“Are you pro-life or pro-choice?”
It’s surprising to me the number of times I get asked this question.
I know most of the time the person asking wants to reduce it to one type of choice: abortion.
But of all the many life-giving or not-life-giving choices in the human experience, I refuse to boil it down to just one expression of choice.
Because for me it boils down to this: since God was absolutely 100% not afraid of giving the first humans a poor choice in the Garden of Eden, I don’t need to take away their right to choose.
So my answer to the question?
I’m absolutely 100% pro-humans-making-life-choices.
You and I may not agree with each other’s choices or the choices of others.
But I don’t need to fear the poor choices of others.
Instead, I focus on making the right choices I can. It’s not my job to control your choice. And neither is it your job to control mine.
Yes, we can share information and stories that flow from our faith, our values and our convictions and help people who want our help. We can advocate for our choices and beliefs. But we don’t get to hijack the rights of someone else to make a poor choice and take responsibility for it.
Because that is control.
If we are for freedom, we cannot partner with the spirit of control.
And we are also not to be anyone’s judge.
Because that “poor choice” in our view may be what ends up turning their life around. Or it may end up being the right decision.
What one person thinks is a poor choice may actually preserve that person’s life. (I’m thinking of the right not to choose a certain liability-free pharmaceutical product here.)
In fact, making choices and taking responsibility for them is the only way we grow and learn.
When a baby is born, mom doesn’t ask them to choose between breastmilk and steak.
But when that child is 8 or 18, mom also doesn’t want to have to make every choice in life for them.
Yes, some poor choices in life can lead to serious consequences (or even death) so that others may learn from our poor choices. Which is why choosing wisely and using discernment is key.
But the point is that God gives us the liberty AND the responsibility to choose.
So why would I be anti-God, anti-responsibility, and anti-learning?
This midnight missive is meant to be a conversation starter…not a conversation ender. So let me know your thoughts by chiming in with a comment.
Photo by Caleb Jones on Unsplash
I’m not sure how protecting the right to life for the vulnerable, pre-born child is an issue of “control.” Using the following logic… “we don’t get to hijack the rights of someone else to make a poor choice and take responsibility for it” it would appear we do not need any laws. We have laws to protect people from harming one another. Why should there not be laws to protect people (women) from harming pre-born babies?
Hi Jean, thanks for taking the time to comment and to ask great questions. We had a family member die the day your comment came through and I’m just getting around to responding now, so thanks for your patience.
I advocate for just laws. Laws that seek to help people flourish and pursue life. Not laws that seek to control, mandate, or manipulate everybody’s choices.
And I believe we need fewer laws. Not more. (God gave 10 of them, then Jesus later summed up them in Matthew 22:34-40.) Because laws around protection are limited. They can’t prevent someone from harming themselves or others if they are determined to do so.
There are divine and human laws against theft. Yet some people still steal.
There are divine and human laws against homicide. Yet some people still murder.
There are, of course, consequences to both examples in the natural and spiritual realm. But the existence of the law does not mean people will automatically be protected.
For example, current laws aren’t protecting people from being harmed by Big P-harm-a. We see that right now with the freedom-grabbing mandates by Big Pharma. They’re the most powerful lobby in the world and enacting laws telling people they can’t exercise the right to choose what’s injected into their own bodies.
In my and many states, it’s still the law that people can exercise their human rights to conscience and freedom of religion by choosing a conscientious, religious or philosophical exemption. But Big Pharma wants to control everyone’s choices and is now going state by state to remove those laws on the books.
So when we get into laws vs. laws …. where does it end?
History shows us that fear causes people to give up their freedoms and give more power to the government. Post-9/11. Today with the Coronavirus.
If you want to talk specifically about pre-born babies, we’ve seen that no human law on paper against abortion can change the heart. Only God can do that. And when it comes to pre-born babies killed by abortion and the babies killed by Big Pharma’s deception after they’re born, I grieve. I also trust God’s justice and love to know more than I do and to have a cosmic plan much bigger than our short-sighted ones.
I know that my God who didn’t stop the choices of those who carried out the massacre of the innocents (the babies killed by Herod around the time of His Son’s birth), has each one in His arms and He will have the final say in the end. So I let God be the judge. I’d rather err on the side of choosing freedom and trust, rather than fear and control.