Agree or Disagree: Christians should care more about abortion.

Agree or Disagree: Christians should care more about abortion.

A few years ago, a friend of mine and I were walking in the park on a nice summer day.As we were walking along, we happened to run into another friend of mine who was enjoying the summer day with a bike ride.

My friend who I was with was with was quite offended at my bikers friend’s shirt. The shirt said”Abortion is Murder” and she let him know politely that she did not like it.

“Why? “The biker asked.

“Because I work in hospitals as a nurse” she said. “I’ve seen what these woman have gone through. And it is not an easy decision to make.”

“Are you a Christian?” He asked

“I am” she said.

“Well, how can you be a Christian and not think abortion is murder” He responded.

With that,the conversation ended.  We moved to continue to enjoy our summer day.

I tell this story because unfortunately, these types of conversations and mentalities happen a little too frequent in Christian circles. A Christian  will bring forward what they feel is a legitimate question about abortion. The Christian who feels they are “spiritually mature” will give a flippant cliche driven “Christian” answer. Instead of offering up and opening up an intelligent discussion. Then those Christians who would not describe themselves as Pro-Life have their faith questioned. Some even question if they are Christian. Others in a moment of compassion thinks they need “discipleship”

I wonder if this mentality has closed many from actually participating one way or the other in the discussion of abortion. It is an emotional and a deeply personal issue for many. Feeling cut down for an opinion is a good way to end any participation.

I think this is why I appreciate what Rachel Held Evans says in the link I posted. This is one of my favourite quotes from the article.

For a lot of pro-lifers, it seemed, abortion was all about the baby. The woman, and the factors that might contribute to her decision to terminate her pregnancy, didn’t seem to matter much. 

I think the pictures of aborted fetuses on trucks, the shirts and bumper stickers reminding everyone “Abortion is Murder”has turned many Christians off from being a part of the conversation. For many Christians, this lacks grace, opens up condemnation for those who have had an abortion and feels nothing like how Jesus would respond.  For others, and some Christians might be uncomfortable with this,  but their salvation is not based on their opinion of abortion.

This leads me to two questions.

Do Christians actually care about the issue of abortion?  Does society for that matter?

If not, should we care about the issue of abortion?