I finally found something in The Ragamuffin Gospel that helps me articulate what has bothered me about the political grandstanding of the pro-life movement. It's a question of consistency and integrity; it's a matter of seeing all humanity as worthy of "life"... and it is a honest self-appraisal for the ways we all fall short in living out God's commandments to serve one another.
The way we ware with each other is the truest testof our faith. How I treat a brother or sister form day to day, how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street, how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike, how I deal with normal people in their normal confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for life than the antiabortion sitcker on the bumper of my car.
We are not pro-life simply because we are warding off death. We are pro-life to the extent that we are men and women for others, all others; to the extent that no human flesh is a stranger to us; to the extent that we can touch the hand of another in love, to the extent that for us there are no "others."Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, p. 141.
There is much to consider here...
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3 comments:
Gotta love Manning. Much to ponder...and where did you find that great quote from Claiborne? Woot!
I've often wondered about bumper stickers on cars: one will say Pro-Life with an American Flag emblem, then on the other side of the bumper: Support Our Troops. Thus saying, I assume that - Prolife is American and supporting our troops, and therefore war, is also Pro-life?
I fully believe in and actively work to support our troops. And I believe I am a good patriotic American. I am also a woman of faith and ordained. I also believe in a woman's right to choose, and in that I hope that life is the choice because I hope that both women and men, boys and girls, are responsible and respectful of their bodies and therefore no unplanned and or unwanted pregnancies occur.
What bothered me for years was the combination of pro-life with regards to abortion and pro-death-penalty. The arguments from that camp were weak, and I eventually found strong counterarguments I was comfortable with (some Biblically-based). But this quote goes even so much farther, down to our everyday interactions. Good food for thought!
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