Abortion: When accusers repent

I recently had the privilege of speaking to a group of international students about the beliefs and convictions of Martin Luther King Jr. 

It was mostly a young group, familiar with the grand ideas of Dr. King, but largely ignorant of the context that produced him, or the historical importance of his message.

After the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller and the stirring of emotions it produced, I thought the same message might be useful for those who feel passionately about abortion.

LESSON FROM HISTORY

After showing the international students photos of lynchings and sharing examples of injustices that Black people faced in the  United States systematically over decades leading up to the Civil Rights movement, I helped them understand that many in America were on the verge of taking up arms.

Many believed that it was justifiable and necessary to begin "defending their rights" by physically fighting back. That's why the non-violent message of Dr. King was so crucial to the progress we have seen in America today. One need only look at Israel and Palestine today to imagine what could have happened in the States had enough Blacks started killing Whites in the name of justice.

King had understood and was successful in teaching his followers a key Biblical idea that I think is crucial for those who feel passionately about protecting the unborn.

THE MONSTER IN THE MIRROR

King stressed tirelessly the need to love those who oppressed you, even as you called them out for their injustices. He understood the teaching of Christ reminding people that they would be judged in the same way they judged others.

He believed and taught that it was crucial that they bless those who cursed them and pray for those who were mistreating them.

He understood what Jesus understood: that victims (or those who take up their cause) become so focused on the evil committed by their enemies that they forget that their own hearts are ultimately capable of the same wrong. 

That even as they call their oppressors monsters or dogs, they become guilty of the very same basic sin as the one they have come to hate.

They have violated the second greatest commandment of loving their neighbors as themselves. They have allowed themselves to believe that they are more worthy of love than is their oppressor. 

From that point one is able to decide that he or she is more worthy of life than the oppressor. And some can then decide to act on that logic.

Only when victims repent of their own arrogant belief in their superiority over their oppressors can they truly love that oppressor as Jesus exhorted his followers to do. And only when one chooses to love (or at least not to hate) can the cycle of revenge and destruction that we see so often be avoided. 

King was greatly transformed when he saw the power behind this teaching, and a nation was spared what might have become civil war at worst or a long battle with domestic terrorists at best.

SLIPPERY SLOPE

I read a quote from one woman reacting to Tiller's death by saying she would feel the same way had a rat been killed. If you pay attention, you'll notice people on all sides of any issue often portraying the enemy in less than human terms.

That's what Jesus seems to be warning his followers against when he says not only that killing our enemies is wrong, but insulting them is basically the same thing. But that if we didn't get a grip on what was happening in our hearts, it was only a matter of time before we became just like the monster we decry.

Even from a practical standpoint, if the goal is really to save the lives of unborn children, I would think that goal would  be served better by a rhetoric bathed in understanding and compassion (see Jesus with the woman accused in adultery) than with vitriolic condemnation (see Pharisees in same story).

When the accused feels that he or she is understood and that his or her point has been heard, that person is much more likely to hear what YOU have to say.

And, at the same time, you are much more likely to imagine what YOU would need if YOU were in that person's shoes. 

It all begins with the understanding, of course, that you really are in that person's shoes. With just a simple change in circumstances, the person you accuse could be you, or your son or your daughter.

No matter which injustice stirs us to indignation -- injustice against babies, against women, against people groups, against homosexuals, against animals -- we need to constantly remind ourselves that the value and dignity of each human does not end (especially if one claims to believe the Bible) when that person does something wrong.

I, for one, am glad of that.

Comments

[jude]

Thanks for this, Todd. So well said.

[Ashley]

Thank you for taking time to write on this topic! Such a timely conversation - especially for those of us in reconciliation type ministries.

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Blogs are so interactive where we get lots of informative on any topics nice job keep it up !!

[Laura Blair]

Todd, I understand what you are trying to say, but why must you look for examples of people who don't really speak for the prolife movement. They're either kooks or extremists who have nothing to do with valuing life. Why not , instead, praise those who are sincerely trying to inform others (many of whom do not know)- what exactly is in the womb-one of us- another human. What we do to 'the Least of these', we do to Christ. How can you find fault with efforts to help women with unwanted pregnancies and to save innocent life?

[Todd B]

Laura, thanks for reading and writing. I appreaciate the chance to clarify my points and the challenge from the points of others.

This blog is about forgiveness, repentance and reconciliation. I point out the principles I am learning through all sorts of topics. The point of this post was not to demonize or praise anyone, but rather to point out what happens, even to victims, when they do not guard their hearts from unrepentance.

In the end,they can become just as unjust as those they are opposing. I found the news surrounding the killing of this abortion doctor to be a perfect example of this important point.

I think it is important for abortion opponents not to dismiss people who go to extremes as kooks, because that keeps us from realizing that if we don't constantly work on our own humility and repentance, we too can become the extremists and kooks.

Look at every resistance movement against injustice. There are always people who end up doing the same wrong for which they have judged others.

This doesn't get us anywhere and doesn't move us toward the ultimate goal of justice. And, for Christians, this is certainly not the way of Christ.

So, I have no problem with people pointing out what they believe about the death of babies. But they must guard against the belief that they are morally or otherwise superior, more deserving of God's love, grace and patience, etc., than those they see as the enemy.

If I were doing a different type of blog, I might write to praise those who stand for unborn children. But that is not what I do. That is for another blog and for another blogger.

I think there are lots of anti-abortion blogs and sites heaping plenty of praise and approbation on those who stand for this cause. My role in this case, I think, is to call people back to humility.