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What Lives Don’t Matter?
My progressive Christian relatives tell me that she is happy in the liberal world. (God convicted her when she was a prideful conservative reminding her that liberal means generous). Abortion is not the only issue, she says.
True enough. And I wish the issue was as simple as saying we on the Christian right will work on the abortion thing while you on the Christian left deal with the racism thing. But it isn’t that tidy.
The Christian worldview demands the belief that humans are created in the image of God. It doesn’t mean that we are God. It means that every human life has been endowed with worth and therefore must be honored and respected in ways above what is required for mere plants and animals.
Do black lives matter? Of course. Because black people are created in the image of God.
Do women matter? Of course. Because women are created in the image of God.
Do the unborn matter? Of course. Because the unborn are created in the image of God.
But here is the difference. Conservative Christians may be faulted because we don’t always forthrightly deal with the problems of racism and poverty to the extent that perhaps we should. We don’t make George Floyd the centerpiece of the sermons. Perhaps some on the right can be faulted for not mentioning acts of injustice or finding ways to help the poor in their community. We are too busy, perhaps, expounding the book of Romans that we don’t take the time we should to reflect on the victories that men like Martin Luther King helped bring about.
Nevertheless, no Bible-believing, historic Christian thinks that black lives don’t matter. No one I know thinks the murder of George Floyd was a heroic gesture by an honorable policeman. No one campaigns actively to promote that all people are created in the image of God except for black people (likely for economic or self-serving reasons).
But those on the left do. They specifically argue that unborn lives don’t matter. They specifically campaign that the unborn are not created in the image of God and therefore they are candidates for disposal so that a promiscuous man whose sperm happens to find an egg may not have to commit the rest of his life caring for the mother and child. They want the unborn to not be created in the image of God for economic and self-serving reasons.
In fairness to my progressive Christian relatives, they would say that they personally believe that abortion is a horrendous practice. But there are other issues. And they might even say that it is a personal choice so they wouldn’t impose their views upon others.
Just like we on the right say that we think slavery or the murder of George Floyd is a horrendous practice but there are other issues and it is, after all, a personal choice. We wouldn’t want to impose our view about slavery on others. Oh, wait. We on the Christian right don’t say that now, do we? Because all humans are created in the image of God.
Published in General
Good post.
There’s another difference between the abortion and racism issues. There’s no question that abortions occur in significant numbers.
I very much doubt the claims of widespread racism, especially the belief that it is a significant impediment to the lives or progress of black Americans. There is systemic racism, in favor of blacks (and a few other groups) and against whites (and Orientals). The evidence of systemic racism, meaning of the anti-black type, is very weak, in my view. It seems to me that, on balance, far more racial injustice occurs from false claims of racism than from actual racism.
Progressive Christianity is outsourced Christianity. Heal the sick? House the poor? Feed the hungry? Why should I do that personally when I can vote to have others to do that in my name? Something tells me voting for socialism doesn’t guarantee you your name in the Book of Life.
We should make George Floyd the center of a sermon or two. The city of Minneapolis (like half of cities in our country) do not train officers to roll a person on their side after being hand-cuffed. If the city had taught that simple best-practice than George Floyd might be alive today. Most cities do a poor job of training their cops and forcing them to act respectful at all times. Sure, they deal with the scum of society, but they mostly deal with good citizens.
And if you outsource your faith to the state, when you die will they send a government bureaucrat to Heaven on your behalf?
The title of your post is “hate speech” in Contra Costa County, which is still constitutionally protected. But if the DA can attach it to any crime, like tagging a fence or chalking a sidewalk, you’ll be prosecuted for a hate crime. Same with writing “All Lives Matter”. If its not “Black Lives Matter”, best to keep it to yourself.
Just trying to keep you out of trouble!
I don’t have a problem with the self-induced overdose death of George Floyd. Recall that his “I can’t breathe” routine began while he was seated in the back seat of a patrol car.
He was a woman-beating drug-addled criminal apprehended passing counterfeit bills, and I do not miss him.
Play stupid games; win stupid prizes.
This does not make Chauvin a hero. It has nothing to do with him. Chauvin was just a cop treating an increasingly squirrelly perp in accordance with the protocol for “Excited Delirium Syndrome” (ExDS).
Note that race is not a factor in my view of drug-addled morons’ demise being good for the species. Instead, race is what the left (to include the Christian Left) brought to this otherwise straightforward case of suicide by aggravated idiocy.
Chauvin is *now* a political prisoner. *Now* he matters to me in this context. Perhaps he should be the focus of sermons and prayers petitioning the Almighty for relief of the oppressed. Who knows? Maybe he was even a Christian.
There is zero evidence that racism had anything to do with the death of George Floyd.
Hi @henrycastaigne. You’re not wrong. At the same time GF has grown larger than life. His “legacy” in many people’s mind has the same cultural impact as the stock market crash, 9-11, and Pearl Harbor. Another one of my drifting relatives who used to be a worship pastor took his family and adopted black children to a far-left leaning church because he felt the lack of mention in conservative circles signaled racism.
OK, the wrong thinking is on his end, granted. He also will post self-indulgent posts of “as a father of black children I can’t imagine how they will be safe in a country filled with white supremacists.”
I want to say to him:
1. Dude, you’re not unique. You’re not special. Every church I’ve been in there are parents who have adopted black children. This isn’t the 1960’s.
2. You need to stop teaching your children to become victims because of their skin color and tell them that if they work hard, ignore the ignorant, and take advantage even in a small way the opportunities we have in this country (community college, trade school, military, or even university if they can navigate the toxic waste) they will be able to provide for themselves and do well.
But I digress. My general point is…sure. Conservatives can do better in issues that matter to Liberals. But progressives aren’t simply deficient. They fight against the very tenets that make Christianity Christianity.
In the history of Evangelicalism, there was a day where it wasn’t so either or. Evangelicals preached the Bible and the historic Christian faith and they served the hurting of the world. I think of Pacific Garden Mission and their Unshackled! broadcast – they do both. Many Christian alcoholic/drug rehab – they do both. Samaritan’s Purse – they do both. If you listen to the podcast Effective Compassion, lots of examples of groups that do both.
Somewhere between the Scopes trial and radical leftism, the historic Christian church gravitated more towards preaching, teaching, and making disciples. The progressive church moved towards social work.
The problem with the Left is that they have gone so far to be destructive. Ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims. Their embrace of secular sexual ethic causes the denial the the unborn is created in the image of God and the support of doctors who abandon the hypocritical oath to mutilate perfectly good sexual organs for the sake of an unrealistic sexual ideology. They hold rallies protesting the idea that black people are actually capable of getting an ID in order to vote. It abandons the Christian belief that the line of good and evil cuts within all of our hearts in favor of evil being defined by class, race, and gender.
Yes they will!
What Chauvin did was wrong. However, the most effective solution to this wrong is to hire more police. Spend more money on Police. No overtime. Work your 8 hour shift, then go home to your family or out with your buddies. A cop near the end of a 12 hour shift is going to be in a foul mood. Give them an opportunity to have a life outside of work and they will make better decisions.
More like in your place.
It would be easier to believe Black Lives Matter if black people acted like they believe it.
It is trivial to prove that a black man is in fact a man.
It is not trivial to prove that a non-viable fetus is a baby. It takes some time before the fetus possesses vital signs like brain activity, heartbeat, and motion. Earlier understandings did not consider a fetus alive until it kicked – the so-called quickening.
Except because of genetics and stuff, it’s not going to become something else.
Provided the fetus survives, sure.
Let’s talk about organ transplantation here. A dude gets in a car wreck with a massive head injury. He is declared dead, but the cells in his body are still alive. His heart is removed and transplanted into a lady. The heart still has the dude’s DNA in all its cells.
I keep on coming back to vital signs, since it is an easily detected and understandable bright line. However, I don’t think that’s the debate the Left is having. To them, any interference in female sexuality is evil and abortion is a good thing no matter when it happens.
And to them, “interference” in female sexuality appears to include pregnancy.
So you want conservatives to accept the lies of the left in order to win elections. That famously does not work for us.
Very good comment. But I think you mean “and sex”.
YES!
Government, which is probably the least accountable thing I can think of should not be empowered to do anything beyond what it must. It’s a pain in the rear to work with neighborhood groups over collective matters, so it’s understandable why we don’t pay attention to local government as much as we should and are happy to just turn matters over and then trust officials to do the right thing, whatever that is, determined by some process and the further away we give the power the easier it is for us, and the less accountable they are. So it’s understandable why we just don’t pay attention and those who don’t pay taxes just get stuff for free, others pay a lot and some pay for most of it. It never works particularly well and most folks aren’t very happy with the result. The only rule should be, don’t give anything to a government or a neighborhood group or club management, etc. unless it’s absolutely necessary. We do just the opposite and it won’t end well. For instance, the most obvious chaos where we see the destruction we’ve created most clearly, where we can see exactly where we’re all headed; we destroyed the majority of black families on purpose and it worked. Those who destroyed the families get the votes and support and others pay for it. That’s the nature of government.
I did that with someone’s brain once. It didn’t work out cleanly.
But seriously, that’s why people are given immune suppressants, because the body knows it’s foreign.
Also, if it has human DNA, it’s human. If it can be killed, then it’s alive. Babies in the womb, are living humans. To kill the innocent and the helpless (especially considering those created in the image of God) is probably the most heinous of all crimes and of all sins.
I don’t mind eating an omelet, but we shouldn’t cannibalize our own young, either.
Obvious human supremacist. We should appeal more to the chickens.
There are generations among us who have never known a world without abortion, or cell phones and Internet (where most get their news and info), and are not being taught the evils of past regimes that destroyed millions (and how those regimes made excuses for what they did as they rose to power).
It’s too late to try to put the genie back in the bottle. We’re in a world where so many insane things are happening simultaneously – a multi-dimensional demise, so that it feels like we can’t get a foothold. People are not being told the truth, so it’s easy to say I can pick and choose – keep a toe on each side of the aisle……..and all will be well.
So all we can do is strengthen what remains and tell the truth – just like Mr. Sable did with his family member.
No I don’t. Not sure why you think that.
During slavery many would argue that blacks were human but not persons. Today many argue that the unborn are human but not persons. For those who embrace a Christian world view, this should be a settled issue. Leftist Christians abandon what makes Christianity Christianity by being arbiters of who they think are created in the image of God.
Scientist have a great contribution but don’t get to decide the viability of a person. That is a moral decision.
Or the worth of any human being.
I know the situation isn’t exactly the same in the United States. But Ireland used to prohibit abortion.
But then came the case of Savita Halappanavar. Savita was born in India and moved with her parents to Ireland.
She was a dentist and when she was 30 years old she became pregnant. But she had some complications in her pregnancy and ended up in the hospital, complaining of lower back pain. Eventually it was determined by the physicians that a miscarriage was unavoidable.
Savita discussed the abortion option with her physician, but she was told that it would not be legal for to have an abortion because a fetal heartbeat was still present. Savita developed sepsis and suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
In 2018, during the campaign on repealing the 8th Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland (the 8th Amendment prohibited abortion in Ireland), Savita Halappanavar’s picture was plastered everywhere by the pro-abortion forces.
The pro-abortion forces cynically used the death of an Irish dentist as an emotional argument in support of their campaign to make abortion legal in Ireland and they won. The referendum to repeal the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution passed with 66 percent of the voters voting to repeal the abortion ban.
Savita’s parents praised the voters of Ireland for repealing the abortion ban.
As we attempt to enact pro-life legislation in the various states after Roe v Wade is overruled by the US Supreme Court (assuming that this does, in fact, happen, as expected), we have to be prepared for what I call the “Savita argument” from the pro-abortion crowd.
Our current society has become – in surprisingly short order – one of the most racist ones in the history of this nation. Probably closest to the old Jim-Crow South. This retrograde change has taken hold over the past two decades. Furthermore, too many “churches” have forgotten that Pride is a deadly sin, and signed on to a month of celebrating a deadly sin.
The Progressives/Leftists are the drivers — once again — of treating people differently based upon the skin color, sex, and political orientation. I have zero patience for any of the angel-pin-counting attempts to justify their actions. There are none.