I am pro-life. I do not support abortion, believing that murder of the unborn is still murder. Since we are created in the image of God, their is something sacred about human life – at all stages.
I know of a man and women, very dear to me, both disabled by a lifetime of work. They dutifully paid their disability insurance, but when it came time to claim it, they were denied and told to fight the lawyers. They did not have the money for good lawyers and quickly lost any hope of appeal. They live on a meager social security check. The gentleman has CPD and is quickly fading. Hospice has been called it. In what should be the twilight of their life, he is rushing headlong into the midnight abyss. They have to live on the kindness of others for a variety of things – food, clothing, help here and there – and many times eat things that have aggravated his diabetes because they cannot afford the food – potatoes, rice, come in bulk and go a long ways.
They have lived with the Bush Medicare plan, finding themselves out of funds for much need prescription medication in May or June. Their already strained budget is now faced with buying more medication at costs that allow them to purchase a little here and a little there.
In this country, where our technology has far outstripped our compassion, they are being forced to pay to live. Sometimes, they have to eat. Sometimes, when he is in pain and unable to breathe, they skip the food and buy the medicine.
They have no children to help them, and are essentially alone in this world, except for a few church folks that help when they can.
They are paying to live when life is so abundant here. They have the same right to life as the unborn.
There is a young woman who has found herself with child (which is the polite way of saying that she messed up). She is now faced with raising her 5 year old son while having this child. She is working, but the jobs are scarce, do not pay a living wage, and with winter coming, the hours are sure to be cut short. We worry about her, knowing that many believe that abortion is an option in tough economic times. She has no family to speak of, and the father cannot be counted on to come through in a pinch. She is in a job that offers no insurance, no paid sick leave, and no other financial help. If she is able to get another job, she has to worry if she will ever see her son – as it stands now, she sees him roughly 2 hours a day.
Yes, we can look at her as something immoral, but even Christ looked past that. She is faced with two options, really. Abortion or having the child. If she has the child, then will she be able to feed it? Clothe it? Shelter it?
I know of a coal miner that goes to work every day to feed his family of 6. It is the only job in the region that pays enough – with good benefits – to feed his family. He works long hours, missing family and church because he cannot request time off. He works in conditions worthy of Chinese slave labor camps because he has no voice on the work place. He knows that as coal prices sky rocket, and the companies skip safety for production, that the likely hood of something serious happening to him increases exponentially – yet, it is his life or the starvation of his family.
So he goes to work everyday, in mines, forgotten by the world and fills his lungs up with coal dust that will kill him unless the roof crushes him first. He has no chance of a union, no voice on the work place. His last attempt to unionize saw five of his friends fired and blackballed from the industry while he was threatened with his job and sent to work in even unsafer conditions because he was seen talking with a pro-union supporter.
Yes, for these people, I am going to vote pro-life tomorrow. For the elderly couple that have to choose to either die of starvation or of a chronic illness; the mother who fears abstract poverty if she has another child; the coal miner who is forced to work unsafe because he has no union – I am voting pro-life tomorrow. And for you. I am voting pro-life.
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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This is an absolutely amazing post, my friend.
It really makes the point about what it means to be pro-life and not merely anti-abortion. Thanks for writing this.
Wow …
This is an absolutely amazing post, my friend.
It really makes the point about what it means to be pro-life and not merely anti-abortion. Thanks for writing this.
Wow …
Wickle,
I appreciate it. I cannot contribute much to the election, but we have to do our best. BTW, I checked out Joe and he doesn’t look too bad. I am for open elections, which would allow a low threshold for a candidate to get on the ballot. If we had such a truly democratic system, more people like Joe could run.
Thanks again Wickle.
Wickle,
I appreciate it. I cannot contribute much to the election, but we have to do our best. BTW, I checked out Joe and he doesn’t look too bad. I am for open elections, which would allow a low threshold for a candidate to get on the ballot. If we had such a truly democratic system, more people like Joe could run.
Thanks again Wickle.
I offer my congratulations to now President Elect Obama. I will be praying for this man daily as americans have the ability to turn on their own very quickly when they does not measure up to what they expect.
This you wrote is very true but as we will soon be reminded, as many have forgotten, that God will always take care of those whose heart and trust is turned to Him. Government cannot be counted on to take care of their people, or always do what is best, only God can be counted on to do that. So those who read this and like me can associated with what is written above, keep your eyes on God. President elect Obama is just a man and he will need God’s wisdom and guidance now more than ever. God bless him and his family.
I offer my congratulations to now President Elect Obama. I will be praying for this man daily as americans have the ability to turn on their own very quickly when they does not measure up to what they expect.
This you wrote is very true but as we will soon be reminded, as many have forgotten, that God will always take care of those whose heart and trust is turned to Him. Government cannot be counted on to take care of their people, or always do what is best, only God can be counted on to do that. So those who read this and like me can associated with what is written above, keep your eyes on God. President elect Obama is just a man and he will need God’s wisdom and guidance now more than ever. God bless him and his family.
Thank you Tammy.
Thank you Tammy.
Very well put, thanks for pointing it out.
Very well put, thanks for pointing it out.
Thanks so much for referring me to this exceptional post. It gives me goose bumps, honestly…even upon re-reading it.
I kind of rely on goose bumps. I have no control over them. They let me know when I come across something truly special, something I should absorb. When I’m affected this way I take note. It’s proven more effective than any other indicator I’ve found to communicate with my inner self.
These are complex issues. Due to the deep emotions they provoke, well-intended folks can be easily manipulated.
Try as I might, I can’t say what you did above better than you have. I’m so happy to have found your site– I’m now linked to you.
God bless.
-p
Thanks so much for referring me to this exceptional post. It gives me goose bumps, honestly…even upon re-reading it.
I kind of rely on goose bumps. I have no control over them. They let me know when I come across something truly special, something I should absorb. When I’m affected this way I take note. It’s proven more effective than any other indicator I’ve found to communicate with my inner self.
These are complex issues. Due to the deep emotions they provoke, well-intended folks can be easily manipulated.
Try as I might, I can’t say what you did above better than you have. I’m so happy to have found your site– I’m now linked to you.
God bless.
-p
Thanks, Paul. I believe that as Christians, our first goal is heaven, but I follow the thinking of the disciple who wrote to Diognetus: http://thechurchofjesuschrist.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/for-the-christians-are-distinguished-from-other-men-the-epistle-to-diognetus/
Life is precious, but the protection of life does not end at birth. Thanks for the kind words.
Indeed. You’re most welcome.
Indeed. You’re most welcome.
Thanks, Paul. I believe that as Christians, our first goal is heaven, but I follow the thinking of the disciple who wrote to Diognetus: http://thechurchofjesuschrist.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/for-the-christians-are-distinguished-from-other-men-the-epistle-to-diognetus/
Life is precious, but the protection of life does not end at birth. Thanks for the kind words.