So much in our days has become tragically predictable and yet, we still find ourselves with brows furrowed in disbelief when we recognize that things are not as they should be.
We use the word “unbelievable” so often that it may seem a wimpy describer for some things that we have come to expect.
“Yankees win in the World Series.”
Unbelievable? Not hardly.
“Cubs win the World Series.”
Unbelievable? Well, that scenario holds up better. But still … not exactly beyond belief.
How about this one …
“A group of Christians met together recently in order pay special honor to Planned Parenthood President and CEO Cecile Richards.”
Unbelievable? That depends upon your worldview and your denominational affiliation. For mainline Christians, including Presbyterians in the Presbyterian Church (USA) this statement is in keeping with the social witness policy of the pro-choice denomination. So, the “unbelievable” only fits if you have a commitment to life no matter the cost.
Don’t believe it even happened? Find it unbelievable? Read for yourself – (see news here).
What are we talking about?
Planned Parenthood. The largest single provider for abortions in the United States. Earning hundreds of millions of dollars per year by performing nearly 1 out of 4 abortions — all the while being subsidized in their operations through U.S. tax dollars. See PP’s own reported data here (PDF).
Sometimes when I’m talking to friends who have never had any connection to mainline Christian denominations in the United States, we’ll discuss ethical issues. They’ll tell me of folks at their church who don’t give much thought or discernment to such issues. These issues bother them to even think about — so they don’t. My friends have a justified sense of sorrow over this “ignorant-by-conviction” approach.
I ask my friends, however, if they think their acquaintances are actually pro-life at heart. “Oh sure, there’s no doubt about that.”
“Do you think they’d give financial support to, say, Planned Parenthood?” I ask.
“Oh heavens, no! That is ridiculous to even suggest. That would be … unbelievable to consider!”
Exactly. And it is unbelievable — unless you’ve been working in a mainline context for so long that the absurd position becomes normalized.
Members of mainline churches, including the PCUSA, have been conditioned to embrace the unbelievable. They imagine that the boundaries of biblical Christianity are wide enough to allow for the possibility of genuine Christ-followers inhabiting two very divergent camps. On one hand, you have Christians who staff and fund Crisis Pregnancy Centers, giving pregnant women love and grace and tangible physical help to carry a pregnancy to birth.
On the other hand, you have Auburn Seminary, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, holding a breakfast to honor Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards as a hero and someone worthy of emulation.
You may not know that along with other mainline denominations the PCUSA participates in the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice — a group which supports Planned Parenthood financially (2010, the latest year for financial annual reports, is here).
There are many within the PCUSA who hold the pro-life position which finds grounding in the authority of the Bible. Presbyterians Pro-Life (www.ppl.org) work tirelessly as a voice for the unborn and as a ministry seeking to equip congregations for genuine ministry surrounding life issues.
Our dialogue on these subjects must be full of grace and truth. But, it is imperative that we never give in to the idea — the unbelievable idea — that followers of Jesus Christ can give applause to organizations which exist for the political and cultural support of abortion.
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Don’t miss Joe Carter’s recent, “9 Things You Should Know About Planned Parenthood.“
40 Comments. Leave new
Carmen – If you don’t want an abortion, there’s certainly no law that says you have to have one. But please don’t pass a law that says I can’t have one if that’s what I think is best for my family and me. I think you and the government should stay out of my bedroom.
In response to Mary’s post, I will point out that the issue at hand is not the legality of abortions, but the forced financial support of abortions by people who are morally and theologically opposed to them. I will not say another person cannot have an abortion, though I am pro-Life (and therefore against the death penalty, as well as abortion). That said, I do not want to pay for someone’s abortion and therefore object strenuously to both my tax dollars and my church giving being used to pay for abortions.
The article is not about infringing on what acts those who are not pro-Life are legally permitted; it is about the financial and implied theological support of abortions by the denominational stances and denominational financial support. I would encourage those who respond to this article to focus their comments on what is actually in the article and not on what is not present.
Mary –the government, through its financial support of Planned Parenthood and through the contraception initiatives in the Affordable Care Act, is *already* in your bedroom.
I am afraid I am going to be less gentle than Twyla and Wilber were in reply to Mary Newton’s comments.
Carmen is saying two things: (1) The PCUSA should not be underwriting the cost of abortions and (2) the American taxpayer should not be underwriting the cost of abortions. That’s it. Period. End of report.
But Newton is either too intellectually corrupt to concede the limited scope of Carmen’s opinion or she lacks the intelligence to read and comprehend what she has read. I doubt if it is the latter. If she attended secondary school in the middle of the last century, she presumably learned how to read and comprehend (at some level).
No, I fear it is a question of intellectual integrity. Newton is so reconciled and desensitized to the horror of abortion that, in her narrow mind, any contrary point of view must necessarily be the precursor of governmental intrusion, or even the byproduct of a “vast, right-wing conspiracy” (to echo the words of the “president-in-waiting”).
The inability or unwillingness of otherwise intelligent Americans to critically discern what is being said is symptomatic of a failed cutlure. As a result, dialogue often loses any pretense of intellectual integrity. Do you remember “The Dixie Chicks”? When they were touring Great Britain, they slammed President Bush. Their comments created a firestorm in the States, and much of their fan base stopped buying their records (CDs) and concert tickets. The Chicks whined that they were being denied the right to exercise their 1st Amendment rights. No they weren’t. They could say whatever they wanted. The Chicks failed to discern that their fans had rights, too. Today, the Chicks have no label, are not recording, and are not touring. The group has disbanded.
The PCUSA may support abortion, but it does so at great risk to the denomination. Not unlike the Dixie Chicks, the PCUSA brand is permanently damaged. The PCUSA is a failed culture.
One thing about the pcusa….it can’t get much worse.
Money always talks. Planned Parenthood gets many $$ to perform abortions so that is what they will be doing. The fact that PCUSA helps fund this procedure is extremely unfortunate. But the issue must go back to the whole teaching of sacred Scripture. Is life precious or not? Does God deem life as sacred?
If we claim to follow Christ, why would we really believe He gives us an option to destroy life in the womb?
When the women of a nation have lost all self-control and are so desensatized to the beauty of an unborn child and so resort to abortion as the method for eliminating an “inconvenience” then we can expect nothing less than judgment to fall on a nation that has lost its way.
Our cultue has lost its values regarding the sanctity of life. The church at large has failed.
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Reply Lori says: August 28, 2013 at 7:14 pm Thanks Joey for your thoughts.
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