Tony Campolo's 70/30 Messiah Over-ride Rule
Chris at Adiaphora posted this comment by "liberal Christian" pastor Tony Campolo.
Abortion: "I'm sure that the destruction of life in abortion would break his heart. However, I feel like if he were speaking to the church today in America, he would ask not the question, `Are you going to make it illegal and arrest women who have abortions?' I think Jesus would say, `What are you going to do to reduce the number of abortions?'
(A new survey reported that) 70 percent of all abortions are economically driven. You have a poor woman working on minimum wage with no hospitalization. She gets pregnant. She can't afford to have the kid, she can't afford to pay the hospital bills, she can't afford day care after the child is born. So she says, `I'm going to have an abortion.' Can Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives agree on one thing: that it's wrong for women who want to have their babies to have abortions? And that's about 70 percent of them. Then we can start talking about the other 30 percent."
Repugnant. The same "70% are economically-driven" rule could justify every crime under the sun. No, Jesus would call a spade a spade. He would verbally pulverize the rich who do little more spoil themselves, the middle class for their apathy, and even the poor for their little faith (will God not provide for these children?). He would move us to be the body of Christ that we were meant to be and take care of widows and orphans et al.
And........He would inflexibly oppose the Abortion Holocaust.
When will "liberal Christians" realize there is nothing "Christian" and nothing "Progressive" about being pro-choice?
5 comments:
So Campolo should do nothing to reduce the actual number of abortions performed and remain ideologically pure in Jim Jordan's eyes while allowing 100% of abortions to continue to occur? Isn't he right, if he is against abortion, to work to stop abortions in a practical manner rather than fulminate about it and by doing so, not prevent one pregnancy from being terminated? (or in Jim-ese: "not prevent one baby from being murdered?")
Jim, there were about a million abortions a year performed in this country before Roe. Often, it was for the same economic reasons. Were those "dead babies" somehow more acceptable to you because at least they were illegal under Man's law?
Sure we should be authentic Christians and do our part so people have less temptation to abort or to steal. Campolo's mistake is choosing to keep abortion legal. Why not make it illegal AND be authentic Christians and take care of single mothers and orphans? That reduces temptation Campolo's way, by giving aide, and reduces temptation further through punishment. If we are sincere in helping wouldn't that be the best way?
If I were a woman I would never want the temptation of legal abortion.
I can agree with so much of what liberals say but I don't understand why abortion is such a cornerstone when it should be anathema based on every other liberal POV.
"The temptation of legal abortion"??? Do you think that abortions are pleasant experiences for women?
I don't understand why you think Campolo's argument is "repugnant" when you essentially agree with him. Note that the last sentence in the quote is "then we can start talking about the other 30 percent". He wants to do something about it.
As much as I don't want to get dragged back into a fight in which I have no dog (other than, perhaps, the Constitution), I will say that in political science terms the "liberal POV" tends to be one that advocates more regulation of economics and less regulation of personal affairs. Likewise, the classic conservative tends to favor less regulation of economics and more regulation of personal lives. Libertarians favor less regulation on both axes, and authoritarians favor more regulation on both axes.
In this light, your typical liberal opposes the infringement of government into personal lives (e.g., religion, LGBT rights, sex) and supports the role of government in providing an economic level playing field and a safety net (e.g., FDIC, SEC, environmental regulation, etc.).
Your typical liberal recognizes that different people can have different perspectives on when human life begins (I can hear you screaming all the way from Georgia). For some, it's when the fetus is viable outside the womb. For others, it's the second trimester. For others, it's when the fertilized egg adheres to the uterine wall. For others, it's when the egg is fertilized (and the majority of which that get flushed out in the menstrual tide are mourned). For your strict Catholics, even condoms are somehow infanticide (I never understood that). Science hasn't really made a precise determination as to the answer to this question, so more often than not, this ends up being an ethical and frankly religious decision for a woman. When it comes to religion, liberals instinctively (and correctly) react by trying to keep government out of it. When in doubt, err on the side of personal liberty. ONE MORE TIME: I will never have an abortion myself nor will I ever put someone in the position where they might get one.
Please read this bit 'cuz it's important: The reason I am so hesitant to discuss abortion with you is because you are so absolutist on the subject. There's no middle ground. It's infanticide, and how could you murder innocent babies. From what I gather, your own personal answer to the "when does human life begin?" question is fertilization. You may go further and say that barrier contraception is also murder. The problem is that there is no room for discussion at that point.
Ahem..my third attempt to reply, Fly. Google gobbled my other two unguarded globules of godly wisdom....I will copy this before publishing.
Contraception is debateable, but for me abortion is not. Our moment of being created (born of water?) is conception. But don't worry, I won't yell.
I see northern Georgia is in for a 60% chance of rain this evening. Must have been that prayer gathering I heard about on Fox News! :-)
Yes, we got a whopping 14/100" of rain last night according to the NWS. I knew that Sonny was risking getting God's supreme love of irony going.
If conception is the beginning of human life (and you apparently base this not on science but on a contorted reading of Scripture), then do you mourn those "babies" who never get implanted in the uterine wall but get flushed out? Do you hold candlelight vigils outside the Kotex factory?
If I'm understanding you correctly, condoms are OK, but the pill and tampon are murder?
(BTW, as far as Google goes, I put in a call to Our Liberal Overlord George Soros and in the name of The Homosexual Agenda asked him to tell his minions at Google to quit worshiping Satan to old recordings of Al Franken on Air America long enough put an electronic hex on you, bwahahahahahaa!)
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