Does Pro-Life = Christianity?
Over at my neighborhood atheist blog vjack posted a topic entitled: Christian Terrorism: Alive and Well.
The post is from an article, here, which speaks of a bomb found outside an abortion clinic in Austin. The bomb was found and disarmed and no one was hurt, but the claim from the blog is that this is Christian Terrorism because it was at an abortion (i.e. pro-choice) establishment.
A later posted article, here, by a commenter gives the name of the person and where they are from:
To me it looks like this guy has more issues than claiming to be a pro-life Christian being called to terrorize abortion clinics with the use of bombs.
My point is this: Does Pro-Life = Christianity?
What I mean by this is just because a person claims to be pro-life (meaning the life of the child be saved) and not pro-choice (meaning the choice of the mother take precedence over the life of the child) does that automatically mean that person is a Christian? I personally do not believe the two words to be synonymous. I believe a person can be pro-life without being a Christian, for there are people who claim to be Christian that are pro-choice.
Also, if one nut decides to place a bomb at a building, whether they claim pro-life or Christianity, should that be Christian Terrorism? I fail to see the logic in such name calling. Yes Christians (more than not) believe that abortion is wrong, but we do not find scriptural support to disobey the law and plant bombs to kill the doctors, women, and babies (which we claim pro-life) to die.
By this I believe Pro-Life does not equal Christianity, nor does an act of terrorism by an individual equal Christian Terrorism.
The post is from an article, here, which speaks of a bomb found outside an abortion clinic in Austin. The bomb was found and disarmed and no one was hurt, but the claim from the blog is that this is Christian Terrorism because it was at an abortion (i.e. pro-choice) establishment.
A later posted article, here, by a commenter gives the name of the person and where they are from:
Paul Ross Evans, 27, of Austin is charged with three federal crimes that accuse him of using weapons of mass destruction, attempting to damage a building used in interstate commerce and attempting to damage a facility because it provides reproductive health services.
In 2003, Evans was sentenced to 15 years in prison for an aggravated robbery at a Lufkin Whataburger.
To me it looks like this guy has more issues than claiming to be a pro-life Christian being called to terrorize abortion clinics with the use of bombs.
My point is this: Does Pro-Life = Christianity?
What I mean by this is just because a person claims to be pro-life (meaning the life of the child be saved) and not pro-choice (meaning the choice of the mother take precedence over the life of the child) does that automatically mean that person is a Christian? I personally do not believe the two words to be synonymous. I believe a person can be pro-life without being a Christian, for there are people who claim to be Christian that are pro-choice.
Also, if one nut decides to place a bomb at a building, whether they claim pro-life or Christianity, should that be Christian Terrorism? I fail to see the logic in such name calling. Yes Christians (more than not) believe that abortion is wrong, but we do not find scriptural support to disobey the law and plant bombs to kill the doctors, women, and babies (which we claim pro-life) to die.
By this I believe Pro-Life does not equal Christianity, nor does an act of terrorism by an individual equal Christian Terrorism.
9 comments:
Interesting question. It looks like what we would need to answer it is to figure out if there are any pro-life non-Christians. If we could find some, we could then explore their motives and see what led them to be pro-life if it wasn't their religious beliefs. I've certainly encountered atheists who were indifferent on the abortion topic, but I'm not sure I've run across any who really wanted Roe overturned. That doesn't mean they might not be out there though.
interesting. i've always found the term christian terrorism an oxymoron. but the name christian seems to be adopted by enough people the term appears unavoidable.
vjack poses an interesting idea of exploring pro-life motives in those who are not christians.
the other day, a co-worker asked me about my daughter and her bio-dad and asked if he had wanted her and i mentioned that he offered abortion as an option. when i told her that i told him it wasn't, she assumed i was a christian. which i am, but it caused me to pause because my whole motivation wasn't just that i didn't want to dispose of my three month old for religious reasons. i found it interesting that she asked me right off if i was a christian.
there are options and there are very real repercussions all the way around. but we continue to hold a singular line that rarely allows a discussion that involves the humanness of the parents or the unborn.
vjack and leslie,
Thanks for the visit.
Interesting, maybe I need to see if we can find some more info.
I know all that claim Christianity are not pro-life, but do all pro-life consider themselves Christian?
If I understand you right, you are correct leslie as we are usually more interesting in saying "abortion is wrong" than really trying to reach the person.
About Christian Terrorism:
If you have a look outside of your countries' borders it is pretty easy to find terrorism made by people in the name of good and in the name of Jesus.
Of course, you wouldn't call these people Christians because they dow that they do (killing and murdering people, etc.) - but that's the same for Muslims: most Muslims I ever spoke to told me that Muslim terrorists are no real Muslims. Real Muslims would not kill people to enforce there aims, but they would discuss and use arguments.
Some examples of Christian Terrorism:
- The war in North Ireland was indeed between two flavours of Christian Religion, and was about the different Flavours (of course, also about nationalism, but first and foremost about religion).
- God's Army in Myanmar.
- Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda (this is the worst one I believe).
Of course, in the USA you find also enough organizations calling themselves Christians but also doing acts of terrorism: the AOG, the KKK, etc.
Over a vjack’s a commenter posted: [here]
“I have met atheists who are anti-abortion.”
If this be the case, then this proves that pro-life does not equal Christianity, for the fact would be that pro-life is a choice that people make whether Christian or not. Now the only question would be if the person is not a Christian, do they still use the Bible as the reason why or is it based on something else?
There are also atheists that believe Roe vs. Wade should be overturned [here].
And some that oppose some abortions “on secular grounds” [here].
I came across this website:
Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League Homepage
A nontheistic and nonreligious opposition to the life-denying horror of abortion
http://www.godlessprolifers.org/home.html
Prolifers. Hmm.
To me, it all depends on how you determine "life". A single bacterium is a living creature. So is a fertilized embryo. And so on.
Most of those "prolifers" in the christian camps are just bloody hypocrites: On one hand they gather outside abortion clinics and spit their vitriol, on the other hand, they will be the first morons to cry for the death penalty.
I like what Bill Hicks used to say: If these christians are so pro life, they ought to hold hands and block cemetries instead of abortion clinics.
A simple bit of research into the pro-life movement would find it populated by both other religions (Buddhist, Jewish, and Muslim most notably) and by plenty of non-theists. We (pro-life atheists) do exist, and in greater numbers than most people realize. A large number come from the hardline (pro-life/vegan/drugfree) movement, and polls show an increase in both anti-theism and pro-life beliefs in younger generations.
There's plenty of us - just do what any honest skeptic or intellectual would do and perform some simple research, instead of making ignorant comments (Beast) and taking moral cues from pro-choice bumper sticker slogans.
I have been an atheist since I was 11 years old.
That said, I am pro-life because life and existence are a gift of the universe, and we. as temporal beings, have no right to interfere.
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