bible somewhere. However, during the time the New Testament was being written, the romans practiced abortion, with no mention of it in any of the letters of Paul. It seems to me that the fight rests upon two ideas. First, that the United States has a covenant with God similar to Israel with not only the blessings, but also the curses. I can’t find that in the Bible at all. Secondly, it rests upon the fight against slavery. In this there seems to be not only some validity, but it is also the high “moral” ground.

Unfortunately, we must realize that the abolitionist movement prospered mostly among people who did not own slaves, whereas somewhere around 50% of the pregnancies in the US are unintended and 40% of those end in abortion. People who claim this is a cultural war need to realize that culture is the outgrowth of the belief system of people. Outlawing someone’s belief did not work for the Romans against the Christians, and it will not work against abortion. At some point, people will need to realize that sex is meant to be an act of love between a man and a woman who have made a life time commitment to each other. This is destroyed by divorce, and undermined by extra-marital sex. Abortion, like homosexual activity show up in a culture that has decided believe a lie.

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