Is the Problem Planned Parenthood, or You?

This Topic...

Generally speaking I keep this blog politics free. However I don't consider abortion to be a political issue but a moral and spiritual one which plays out symptomatically on the political field due to its nature. It's a huge problem here in Taiwan as well, where even a higher percentage of babies are aborted than in the U.S.

I'm seeing a lot of disputed figures being thrown around regarding the Planned Parenthood debacle, of which I'm sure most people reading this will be aware. "The facts" in this case seem to differ depending on who is citing them, to an even greater extent than usual, and everyone from Congressmen on the Right to FB friends on the Left seem to stumble as they pick their information based on ideologically friendly sources which are focused on polemic over accuracy.

But while anyone with a functioning conscience rightly recoils in horror at what was going on with what they call "tissue donation" (like calling what the Nazis did "mortality research"), to me the most troubling aspect is that what they are doing is apparently legal. Regardless of whether Planned Parenthood is federally defunded or not, that must change. One of the sickest aspects of the whole affair is that Planned Parenthood defended themselves not by explaining that of course they weren't carving up living babies in the womb for their parts, but by clarifying how they were handling the funds involved in doing so. Yet as obvious as it seems to me and many of you that such things should be considered unspeakable atrocities, let alone very illegal, many people rise up bristling in anger when one suggests it. Why is that?

1. The Underlying Issue

The philosophical flashpoint around which the whole issue revolves is the question of personhood. Even a lot of abortion advocates believe human life begins at conception. They don't consider it murder to end that life, however, because they consider it human life in merely an abstract sense, not a person deserving of rights and protection in our society. To them, tending also to be involved in women's movements, a woman is a person, in fact a person of a social class that has been previously mistreated and deserves special protection, and the "fetus" is not. Therefore subjugating a woman's rights to that of an unborn lump of tissue is wrong in several ways at the same time, in their eyes, and they react to that prospect with rage and indignation which they consider righteous.

Now if you believe living people have souls, as all Christians do, and that life begins at conception, then you must logically believe that either there is a human soul united to a fertilized egg at the moment of conception, or that there is a human life with genetic information already supplied by both parents to which a soul is united at some unknown point in the womb. (Scripture does not offer specifics, though logic suggests conception as the most plausible option)

In either case, there is not some kind of benchmark for the progress of physical and mental formation that can serve as a definitive precursor to personhood. I personally believe the human soul exists from the outset, as the physical person and mind designed to match perfectly with it develop in the womb and beyond (Psalm 139:13-16). And if the soul exists from conception, then we must call it a person from that point, even if the fullness of personhood has not yet manifested itself. It has not yet done so in a toddler or teenager either, for that matter, but is a continual process from conception to death and beyond. We are people from the very beginning, and becoming more human all along. (Indeed, the fullness of our humanity as God intended it will not be known until we taste life after death. Only Jesus is truly, fully human, the Firstborn from among the dead.)

If, however, you do not believe living people have souls, and thus consider personhood to require having attained a certain level of physical development with a certain level of brain function, etc., you will be open to persuasion regarding exactly what point personhood is achieved. Certainly an unaware, tiny mote of tissue is not going to seem like a person yet. Even an embryo which is aware of outside stimuli, has taken on human appearance, and recognizes the voices of its parents might not make the cut. Some people, like the infamous Peter Singer and others, take this even farther and suggest birth should not necessarily confer personhood either, since new babies are not fully sentient, brains still rapidly developing, and aren't really people yet according to their stricter definition. (Since most people think emotionally more than rationally, they consider this "horrible" without ever stopping to realize it's just an extension of their own definition of personhood. Where do you draw the line? If nothing is sacred, why should the mere act of passing through the birth canal be so special that it suddenly confers full personhood that did not exist two minutes earlier? Because we adults can see the baby now? Because the amniotic fluid is now replaced by the thinner fluid of our breathable atmosphere?That seems quite arbitrary with regards to the child itself.)

A soul waits as its body and mind develop

2. The Great Impasse

So we have a conundrum. People who believe in the human soul and people who reject that concept are going to have a deep and fundamental disagreement on abortion, which is exactly what we see. It's easy to point to the more strident and offensive members of both sides (though you'll note the millions of deaths are all on one side), and claim that's who you are fighting against. It's easy to throw out various scientific data as well. But the issue at heart is not of science, but of philosophy and faith, because questions like "When is a human a person?" "Do humans have souls?" cannot be answered by scientific inquiry.

Since people do have souls, abortion in most cases should be outlawed as murder, as the developing embryo is a person. Indeed, if human life begins at conception, as a plurality on both sides of the controversy acknowledge, and if the soul is present from that point, then even emergency contraception, the so-called "morning after pills," etc., may represent the forcible separation of both parents' genetic information from the soul, which counts as ending a life. (It has been pointed out that many fertilized eggs fail to implant on their own. Well yes... in our world today, all souls experience physical death via natural causes at some point. But acting intentionally to ensure that this takes place sooner rather than later is called... murder)

However, you are probably not going to convince many people who believe neither in God nor the human soul that the developing human is a person at such an early stage of development. Not necessarily because it conflicts with their own interests, though this is often the case, but also because the very nature of the question of the existence of a soul makes it a foundational aspect of one's worldview. In other words, both believers in and doubters of the soul would be required to destroy and then rebuild most of their ideas about humanity to admit they are wrong.

So you will have, and do have, the Church grieving an ongoing, legal, mass infanticide while Humanist groups deny anything of the sort is taking place, or that it would be wrong if it were (because if there is no God, human society collectively figures out what is good for humanity).

3. What Can Be Done?

Currently, it appears there are only two options for stopping this generational slaughter:

1) You manage to be loud enough and insistent enough to get it banned despite many people not agreeing with your basic logic behind the ban. We do live in a squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease democracy now, for better or worse (mostly worse), so that approach can work if enough people get stirred up. That's exactly what has happened with some Republican congressmen on this issue just recently; enough of their base were fired up enough about the horrible, true revelations regarding some of Planned Parenthood's activities that they felt the pressure to take action on it and vote against the spending bill on that issue alone.

So this approach has been tried, does work to some extent, and as abortion becomes more and more emotionally distasteful with new technology that allows people to see just how human preborn humans look and act (and are), there may be some traction. Also, many political approaches have foolishly taken an "all or nothing" approach in the past. It doesn't make any sense to reject bans that make exceptions for rape, etc., as "compromised" when what you have now is nothing. Saving some babies now would be an excellent first step towards saving the rest.

However, this kind of ban is a shaky victory, which usually doesn't last. It's achieved with the aid of public sentiment, which can just as easily swing back in the other direction years later, and the Church is not nearly as good at being loud and insistent as many secular advocacy groups. We are about Christ's business, or should be, and while the people of any free nation should be concerned with its right governance, that is not the primary responsibility of the Church. Which leads me to the second method...

2) You convince the majority of people, or an influential enough plurality, that people really do have souls. Then, convinced that preborn humans are people too, a ban on killing pre-born people would logically follow. Most people aren't trained to think logically, but they're pretty good at being uncomfortable when something seems morally iffy. If they even strongly suspect an unborn baby is a soul waiting to be born, abortion is going to sound alarmingly like what it actually is.

This talk of the soul would have been more difficult in the age of Modernism, but with Post-Modernism we have found that as our understanding of the universe increases, some things we were sure about before become less certain. We used to "know" there can't be an immortal soul because we couldn't ping it with any scientific instruments and get a measurable response back (actually even that may not be strictly true); now people are much more open to things being out there that are accessible in ways which present difficulties for the scientific method. (not to speak of the current prevailing deterministic materialism in the world of scientific academia which they stubbornly conflate with science itself--an unwitting tribute to philosophy)

So though many gallons of Church ink have been spilled bewailing generations educated to believe there is no absolute truth, at the same time post-modernist ideas have actually removed some significant barriers to evangelism. The Church could be making great headway if we began to engage our culture from our real position of richness in Truth and epistemological strength in Christ and the Scriptures, instead of turning it on its head and trying somehow to be of the world but not in it.

This, as it turns out, is the approach Christ has already commanded us to be working on. Christians should start sharing the gospel and truths of Scripture with their non-believing friends and neighbors (not simply trying to get them to visit the church and then relying on their pastor to explain these things), and with passion and positivity, speaking the clear truth with love, explain our belief in the human soul, of our creation in the Imago Dei, the Image of God, and how every life is precious in His sight, and should be in ours too. And our actions had better line up with our words.

4. Redefining Pro-Choice

Is it difficult to have those kinds of conversations? Usually yes. There is no clear segue from "So did you catch the game last night?..." to "...and that's why human life is intrinsically valuable," but even in the few years I spent as an engineer in the work force before venturing forth on long term cross-cultural missions, we managed to end up having conversations like that around the water cooler quite a few times. (It helps if you pray specifically that God will allow you opportunities to share, and are intentional about it)

But honestly... with our brothers and sisters being martyred in the Middle East and elsewhere (even in this latest Oregon shooting, it looks like), and legal induced abortions in the U.S. having passed the 50,000,000 mark since Roe v. Wade, can you really explain to God that you are too busy, aren't adequately prepared, or are too fearful of other people's opinions to even make the attempt to communicate His truth to a declining culture, one person at a time?

If so, then stop complaining about Planned Parenthood, because the problem is you.

Evil will always be around until final judgment, but being "the good man who did nothing" is your own choice. Don't be that person, choose life, and life abundantly. That's what could turn things around; Christians choosing action over inaction; choosing not to retreat from an increasingly insane culture but to engage the people around them with the love of God and truth of the Word in the context of their own daily lives. Choosing to recognize we are all called to live for God and not to merely fit Him into the reasonable and appropriate crevices in our status-and-comfort-chasing lives.

Planned Parenthood and their advocates believe that with no God, human society determines what is right and wrong, and who is necessary and who is expendable. They provide the services which take this decision and enact it by means of a whole range of options, from smiling early prevention to gruesome live dismemberment.

They are busy acting on those beliefs.
Are you busy acting on yours?

When Doubts Attack: Attack Back

                 Or, the Irrationality of Doubt when God's Presence is with Us.

As I continue on in my walk with God and journey of faith through this life, I find that I often have questions. I don't mean questions about the basic tenets and principles of the faith, although I do have those kinds of questions from time to time, usually in a curious way. I am relentlessly curious, so I will investigate nearly anything from different perspectives to see what it looks like.

But with regard to those more basic questions, over and over again I've tested the core tenets of Christianity, based on my ongoing experiences and taking into account criticisms both new and old that I've encountered, and found that they hold together without budging. Given the existence of a Creator God, the faith set forth in Scripture follows, and no other religion or holy writings could stand up to the rigorous assaults withstood by the Church for centuries now.

As Christians we can be reluctant to talk about doubt, since to acknowledge that sometimes we consider the truth of what we believe as something that could potentially be untrue sounds like we're denying our faith.
But doubt is not the same as denial, doubt is a testing of our faith, and such tests are necessary to strengthen it. The question is whether we will pass the test with stronger faith, or become doubters, our faith weak, remaining mired in uncertainty. James had strong words for people who chose the second option...

The questioning and uncertain thought or feeling that pops into your mind is not yet sin; what you do with it might be sin, or might instead be a glorious victory. If we need more faith, God is willing to provide it, but the biblical conception of faith is an active reaching out to God, not a passive hunger strike. Sometimes we must find ourselves crying out to God along with the man in Mark 9: "Lord I believe, help my unbelief!"

The Irrationality of Doubt

When I do get those doubting sorts of moments, lately they are of that vaguely anxious "but what if 'all this' isn't true?" variety. Interestingly, that sort of doubt is the least able to stand up to logical inquiry. Nonbelievers (in the world of Western thought) would have you believe that Christianity is not rational or logical, and, recently and irrelevantly, that is has been made unnecessary by "Science," as if the laws of physics would be a challenge to or replacement for the One who set them up and provided the energy to have any matter to begin with.  ("Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools...")

It's the opposite, actually: given the presuppositions from which Christianity begins, everything proceeds in quite a logical and orderly fashion. So for these vaguely anxious sorts of doubts, simply asking "Can you be more specific? Which part isn't true exactly? What alternative truth claim is being suggested here?" often dispels it outright without it even bothering to explain itself. Very, very few doubts stand up to any vigourous inquiries about a) content, and b) motive.

So for me at this point, I can say that doubt is inherently irrational. I know the depth and truth of scripture more than I did earlier in my life, and have a more clear understanding of how Christianity all holds together, and perceive that the reality of the world as understood through Scripture is indeed the inevitable conclusion to which an honest and informed look at reality would drive one (what Paul is talking about in Romans 1). Yes, the more I've learned about Scripture and the history of doctrine and our faith the more questions I have had, but my curiosity has been joyously satisfied by the truth of God's word and the miracle of His church and His presence.

Also, my faith has been extended over any question marks that remain for me (and there always are, for now we see in a mirror dimly), not primarily due to answered questions, but because I have experienced over and over again God's gracious intervention in my life. Lack of total knowledge about the story can't make me doubt the author when I've met Him, and He is not passive. I have some pretty cool stories... crazy things have happened exactly when they need to happen.

And that is where a believer and a non-believer go in totally opposite directions: when some crazy, unlikely thing that seems like supernatural intervention occurs, the believer states that given God, the simplest explanation is that He did this, since this sort of thing doesn't happen by accident. The non-believer states that given no God, the only possible explanation is that sometimes crazy coincidences happen by accident, or maybe that there's no such thing as 'accident' or 'miracle,' everything just happens, and it's your own confirmation bias making you think it's for your own benefit or some other purpose.

But they're the ones that are trapped. While we can look a crazy, wonderful miracle in the face and say "This cannot happen naturally, God did this," they must always either deny that it occurred, concoct an explanation so unlikely that the only excuse for it is "well it happened, and there's no God, so this must be how it happened," or pull out the tiresome confirmation bias hammer, for which to those who wield it everything seems to look like a nail.

And often they misunderstand us. When met with something they do not understand, people may simply say "God did it." Then along come scientists and say "Ah, not so: this is caused by energy transferred in X way by Y methods. See, your so-called god is vanishing one explanation at a time." (Then we ask them where energy came from originally, and they vow to have the answer to that too, someday. There are theories. Just have faith.) This is the 'god of the gaps' idea, that "God" is merely the answer to things for which science has not yet provided a purely natural explanation. Some Christians do use this argument, and I think they should stop. We don't believe God hides in the inexplicable; we believe He created the explicable. As Paul reminds us, God's invisible attributes can be observed clearly from the things that are made. His existence need not be only inferred from the things that are mysterious. That would be weak faith indeed.

In the end, however, it's not even a necessary conflict. One can say that lightning is a transfer of energy and one can say that lightning shows the power of God, and those two statements are in no way contradictory. If God created this universe, then "God did it," applies to everything that follows, it doesn't matter by what means He was pleased to arrange things to occur. "Friction kept your tires on the road" is not a rebuttal to the claim that you drove to work this morning, it's one piece of evidence that your claim is a rational one.

The Experience of Doubt

I certainly do experience feelings of doubt from time to time. It's a strong temptation on the missions field in general, and for me in this place specifically where people hear of Jesus and say neither "Lord" nor "silly myth" but "Wonderful, you've got your god, we've got ours.. lots of them actually."

But I had strong feelings of pain when I stubbed my toe the other day too, and I did not throw out my preexisting conception of the universe based on those feelings. ("I've been wrong all this time.. all is pain! There is nothing in life but all-consuming pain and that blasted metaphorical chair leg, whatever it represents!") The example is obviously absurd, but in more serious situations that's more or less what occurs. Some pain does not pass so quickly, and its intensity can weaken our convictions and make us question our assumptions, even when it shouldn't.

I often have the weird situation here on the mission field where I get 'attacks' of very strong feelings to doubt, as I mentioned earlier, without even much content to speak of, only force. It's much like someone sitting beside you screaming at you "doubt! doubt! doubt!" without ever saying what it is you should doubt.

Now here's the fun part: The fact that you already know what it is you're 'supposed' to be doubting, and the force with which this demand to doubt comes into your mind, all plays into exactly how the Bible describes the world. I'm being tempted to doubt by whom? The existence of a tempter is a pretty good confirmation of scripture, no? And you want me to doubt who? Precisely the God of Scripture, as it turns out? So it turns out that by turning the tables on a doubt, and making it answer the questions, typically you destroy it. (Caution: Don't be prideful about that, that's just trading one sin for an equally dangerous one. Doubts often fade away after a little while, pride typically does not.)

After that realization, doubt began to no longer feel like potential ulcer wanting to crop up inside me, but more like a wind trying to buffet me from the outside. Sometimes buttoning up my jacket is sufficient; sometimes I call to the One who calmed the winds with a word.

In both cases, I am able to bring to mind numerous moments in my life where I intentionally set up a remembrance stone in my memory, to say "here is where God did something amazing." I've experienced so many of those moments; of students coming to Christ and my seeing the immediate, inexplicable change in them, of situations that seemed impossible right up until we prayed, of the joy and peace and love I feel in His very real presence. The evidence of God, once seen in faith, is unending and wonderful.
But one doesn't get to see it much inside one's comfort zone, I should add.

Conclusion

Doubts may attack sometimes, but my faith is never in doubt. Even when assailed by a gale of doubt and feeling neither faithful nor logical, I have my remembrance stones, and the wind can't push those around. And it obeys the voice of the One who died for me, who offered Thomas the proof he asked for, yet blessed us who believe without yet having seen it. But we will see it. Let us continue in faith.

God cannot be 'proved' in the way people demand proof, but by faith He can certainly be experienced, proof enough to the we who experience Him, and faith in His existence and presence explains everything else in a perfectly sensible way. As C.S.Lewis famously said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

In the end, so many times it turns out like this:
Scripture says there is an invisible ladder in this spot, so in faith I begin to climb here, and after considerable effort I find that miraculously I am fifty feet up in the air, just as Scripture said. The scoffer's mocking reaction that I am merely imagining myself to be fifty feet off the ground would carry more weight if he wasn't shouting into the sky to let me hear him.

            I hope reading this strengthens your faith as well.