As pro-life organizations, elected officials and ministries galvanize to stand against President Obama’s pro-abortion policies – already committed and those to come – we also face the question as to what the “collateral damage” will be in the culture in response to his “leadership.” Will we see a similar spike in acceptance of abortion as we did a dramatic increase in certain sexual practices after a past president modeled it in the White House?
Leadership does matter, and the chickens will indeed come home to roost because of a majority of American voters choosing the most anti-life president in history. Obama has already made good on his pro-abortion promises in spades.
For example, as reported by LifeNews.com, after election and prior to taking office:
Nov. 5, 2008 – Obama selects pro-abortion Rep. Rahm Emanuel as his White House chief of staff.
Nov. 19, 2008 – Obama picks pro-abortion former Sen. Tom Daschle as his health and human services secretary.
Nov. 20, 2008 – Obama chooses former NARAL legal director Dawn Johnsen to serve as the assistant attorney general for the office of the legal counsel in the Obama administration.
Nov. 24, 2008 – Obama appoints Ellen Moran, the former director of the pro-abortion group Emily’s List as his White House communications director.
Nov. 30, 2008 – Obama named pro-abortion Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Clinton has an unblemished pro-abortion voting record and has supported making unlimited abortions an international right.
After taking office:
Jan. 22, 2009 – Obama releases statement restating support for Roe v. Wade decision that allowed virtually unlimited abortions and has resulted in at least 50 million abortions since 1973.
Jan. 23, 2009 – Obama rescinded the “Mexico City Policy,” which will force taxpayers to funnel millions of dollars to pro-abortion groups that either promote or perform abortions in other nations.
Getting down to brass tacks, however, an honest self-assessment is needed, particularly among citizens who attend church regularly and believe in a personal God Who created all things, made mankind in His image and governs in the affairs of His creation. We, the People, chose death.
There is no rational dispute as to what the biblically defensible Christian position is on the sanctity of unborn life, and those who reject the personhood of every life at the moment of conception are not really the problem – even those professing to be Christian. The blame lies largely with pastors and churches full of those professing belief in that principle who either chose acquiescence by silence or complicity by voting for pro-abortion candidates.
Once again, the difference in the views on abortion within the church can generally be linked to a person’s worldview and overall religious beliefs. According to Barna Research, 61 percent of evangelical Christians believe abortion should be illegal in all cases and another 33 percent illegal with few exceptions; while only 34 percent of born-again Christians support the “all cases” and 39 percent support the “few exceptions” positions.
The difference between the two categories of Christians illustrates a foundational challenge for the American church today. “Born-agains” “… have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior,” while “evangelicals” also believe:
- that they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians;
- that Satan exists;
- that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works;
- that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and
- that God (is) the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.
Frankly, even that list of qualifiers does not indicate a strong biblical worldview, only a belief in what used to be some of the “essentials” of the Christian faith. “Born-agains” are basically Christians in Name Only. In addition, Catholic lay leaders and clergy who adhere to traditional church doctrines have been more pro-life more consistently than much if not most of the Protestant church, while they would not share some of the doctrinal beliefs of evangelicals.
The key point is that among Protestant Christians of all denominations and races, the further away a professed Christian strays from orthodox, historic church theology the more he or she adopts the view that abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide and embryonic stem cell research are all acceptable choices based on personal preference and freedom.
Fortunately, there are thousands of pastors who have not bowed the knee to job security, postmodernism, liberal theology, market/seeker/church growth trends, etc.
On Jan. 22, 2009, the 36th memorial of the Roe v. Wade decision, pastors from the greater Houston area converged to stand and speak boldly against a massive new late-term abortion clinic being built by Planned Parenthood.
The Southern Baptist Texan reported, “Sonny Foraker, spokesman for the Greater Houston Area Pastor Council and pastor of First Baptist Church of Pearland, told the group of supporters and journalists, ‘We are standing here because [abortion] is a moral evil that destroys human life. We stand together as pastors to say this is not something we want in our community.'”
Obama’s pro-abortion agenda will be thwarted, short-lived and reversed if Protestant pastors in every city in American will both return to teaching sound doctrine, making and growing true disciples (literally “duplicates”) of Jesus Christ who follow these pastors in proclaiming “Choose Life!” to their cities – and stop letting our Catholic peers carry the burden for us.
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