Pro-Life Emotions vs. Biblical Reasoning

On this the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision (January 22, 1973), I seek to write a blog entry that is biblically reasoned rather than emotionally charged. Presidential candidates from both parties are well aware that opinion polls can be swayed by a brief tirade during a presidential debate or by pithy soundbites that catch on in the media. An intelligent friend recently told me she would have a hard time voting for a guy with the name "Mitt." Trouble is, the same people who decided for you on a whim will decide against you when their mood ring changes color.

We pro-lifers are justly emotional when we consider what is at stake when a young woman chooses abortion. That's a baby! That's a vulnerable woman being pushed into a decision that will cause her to live with the equally unbearable baggage of a troubled or seared conscience. That's a barbaric procedure that is permitted in this land largely because cowards who know better are more interested in getting the feminist vote than in doing what is right.

But that is about as far as my emoting will go in this entry. You let that stuff go and people start thinking our hands are tied and we should do what we can to put an end to this unseen holocaust—lawfully or otherwise. After all, isn't an educated abortion provider more deserving of a fatal attack than an ignorant terrorist deceived into thinking his actions will bring him into the presence of 70 virgins?

Let me reframe the question before you answer that. Wouldn't we save a lot of tax dollars if we eliminated the court system and police forces and instead used the money to arm neighborhood militias?

Here's the point. There is no question that neighborhood militias could eliminate a lot of bad guys. But that is the kind of justice they have in Mogadishu. That is also the kind of justice which creates an atmosphere that makes churches and crisis pregnancy centers vulnerable to crazies who think they are above the law.

God designed a better way of dealing with evildoers. He gave governments the right to take life (Romans 13). He created an orderly pattern for governing a sin-cursed world that established guilt only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. The system isn't perfect, but it is still a human reflection of our orderly Creator.

Why do we find David on many occasions killing and plundering the enemies of Israel and on other occasions withholding his hand from real bad guys (1 Samuel 24-26)? The answer is not that complicated. David did a lot of killing, but he did it while he was either under authority or in authority (as king). Those who rebel against the law to kill, even while killing evildoers, are themselves evildoers.

Beware lest your emotions drive you to make choices you will later regret. That has happened too many times since 1973.