It was by memorizing and reading the Bible that I left my fundamentalist influences behind - the more time I spent in it, the more I questioned the fundamentalist use of the Bible as a weapon of control. I too firmly hold to the image of God being the basis for cherishing human life, but there is another, still more imporant truth that the Bible holds that should prevent us from applying concern for the imago Dei in narrow, restrictive ways and that is, that Jesus saves us from sin - not ours only but also the sins of the whole world. The entire world is soaked in innocent blood and reeks of death and we are all tainted by it in ways we do not often ponder - he removed the stain of blood and the stench of death by his death, and his mercy demands that we show mercy to others.
I am younger than you, but old enough to remember the spate of violence and killings of abortion providers by anti-abortion extremists in the 1990s. Those murders were condemned of course, but the pro-life movement did still imagine themselves more righteous than the abortionists and their clientele. Self-righteousness always leads to sinning so that good may come - by the 2010s, I realized that pro-life publications were exaggerating and outright lying for greater effect. Peter warned the church in his first epistle not to use their liberty in Christ as a cover for evil (2:16), but over the years, I have realized that the movement has enabled evil, as people use the issue to ignore other evils, not just by becoming one-issue activists or voters at the cost of other equally important ways to care for humans, but also, on an individual level, by persuading themselves that they are righteous because they condemn abortion, allowing them to ignore other sins in their own lives - how many utterly sleazy politicians and other disgraceful public figures have touted themselves as pro-life.
Holly, thank you for your gentle but strong affirmation of what I and so many others have seen and experienced. It’s been so hard to see the kinds of things you describe. I have seen it too. If we stand for truth, we must be truthful. And the truth needs no false assistance. I have written elsewhere about the murder of a doctor in my community, a horrific betrayal of the value for human life I thought we were standing for. I will see if I can post a gift link to that later.
When you consider those who instrumentalized that issue to successfully create an army of single issue voters consistently favor policies that protect and enrich the powerful while disempowering and minimizing aid to the vulnerable it's not hard to see that from the top it's been a cynical manipulation tactic rather than a move born of compassion or any deep moral conviction. The bargain struck to overturn Roe was worth it to the billionaire class (who will procure abortions when/where they want anyway) in exchange for where things have landed in this country
And so much more is being laid bare by the Epstein files, isn’t it? Just how much the rich and powerful manipulate everyone else for every evil purpose.
Have you seen the 2015 documentary "The Brainwashing of My Dad" by Jen Senko? Highly recommend at least checking out the trailer on YouTube
Documents the transformation of her father after he started listening to right wing radio, from the man who in her childhood never had a bad word to say about anybody to a man full of grievances and anger, especially toward minorities, immigrants amd LGBT folks
Thanks for putting that into words. The imago dei in every human being makes them a person worth defending.
Amen.
It was by memorizing and reading the Bible that I left my fundamentalist influences behind - the more time I spent in it, the more I questioned the fundamentalist use of the Bible as a weapon of control. I too firmly hold to the image of God being the basis for cherishing human life, but there is another, still more imporant truth that the Bible holds that should prevent us from applying concern for the imago Dei in narrow, restrictive ways and that is, that Jesus saves us from sin - not ours only but also the sins of the whole world. The entire world is soaked in innocent blood and reeks of death and we are all tainted by it in ways we do not often ponder - he removed the stain of blood and the stench of death by his death, and his mercy demands that we show mercy to others.
I am younger than you, but old enough to remember the spate of violence and killings of abortion providers by anti-abortion extremists in the 1990s. Those murders were condemned of course, but the pro-life movement did still imagine themselves more righteous than the abortionists and their clientele. Self-righteousness always leads to sinning so that good may come - by the 2010s, I realized that pro-life publications were exaggerating and outright lying for greater effect. Peter warned the church in his first epistle not to use their liberty in Christ as a cover for evil (2:16), but over the years, I have realized that the movement has enabled evil, as people use the issue to ignore other evils, not just by becoming one-issue activists or voters at the cost of other equally important ways to care for humans, but also, on an individual level, by persuading themselves that they are righteous because they condemn abortion, allowing them to ignore other sins in their own lives - how many utterly sleazy politicians and other disgraceful public figures have touted themselves as pro-life.
Holly, thank you for your gentle but strong affirmation of what I and so many others have seen and experienced. It’s been so hard to see the kinds of things you describe. I have seen it too. If we stand for truth, we must be truthful. And the truth needs no false assistance. I have written elsewhere about the murder of a doctor in my community, a horrific betrayal of the value for human life I thought we were standing for. I will see if I can post a gift link to that later.
Yes, Holly. I feel your second paragraph in particular, is spot-on. Well said.
When you consider those who instrumentalized that issue to successfully create an army of single issue voters consistently favor policies that protect and enrich the powerful while disempowering and minimizing aid to the vulnerable it's not hard to see that from the top it's been a cynical manipulation tactic rather than a move born of compassion or any deep moral conviction. The bargain struck to overturn Roe was worth it to the billionaire class (who will procure abortions when/where they want anyway) in exchange for where things have landed in this country
And so much more is being laid bare by the Epstein files, isn’t it? Just how much the rich and powerful manipulate everyone else for every evil purpose.
Have you seen the 2015 documentary "The Brainwashing of My Dad" by Jen Senko? Highly recommend at least checking out the trailer on YouTube
Documents the transformation of her father after he started listening to right wing radio, from the man who in her childhood never had a bad word to say about anybody to a man full of grievances and anger, especially toward minorities, immigrants amd LGBT folks
I’ve not. I will check it out!