Reflections on the current abortion debate

This is not a simple issue with a simple solution. So there's no way a single blog post can possibly articulate the complexity of this issue. So, now that I've stated how inadequate this will be, I'll start!

First of all, let's stop pigeon holing those we disagree with, I've never met someone who was anti-life or someone who was anti-choice but the labels each side has chosen for themselves has been deliberately used to demonize the other side. This dehumanizing of the other side must stop!

When Pat Robertson said he thought the Alabama abortion bill went too far I was taken aback. I thought he believed that all life was sacred. If all life is sacred and begins at conception, then the only logically consistent position is that abortion is morally wrong under every circumstance. The manner in which the child was conceived is irrelevant to the question of the value of that unborn child's life. Robertson’s statement reflects what I see as the inherent problem faced by those who seek to legislate their moral code, they are compromising what they believe in order to get as much legal protection for their position as they can.

If the goal of the pro-life movement is to see an end to abortions then I believe it is time for them to rethink their strategy. No law has ever prevented crime, law simply criminalizes certain behavior. We have laws against killing, but people still kill; we have laws against theft, but people still steal. If laws are put in place that prohibit abortion it won't end abortion. There was abortion before Roe vs. Wade and there will still be abortion even if Roe vs. Wade is overturned. If the pro-life movement wants to see abortion end then it is the battle for the hearts and minds of the people that must be won, not a legislative battle that posits one side against another.

If you want to see how this works look at the seat belt laws. When I was a kid I loved riding in the back of the car, my brother, sister and I would bounce around the back seat, sometimes we'd climb up on the ledge under the rear window and when we road in a hatchback we'd beg to ride in the trunk. This was considered normal in the 1970s even though the British public service announcement on seat belt safety had started in the summer of 1970. There was almost 15 years of solid work to change people's minds on this issue before a law was passed requiring the wearing of a seat belt in the front and it wasn't until 1991 that wearing a seat belt in the back was required. The change in society began with a campaign focused on the hearts and minds of the people. Almost fifty years on we still see roadside signs reminding us that we need to buckle up. Today, most of us who grew up without wearing a seat belt feel a sense of moral outrage when we see someone without one.

A number of years ago I attended a conference in Washington DC. There was panel discussion featuring Jim Wallis, Anne Lamott, and Father Richard Rohr, E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post was the moderator. During the Q&A session someone from the audience asked a question on abortion which Rohr answered with an affirmation of his pro-life position and Anne Lamott responded with, "No is going to f@&%&* tell me what to do with my uterus!" The tension was palpable, Jim Wallis stepped into the middle of it by suggesting that we would all like to see an environment where abortion was no longer necessary and in which life could thrive, in the meantime he invoked the Clinton idea that it should be, "safe, legal and rare." It felt like a collective exhale as calmness filled the room. Everyone agreed we'd like to see fewer abortions.

What followed next was a brief discussion on the social changes needed to continue to see abortion rates fall. Issues of education, poverty, health care, support networks, crime, and social stigmatization were among the many factors discussed. Any claim to be pro-life has to be based on being for life in every aspect of providing dignity to humanity.

I fear that many Christians who claim to be pro-life and are primarily fighting for legislative change are hurting the witness of the church to Jesus Christ. Instead of publicly loving the people they say they want to help they are, in fact, alienating them, pushing them away from the church and oftentimes Jesus too. They have lost sight of the primary calling of Jesus to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." They may not see it this way, it may not be their intention, but to the outsider, the non-Christian, the post-Christian, they are seen to be preaching law and not offering grace. If you don't believe me just take a look at social media or talk to someone who is radically pro-choice.

My suggestion is that if we really want to see the number of abortions drop we stop the legislative fight for the foreseeable future and work harder to come alongside the people who are seeking abortions offering them support, counselling, financial help, providing affordable health care, covering daycare costs so they can go to school or work. In other words changing the broken systems that lead people to feel they have to have an abortion in the first place.

Let's make sure we don't diminish the humanity of the person seeking an abortion any more than we don't want to diminish the value of the life they carry.

This story from the Washington Post puts it well, I got Pregnant. I chose to keep my baby. And my Christian school humiliated me.

Words Matter

In a September article in the Atlantic, Salena Zito suggested that we take Trump, “seriously but not literally.” Yesterday, in an opinion piece on CNN, Brad Todd wrote, “Just before the dawn of the Trump administration, journalism in Washington, DC, faces an existential crisis -- but virtually no one in the profession is willing to diagnose it. Here it is: For the first time, words don't matter.”

This troubles me deeply and it should trouble you too.

Words matter.

I was raised to, “say what I mean and mean what I say.” In doing so, it leaves less room for misinterpretation. This makes it much simpler to clear up any misunderstanding by using additional words to bring further clarity. Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, in Caring For Words in a Culture of Lies, explains that “precision of expression is neither taught nor appreciated in a culture that has prostituted language in the service of propaganda. To the degree that we consent to cheap hyperbole, cheap slogans, and comfortably unexamined claims, we deprive ourselves of the felicity of expression that brings things worth looking at into focus.”

It appears that, in the seven years since McEntyre wrote her book, we have come to a point in our culture where we are no longer able to clearly evaluate and articulate important ideas and concepts. We are no longer able to clearly separate fact from fiction or truth from lies. We no longer mean what we say or say what we mean.

When Zito suggests that we take Trump “seriously but not literally” she gets it entirely wrong. As a pastor I am often asked if I believe the Bible to be literally true. My answer is no. I believe the Bible to be completely true but that does not make it literal. Literal and true are on two separate axes. On one axis is the differentiation between literal and metaphor and on the other is the differentiation between true and false. Unfortunately we tend to confuse these two axes. Just because some of the Bible uses metaphorical language it does not make it false or just because someone literally said something it does not make it true. Precision in language matters.

Truth matters.

In a chapter titled, “Don’t Tolerate Lies,” McEntyre states, “I’m not naïve enough to think there ever was a time when public office was free of calculated misrepresentations, broken promises, and organized deceptions. What has changed is both the scale of such offenses and the attitude of the public toward them. Tolerance may not be the right term. It may simply be passivity. Or a species of fatigue in the face of the mountains of information, misinformation, disinformation, and trivia that requires sorting out if we’re going to pursue the truth of even one significant narrative in the stream of current events.”

Later in the chapter she would ask, “So what, then? Do we shrug and say there's nothing we can do? I don't think so. It seems to me that to be called stewards of words requires of us some willingness to call liars to account - particularly when their lies threaten the welfare of the community. Certainly we need to do this with humility, aware of the ways in which each one of us has a heart that is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9). ... Still if there is to be health in the body politic and Body of Christ, healing involves naming the insults and offenses. It involves holding each other and our leaders accountable. It means clarifying where there is confusion; naming where there is evasion; correcting where there is error; fine-tuning where there is imprecision; satirizing where there is folly; changing the terms when the terms falsify.”

To accept McEntyre’s challenge requires diligence on our part. It requires a thoughtful and discerning discourse in order to properly respond to the “lies that threaten the welfare of the community.”

Uncertain Times

In uncertain times.

To those who are afraid I say, "Fear is real, it is a powerful motivator, it drives the fight or flight response within us. So be careful. The most common phrase in the Bible is 'fear not' and there is good reason for this. We are to driven and motivated by love. In uncertain times, when their nation was occupied by a foreign army and terrorism was a real threat in their cities an angel appeared to the shepherds and said, 'fear not.' Fear divides and drives us apart, love unites and brings us together. Fear diminishes others while love elevates all of us.

To Christians I say, "We live for the sake of the kingdom of God. We live for Jesus Christ whose kingdom is not of this world. Our God is sovereign no matter what government we have. We are part of a global people from every nation and ethnic background. Grace has been extended to us when we least deserved it, let us extend that same grace of God in Christ to all people created in the image of God."

To my enemies I say, "I love you, for you were created in the image of God. I will pray for you so that God may reveal Himself to you and redeem you. If you are my enemy and you are hungry I will help feed you. If you are my enemy and you are thirsty I will give you something to drink. If I must stand against you it is because we live in a broken and fallen world. Tragically sometimes it becomes necessary to step in and physically stop you from destroying others created in the image of God."

Trump and My Ten Year Old

"Slow down, one thing at a time!" My mum would tell me when I came home all in a tizzy over something. These were wise words she spoke as I was trying to unravel the way I felt about a particular situation.

Over the last few weeks I have become immensely concerned about the momentum that Donald Trump has been gaining in the race to become the GOP nomination for this fall's presidential election. Certainly I have concerns about all the candidates, none are perfect, but Trump is the only one that gets me all in a tizzy and I have had to slow myself down and take one thing at a time to understand why.

The first is the name calling. The way he mocks those who stand in his way labeling them as "morons," "idiots," "losers" and "dummies." Then there's the disparaging comments he has made about Mexicans, the disabled, Megyn Kelly, his fellow GOP nominees and others. I explained to my ten year old daughter that if she talked about people the way Trump does she'd be sent on a timeout to her bedroom until she apologized. I don't believe that's bad parenting, I believe it's helping her understand the value of all people and teaching her to respect others even when we disagree. We don't have to dehumanize others for us to do well. It's not a win/lose equation.

Then there's the lies. Yes, the fact checkers have evidence that every candidate stretches the truth but Trump is way out there on this one. It's not just the blatant lies he tells its his inability to ever acknowledge fault even when confronted with the evidence. He shows no level of shame for anything he says. Even when he backtracks a little he never accepts he was wrong. I believe two of the most powerful statements a person of strong character can make are, "I was wrong" and "I am sorry." These statements demonstrate that a person is learning and growing and acknowledging their weaknesses. It demonstrates that they are on a journey to becoming fully human again. My ten year old understands this, we don't tolerate lying, it is the one thing you can't do in our home without consequence. Truth matters.

I also want to highlight Trump's xenophobia. It is part of a culture of fear. Trump called for "a total and complete shutdown on Muslims entering the United States." What happened to the idea of freedom of religion? He would add to this a call to build a wall to keep the Mexicans out and doesn't want to allow any Syrian refugees into the nation. He will use torture, waterboarding and worse, in the name of national security. This sort of rhetoric and practice must be opposed. The gospel call is clear that we are to love our enemies; it is clear that we are welcome the stranger; it is clear that we are to love our neighbor which Jesus puts a wonderful twist on by having the neighbor be a foreigner (a Samaritan). 

My ten year old says Trump is a bully. She's listened to his words and heard his tone of voice. It doesn't take an expert to see this, it only requires a set of eyes that have been shaped by the gospel.

Trump is appealing to the angry voter. The apostle Paul reminds us that should not let the sun go down while we are still angry. If we are on a journey to be fully human again it is time to put anger aside and move on.

The day the music lived!

On Friday, February 5, I was driving to Clear Lake, Iowa. I was headed for the Surf Ballroom to photograph a friend’s band, The Holy Rocka Rollaz, at the Winter Dance Party.

The Winter Dance Party at the Surf Ballroom was where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper played their final concert before losing their lives in a place crash on February 3, 1959. Today the Winter Dance Party continues to celebrate their legacy. In fact it was Ritchie Valens' sister, Connie, who was instrumental in getting my friend’s band into the show.

Before going to the Surf Ballroom to pick up my press pass I made a stop at the crash site. I parked my car and climbed over the snow bank and began to trudge through the field. It’s not a long walk but on this day the deep snow made it challenging. When I arrived at the memorial I found it partially buried by the snow, I got down on my knees and began to uncover it. It was a strange feeling, digging down into the snow, chipping away at ice, trying to dig up something that spoke to a terrible tragedy that had occurred in that spot. The place where in an instant, “La Bamba”, “Chantilly Lace” and “Peggy Sue” would be no more. There I was, standing alone in the place the music died.

Arriving at the Surf Ballroom I was struck by the history of the place. The phone Buddy Holly used to make his last phone call to his wife still hangs on the wall. Images of the hundreds of artists that have played there cover the walls. The air was resplendent with nostalgia. Then the show began.

As the music once again filled the air the nostalgia faded. It wasn't Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens or the Big Bopper at the microphone, this time it was Mark and Lisa Flora with Matt Alexander on the drums. I picked up my camera and started shooting. I captured moments that were gone in an instant. But time was embalmed on the sensor of my camera, creating images that will allow them to relive their moment over and over.

As Matt set the beat on the drums, Mark took command of the stage and Lisa’s voice floated over the crowd, everyone in the Surf was fully present. They lived the moment. A moment that had been built on the past. 



At one point in the show, the past and the present collided. Bob Hale, the emcee from the 1959 show, came on stage and joined The Holy Rocka Rollaz.

This was a dream come true for my friend Mark. His story had crossed paths with the story of Buddy Holly. 

The moment got to him. 

This is what my friend Mark was created to do. Here was my good friend fully alive! So it was no surprise to me when, at the end of their set, they brought the house to it's feet with their rendition of Hank Williams great song, I Saw the Light. 

When are you fully alive?

Created in the Image of God

The Bible opens with the words, "In the beginning God created ... ." These five words establish a basis for all that follows. As the story of creation unfolds in the poetic language of Genesis it culminates in the creation of humanity. "Let us make humankind in our in our image, according to our likeness ... . So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

Humanity, all of humanity, is created in the image of God. As I have been writing my doctoral thesis over the last eighteen months, "The Impact of Imago Dei On Thinking About Portrait Photography," I have spent an inordinate amount of time reflecting on this reality. I am now thoroughly convinced that this theological concept has to be the starting point for all conversations about humanity.

While there is much that could be said, and I wrote plenty in my thesis, the best work I came across was a book titled Dignity and Destiny by John Kilner. Having established his case for the importance of a biblical doctrine of the image of God Kilner builds his thesis around the idea of dignity and destiny and connects these with the two concepts of connection and reflection.

Kilner builds his case from the historical record and Bible arguing that the image of God in humanity is not lost or damaged through as a result of the fall. He states that “There is ample discussion [on] … the destructive impact of sin on people. Yet at the same time there is every indication that people remain in ‘in God’s image’ – that no harm has been done to this status or to the image on which it is based.” This provides all people with a sense of dignity and connectedness to God irrespective of any other criteria. This, Kilner explains, has “profound implications for communicating with those who are not Christians. They are still fully in the image of Adam, subject to the sinfulness of the ‘old humanity.’ As also in God’s image, they are connected to God and warrant great respect in any interaction with them.” 

This in turn has implications for evangelism which begins with recognition that all people have dignity and are created in the image of God. As a result of this Kilner notes “God has created them to fulfill the divine intention for that image, there is reason to think that at least some of them are capable of understanding and responding to the gospel with the help of the Holy Spirit.”

While all of humanity has dignity based on being created in the image of God Kilner also discusses their destiny and does so in terms of reflection. He explains that only those who are in Christ “are in the process of conforming to the image of God in Christ, to the increasing glory of God.”
Kilner is clear in his thinking on the physical attribute of God’s image when he states that “People are God’s image - they have a connection with God and are intended to be a reflection of God – as embodied beings and not apart from their bodies.” Kilner offers a holistic view of the image of God that maintains human dignity and encourages a relationship with Christ in which the person can be restored to more perfectly reflect God’s image as her destiny.

Christians need to embrace the importance of this reality as it pertains to the dignity of ALL people. Not just those like, or who like, us. Even the worst of our enemies have an inherent dignity having been created in God's image.