*Note: I “interrupt my 41 consecutive posts on “The Journey” to add a second post today–one that is timely, as I hope you will see when you read the following . . .
I find it fascinating that the same week we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday, we also observe Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.
I find it sad that it seems that few people are in favor of both events. That is, it seems that all too few people are pro Civil Rights and pro Unborn Rights.
Why? Why are so many either/or on these two issues?
Why aren’t we all both/and on these two issues.
Pro Civil Rights
I am pro Civil Rights. I am so very thankful that in 1963 and 1964 our nation passed the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Acts. Yes, I understand that legislation alone does not change hearts. However, as a nation, we have a moral responsibility to enact laws that protect all people. It is the bedrock of our national beliefs:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men . . .
So, although I recognize that passing the Civil Rights Act did not change a single heart, and though I recognize that ultimately it is through Christ and His Church that true reconciliation will occur, I still believe it was the right, moral, political, national thing to do to enact the Civil Rights Act. Therefore, I celebrate Martin Luther King Day as a reminder to me of his leadership in the crusade for Civil Rights.
Pro Unborn Rights
Likewise, I am pro Unborn Rights. I am horrified that in 1973 our Supreme Court legalized abortion. My prayer is that just as the Dred Scott ruling was overturned by a later Supreme Court, so Roe V. Wade will also be overturned.
The same arguments that were used first to enslave blacks and then to victimize blacks are now being used to kill unborn children. For slavery it was states’ rights and the rights of white land owners to do as they pleased with their “property.” How wicked.
And it is just as wicked that anyone’s “rights” could be put above the right to life of any unborn human being.
Some argue that Pro Life legislation will not change hearts, therefore, forget legislation and focus on Christ and His Church. Again, why not both/and? Just as the Civil Rights Act was the right, moral, political, and national thing to do, regardless of whether it changed one heart, so an Unborn Rights Act would be the right thing to do morally, politically, and nationally regardless of whether or not it changed one heart.
Pro Civil Rights and Pro Life
Based upon biblical principles, every human being is entitled to equal civil rights. Based upon biblical principles, every human being is entitled to the right to life (unborn rights).
Based upon the Declaration of Independence, every human being is entitled to civil rights (the right to liberty). Based upon the Declaration of Independence, every human being is entitled to unborn rights (the right to life).
I don’t expect to make many people “happy” with this post. Frankly, I don’t care. Likely, many will be “unhappy” with me on each side of these two issues. Fine.
Happiness, at least how we define it today, is unimportant. Interestingly, when the writers of the Declaration of Independence spoke of the right to the “pursuit of happiness,” they had in mind the Greco-Roman idea of happiness. To them it meant the right to freely pursue a purposeful life of meaningful contribution to society.
If we supported Civil Rights and Unborn Rights, then every human being would have the right and the opportunity to freely pursue a purposeful life of meaningful contribution to society.
Because of my interpretation of the Bible and because of my interpretation of the Declaration of Independence, I am pro Civil Rights and pro Unborn Rights.
Because of my interpretation of the Bible and because of my interpretation of the Declaration of Independence, I believe Civil Rights and Unborn Rights are both legislative matters and church matters. That is, we need national legislation that declares it is politically right to protect every human being’s Civil Rights and every human being’s Unborn Rights. And, we need the Church of Christ to fulfill her calling to change lives with Christ’s changeless truth so that law or not, by grace we choose to grant every person their civil rights (right to liberty) and their unborn rights (right to life), so every person can enjoy the pursuit of happiness (the right to freely pursue a purposeful life of meaningful contribution to society).
Bob, I appreciate what you have said and I completely agree with you. To me, the two issues are one and the same at a very fundamental level.
Theologically, God only created one race – the human race (See Acts 17:26). I’m trying to retrain my own thinking to fall in line with this concept. I know that, if it were more broadly accepted, it would undermine so much limited thinking and free up a lot of social logjams.
Coming from the same theological perspective, with God as Creator, we can of course substantiate that human life truly begins at conception. I have trouble understanding how those who claim to believe that God created life could still be pro-choice.
Both views can be held because they are built upon the same foundation.
As an American, who happens to be black, I think that most people from African-American experience are both pro-civil rights and pro-life. For most Black families, those having a firm faith in Jesus Christ, there is a strong sense of value for life and to protect babies. I think where the break down comes is in respect to what is more important: being pro-civil rights or pro-life; however, like Robert posted, they aren’t mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, Liberals have a lock on diversity issues and strongly support diversity and are pro-civil rights. Furthermore, liberals are pro-abortion and that agenda gets mixed in when defining individual political persuasion or what person believes is right. It is difficult to have someone say to you that your individual rights are inferior to a babies’ rights, which ultimately becomes a conflict of interest because to follow Christ, means leaving your rights behind. I am not sure how Christians reconcile abortion with respect to voting. I agree that Babies must be projected at all cost, and, also, I believe that rights of minorities must bet protected, too.
Spot on post! I avoid the use of the word "race" when I can, on the premise that their is one human race. I do recognize and celebrate culture and ethnicity, as does God who created us.
Reconciling civil rights and abortion is only difficult if we place political allegiance above biblical allegiance (I.e. Conservative vs. Liberal rhetoric).