the math of wrong

 

I think of myself as a moderate liberal. I also believe in God the Father and his one and only son Jesus Christ. Some think those two beliefs contradict each other. I guess I have to live it out daily making it work to prove it's possible.

Abortion. It's a word that creates an impact. Some make abortion a political issue or a "feminist rights" issue. There is a part of me that can see a small measure of validity in that. I remember a news story about a woman getting treatment in a hospital which had a Catholic affiliation. She was married, had other children, and was pregnant. There were complications with the current pregnancy that put her life at risk. A panel was going to decide if an abortion would be allowed. A panel. That's just wrong to me. Should strangers be allowed to dictate that decision for her or for any woman in that situation?

There are those that want to frame the issue of abortion in black and white terms but does life always offer such stark clarity? Or at the end of all my excuses and philosophical questions regarding abortion does there lay the desire to extend myself the chance for leeway and opportunity for moral exemption? We all like to think we are above a certain situation until we ourselves get there.

I once thought this way about abortion: don't do the "crime" if you aren't willing to do the time. If you are willing to have sex than you have to be just as willing to accept the consequences of that action. There is still some truth in that thought.

I also once thought that abortion was acceptable because I thought the pains of life outweighed its miraculous beautiful significance. The thought in my head was, "Better not to live at all than to know great terrible pain and suffering." I had yet to know that great terrible pain and suffering is worth it. Our knowledge at any moment in time is so limited/short-sighted/and too often just wrong; it's terrifying how many decisions we make on the little we know.

We like to think we as a species are evolving, but I think all we really have done is gotten creative about hiding our selfishness with fancier words. We give a shimmering patina to our corruption and call it acceptable. We are famous for self-justification; when we do something that's wrong we say "It was the lesser of two evils." We forget too easily that our sole ability to discern good and evil is severely limited and we in our pride refuse to seek The Creators Way. Two wrongs don't make a right - a wrongful action is not a morally appropriate way to correct or cancel a previous wrongful action.

To those who make abortion the only political issue they care about I add a wrinkle. Even if the law is changed and abortion made illegal it won't stop it. A law doesn't have the power to change the heart, if it did, Jesus wouldn't have had to die. We don't need legislation: we need revelation.