I'm a little irked right now, and I'm sure some of you will laugh at me when you realize why I'm upset.
First, I'll state what I do: I hand out Bibles. I stand on a median, at a stoplight, with a free Bibles sign. If someone wants a Bible(s) they get as many as they want. I try to have Spanish as well. That's it. I go out there, stand with the sign, and distribute to those who want a Bible, generally in bad areas.
This guy does not do that. Now, in a lot of respects I think he is doing right. The Bible says God hates hands that shed innocent blood. The 10 commandments say murder is wrong. He has children, himself. I understand his motivation.
However, I do not believe God wants us to be confrontational like that. I can think of a millon other ideas - a placard with a photo of a woman's hands, reaching out "I'll take care of your baby". Wouldn't that be great? Sharing the truth in love, folks.
The abortion protest gang don't seem to see it that way, it is all about confrontation, you are killing your kid, you are a sinner, etc. Well, if you walk up to me and attack me, it's going to put my back up. I will NOT listen to anything you have to say. I will curse you out and walk off. He's lucky he's only been attacked this time.
Back in the throes of "my" sin, my Dad, very carefully, would suggest that maybe it was a bad idea to live with Ron. He did it in a very delicate manner. It still put my back up. I was stuck in sin, I didn't want to hear the truth, and hearing it just made me close my heart and ears.
What touched me the most, when he told me "Even though I'm disappointed, you're still my daughter, and I love you." That made me feel the worst about my choices, and it wasn't done with intent.
I believe, if you want to reach a woman about to have an abortion, you would need to reach out in love. You need to care about her, hear her story, find out why she thinks she has to do this. Where is the father? Maybe she was gang-raped. Maybe she took a toxic drug before she knew she was pregnant.
She's listening. Now, you tell her, if you can't raise/don't want the baby, we will find someone to take it for you. I would have a photo album of potential adoptive parents. I would let her know she could pick the family, a family that wouldn't "mind" a child born from rape or with possible "birth defects".
I believe that's what Jesus would do. He wouldn't be waving around a "Babies are murdered here" sign, I'm sure of that.
2 comments:
I totally hear you on this.
I briefly tried joining the Pro-Life movement (a mainstream one that will remain nameless) and got so disgusted I not only stopped, but asked them to take me off all of their mailing lists.
I don't have room to get into all that I could here, but suffice to say that I don't think we can ever, ever know what a woman is going through with a crisis pregnancy. Now that I am pregnant myself, I can honestly say that I can't imagine what it would be like to go through all of this when you do not want to be pregnant, are pregnant as the result of a rape, etc. This is a very much wanted child for me and pregnancy is a roller coaster- I went through several medical issues and am going through many emotional ones.
I personally think that abortion should remain legal. To render it ohterwise would just put things back in the dark ages and put women at risk. Allowing for women to make this decision does not mean one is "for" abortion (I don't think anyone really is), it's saying that in a situation like some women find themselves in, there are no easy or "Right" answers.
I was one of the people that did "sidewalk counseling" (as they call it..waving a placard and walking up and down silently is basically what I did, anyway.) a few times. I got so disgusted with it I stopped. It felt judgemental, sanctimonious, and like we were more about putting ourselves out there, and the agenda, than helping women.
Choices in those situations are rarely ideal, and far be it from me to judge a woman who is facing a crisis in her pregnancy!
Yeah, what any one person does is between them and God. We can suggest, exhort, pray for, doing quite a bit actually but the end choice is up to the pregnant woman.
I didn't mention this, but some of my distaste for the "pro life" gang stems from a horrible incident when I was about 7. My adoptive Mom had us (younger brother, age 4, and myself) in the car. We were literally attacked by a mob of placard-waving maniacs shoving horrible images up against the car.
My mother was furious. They could see she had kids in the car. She had driven past the clinic, not into the parking lot, and yet they attacked us. They completely surrounded the car, enraged faces and placards pressing against the glass. Both of us kids started crying. She shifted the car into gear and gunned it.
You should have seen them run!
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