Idols

This has the potential to piss everyone off, but I sense that our country is about to get embroiled in the pro-life and pro-choice screaming match as Supreme Court nominees are introduced. I refuse to call it a debate because those on the extremes are unable to hear and speak in a way that is coherent to the other side. 

I actually do not think there are sides when it comes to abortion. In my conversations with people, I have come to realize that folks are all over the place in their own experiences with abortion. The church should be the place where people are freed to move beyond slogans and talk with each other about the messiness of life. The church could be a place where we discuss what is legal, what is moral, and where should they overlap. The church should not be a place where idols are made and worshiped.

As we engage this emotionally fraught issue of abortion, I invite you to step back and do what Stanley Hauerwas, one of my favorite Christian ethicists, invites us to do - pick out the idols. 

Christians have a word to describe the worship of that which is not God: idolatry. Idolatry, of course, can be a quite impressive form of devotion. The only difficulty is idolaters usually end up killing someone for calling into question their “god.”

Hauerwas warns that both life and choice can become idols. They can become gods in themselves against which humanity is measured and judged. People may not literally be killed who question their god, but battle lines are definitely drawn. 

As we engage the discussion of abortion as a nation, I would ask us all to attempt the following disciplines:

1. Be gentle - many people have been impacted by abortions in a variety of ways. People don't need more shame and silencing.

2. Look for the idols. What are you trying to concretize and what are you willing to sacrifice to that idol?

3. Invest in male birth control. Seriously. Why isn't there a pill? I'm kind of joking, but not really. One man can get lots of women pregnant. There are some experimental pills, but the research money is not there to pursue this effectively.