January 2025 Newsletter
March for Life and Y4Life Conference in January!
The NALC Life Ministries team is once again preparing for the March for Life in Washington D.C. this January, but our plan is a little different. Instead of holding a life conference, NALC Life has decided to team up with Lutherans for Life (LFL) and participate in their events at the March! Their youth conference, Y4Life, will be held at the Hilton Arlington Landing Hotel (2399 Richmond Highway, Arlington, VA 22202) from Thursday, January 23rd, 2025 through Saturday, January 25th, 2025 and it has over 400 kids already registered (register at https://y4life.org/event/y4life-in-washington-d-c-january-23-25-2025/ ). We encourage all our NALC youth to participate in this free conference.
On Friday, January 24th we will be once again participating in the March for Life under the NALC banner, and I hope you can join us at 12th and Madison Sts., N.W at noon as we march to the U.S. Capitol. Before the march there is a prayer service at DAR Constitution Hall 1776 D St. NW (18th and D St.) Washington, DC 20006 starting at 8:30am. All our NALC members are invited to attend this service and our clergy are invited to participate (stoles are white). If you have any problems at the march, please contact Pastor Dennis Di Mauro at (703) 568-3346. Pastor Di Mauro can also host you in his home if you would like to stay overnight in DC. We can’t wait to see you in our nation’s capital this January!!
Children’s Sermon/ June 23 2024/ Fifth Sunday After Pentecost/ Lectionary Year B
Scripture
Mark 4:35-41
Script
Props: Disciples and boat. You will need the egg carton and the eggs labeled with the names of the disciples. You will also need bookmarks, one for each child. These are simple to make. Simply print the following on a long strip of cardstock. You can laminate, add ribbon, stickers, or an image from the computer on the bookmarks, or you can keep them simple with just the text. You may want to think about giving bookmarks to all members of the congregation as well.
Jesus cares about me.
Jesus gives me peace.
Jesus stills me.
Jesus calms me.
Jesus protects me.
Jesus gives me faith.
Because of Jesus, I don’t have to be afraid.
All of creation obeys Jesus.
Jesus loves me.
Pastor: Good morning boys and girls! Welcome! Let’s say good morning to our friend Sammy and see if she is there. Ready? One, two, three: Good morning, Sammy!
Sammy: Good morning, everyone! Pastor, let’s get out the disciples and their boat.
Pastor: Who here has seen the ocean or the bay before? What is the ocean/bay like?
[Allow time for responses]
Sammy: I love it when Farmer Mark takes me to the ocean.
Pastor: Farmer Mark takes you to the ocean, Sammy?
Sammy: I get around, Pastor.
Pastor: Our gospel reading today is about how Jesus calmed the sea.
Sammy: What happened?
Pastor: Jesus and his disciples were on a boat and Jesus was so tired that he fell asleep in the stern of the boat?
Sammy: What’s a stern?
Pastor: The stern is the back of the boat. Jesus fell asleep and the wind blew and the waves crashed against the boat. Then the boat began to fill up with water.
Sammy: Oh no! That sounds bad. Jesus had to be awake for all of that.
Pastor: He slept through everything.
Sammy: Boys and girls, why do you think Jesus slept through the bad storm with the wind and the waves and the water in the boat?
[Allow time for responses]
Pastor: Great answers, everyone! The disciples did wake Jesus up, and they said, “Jesus, don’t you care about us?” And Jesus told the wind and the waves to be still, and the storm stopped right away.
Sammy: Just like that?
Pastor: Everything was quiet. And Jesus asked his disciples two questions: “Why are you afraid?” and “Have you no faith?”
Sammy: There are many important things for us to remember about this passage from Mark.
Pastor: Well, I have a little gift for everyone. I have a bookmark for you all to remember Jesus’s promises to us based on this story. What does the bookmark say?
Jesus cares about me.
Jesus gives me peace.
Jesus stills me.
Jesus calms me.
Jesus protects me.
Jesus gives me faith.
Because of Jesus, I don’t have to be afraid.
All of creation obeys Jesus.
Jesus loves me.
Sammy: Can I say our prayer? Let’s bow our heads and fold our hands. Dear Jesus, Thank you for always being with us. Thank you for calming us. Thank you for faith. We love you. Amen. Bye, everyone! Enjoy the bookmarks!
Pastor: Bye, Sammy!
January 2024 Newsletter
Aging and End-of-Life Decisions
“Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and will bear, I will carry and will save.” Isaiah 46:4 (ESV)
Among the important “Aging and End-of-Life Issues” presently being confronted in both the church and in our North American secular culture is euthanasia. A recent article in the Washington Post Newspaper stated that the number of Americans over the age of 65 continues to be rising quickly. “In the past century, it’s grown five times the rate of the rest of the population and is now approaching 60 million people.” While this is welcome and good news for people who are enjoying happy, healthy golden years, for many others the “golden years” are not so golden.
Providing care and the costs of care for an aging population are often overwhelming issues for seniors, their children and society in general. One’s view of euthanasia is a faith issue impacting a variety of aging, quality of life and end-of-life decisions.
The biomedical evolution has touched the lives of all of us, and this means that as the end of our life or that of our loved one approaches, increasing numbers of us will be called upon to apply the principles of our faith and God’s Word in making decisions about the meaning of life. Being a church that believes in the sanctity of life, how can we facilitate helpful conversation and provide guidance in decision-making that often involves complex issues and requires theological and spiritual integrity?
Writing about euthanasia as members of The North American Lutheran Church Life Ministries Team, our purpose is to lift up God’s gift of life across the entire span of human life from conception in the womb to the end of life and all circumstances in between. Our Lutheran understanding about aging, illness and end-of-life decisions pivots around two central points: Upholding the sanctity of life because life is a gift from God to be received and lived with thanksgiving; and providing hope and meaning as the end-of-life approaches. Such hope and assurance are possible even in times of suffering, and death itself: Truth powerfully proclaimed in the resurrection faith of the church.
So, what is euthanasia and how do Christians who believe in the sanctity of life respond?
“Euthanasia,” in its proper sense, is derived from two Greek words meaning “a good death.” Euthanasia is something we do or fail to do that causes, or is intended to cause death. For some, the word “euthanasia” is a synonym for “mercy killing.”
Surrounded by a culture of death, which chants, “My body, my life, my choice,” what is our Christian response?
Many of us who are pro-life hold that there is a difference between “active” and “passive” euthanasia. Christians in North America face strong forces contending for “mercy killing” and assisted suicide. We must lay a sound foundation for our own understanding of what it really means to provide care at the end of life and then work together to oppose the terribly-distorted image of care that is projected by “mercy killing.” Active euthanasia refers to an action one takes to end a life, such as a lethal injection. Passive euthanasia refers to an omission, such as failing to intervene at a life-threatening crisis or failing to provide nourishment.
It is important to not confuse passive euthanasia with the morally legitimate decision to withhold medical treatment that is not morally necessary, and respects that God alone is author of life and of all our days. When the God-given powers of the body to sustain its own life can no longer function and doctors in their professional judgment conclude that there is no real hope for recovery even with life-support measures, a Christian may in good conscience “Let nature take its course.” At such times medical interventions are no longer effective expressions of Christian care but instead involve burdensome prolongation of a person’s dying.
Does a person have the right to refuse medical treatments, or must one always use every possible medicine and medical technology available to keep ourselves or another person alive who is dying?
Believing that life is a gift from God, “Lutherans for Life” opposes physician-assisted suicide and other efforts by individuals and medical professionals to take life or speed a person’s death through so-called “mercy killing.” Destroying life created in God’s image is contrary to core Biblical teaching about the sanctity of life. Scripture tells us that even our suffering entrusted to God will not be in vain and can bring glory to God (Romans 8:18-28). Our last days can witness our faith to family and others, deepen our relationship with Jesus, bring reconciliation with loved ones, and see dying in Christ as a good part of life.
Lastly, it is important to be honest with each other that in making end-of-life decisions, pastors, family and medical professionals who are committed Christians can disagree. Deliberate and prayerful conversation needs to continue regarding the meaning and definition of passive euthanasia. As Creator, God alone knows with certainty whether an illness or an injury is incurable.
Our disagreements may remind us that Martin Luther once said that there are times we “sin boldly” knowing even our best efforts may lead to error; yet, we are forever covered by God’s “Word of Grace and Forgiveness” through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We move forward boldly living by Grace, pondering God’s guidance, and seeking ethical and lawful ways to bring God’s love to each other and our neighbors in promoting a culture of life. Life is not ours to give, nor is it ours to take. Respecting the sanctity of life God assures us that even in our old age with gray hairs, he will bear us, carry us and he will save.
The Rev. Dr. Alden W. Towberman,
The North American Lutheran Church Life Ministries Team
March for Life and Y4Life Conference in January!
The NALC Life Ministries team is once again preparing for the March for Life in Washington D.C. this January, but our plan is a little different. Instead of holding a life conference, NALC Life has decided to team up with Lutherans for Life (LFL) and participate in their events at the March! Their youth conference, Y4Life, will be held at the Hilton Crystal City Hotel from Thursday, January 18th, 2024 through Saturday, January 20th, 2024 and it has over 400 kids already registered. Click here to register. We encourage all our Lutheran youth to participate in this conference.
On Friday, January 19th we will be once again participating in the March for Life under the NALC banner, and I hope you can join us at 12th and Madison Sts., N.W at noon as we march to the U.S. Capitol. Before the march there is a prayer service at DAR Constitution Hall 1776 D St. NW (18th and D St.) Washington, DC 20006 starting at 8:30am. All our Lutheran friends are invited to attend this service and our clergy are invited to participate (stoles are white). If you have any problems at the march, please contact Pastor Dennis Di Mauro at (703) 568-3346. Pastor Di Mauro can also host you in his home if you would like to stay overnight in DC. We can’t wait to see you in our nation’s capital this January!!
Image courtesy of Pr. Dennis Di Mauro (blue hat)
You Can’t Have God’s Kin-dom Without God’s Kingdom
With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? –Mark 4:30
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness* with our spirit that we are children of God. –Romans 8:15-16
The first time I read the phrase “kin-dom of God,” I rolled my eyes. It looked to be another attempt to make Christian terminology politically correct—something I have a personal aversion to. So, when I was asked to write a piece on this particular phrase and its usage, particularly amongst progressive Christian circles, I thought I now had an opportunity to academically hammer the phrase.
However, after research, I have become a little more sympathetic to the term. Although, as the title indicates, there is no “kin-dom” of God without the Kingdom of God. Explanation is in order.
The Origins of Kin-dom
Multiple sources trace the origin of “kin-dom” to Georgene Wilson, a Franciscan nun, who spoke it to her friend, mujerista theologian, Ada María Isasi-Díaz.1 Isasi-Díaz then incorporated it into her theological framework and wrote about it in her work “Kin-dom of God: A Mujerista Proposal.”2 Unfortunately, I was unable to find this primary work online, so I am dependent upon a lengthy article by Bridgett Green, Assistant Professor of New Testament at Austin Presbyterian Seminary for insight into Isasi-Díaz’s thoughts.3
For Isasi-Diaz, “kindom” better reflects Jesus’s familial understandings of the community of disciples. Jesus envisioned an extended family with God as father. He announces that all who hear the word of God and do it are his family (Luke 8:21; cf. Mark 3:31-35 and Matthew 12:46-50). Further, Jesus links discipleship to membership in the family of God, saying that any who have left their blood relatives for the sake of the good news will receive back hundredfold in relationships and resources now and in the coming age (Mark 10:29-30, Luke 18:29-30, and Matthew 19:29). Jesus creates and grounds his community of disciples in the principles of kinship—and kinship with God comes not through blood relations but through participation in the duties and responsibilities proclaimed in the Torah and by the Prophets. “Kindom” evokes these values in horizontal relationships among all God’s beloved children, calling disciple communities to live into familial ideals of inclusion, mutual support, and sharing of resources.4
Professor Bridgett Green
I am quite sympathetic to this understanding of how disciples of Jesus interact with each other. St. Paul is emphatic that when we trust in Christ, we are adopted sons and daughters of God. Paul incorporates familial language throughout his letters, in the same vein Isasi-Díaz highlights. If highlighting this aspect of Christian thought was all that was going on, I don’t think there would be much of an issue with using the terminology of “kin-dom” as it would simply be an emphasis of the language of family used throughout the New Testament. However, there are proponents of this terminology who want to get rid of kingdom language totally and replace it with kin-dom. I find this problematic.
Why Erase Kingdom?
According to proponents of “kin-dom,” the language of kingdom presents multiple problems. It has been used by the church to make itself an earthly kingdom with earthly power and might.5 It tends towards exclusivity and can foster competition between kingdoms sometimes leading to violence.6 It is patriarchal in nature.7 And it “includes the specter of humiliation, subordination, punishment, exile, colonialization, sickness, poverty, as well as social, political, economic, and spiritual death.”8
In their view, “kin-dom” represents a much better understanding of what Jesus taught about God’s overall rule and what Jesus’ parables lead us toward.
Let’s work through a few of these things and offer some critique. First, I think we must separate the intent of Jesus’ teachings on God’s Kingdom (and the vision of how it works when God rules) from how sinful human beings have appropriated it. Many of the critiques of kingdom language resonate with the experience of human history, and one needs only pick up a history book to see the truth of what is being said. However, does human failing nullify biblical intent and understanding? Hardly.
Several years ago, I attended a mandatory boundary training in my synod. We were cautioned and steered away from using familial language to describe the church. The reason? Because families are places where abuse takes place; where neglect happens; where harm and pain are caused. It was not until a day or two afterwards that it hit me: not a single good thing was shared about what happens in families. No one spoke about parents who lovingly raise and sacrifice for their kids. No one said a word about how spouses care for each other and build one another up. No one spoke about the emotional support and foundations that are laid to help us cope with things that happen in life. No one said a thing about how the vast majority of parents feed, clothe, shelter, and spend hours upon hours of time with their children raising them to be productive citizens of society. All of the focus was on the bad, and not a single thing was said about the good. Do we abandon the metaphor because there are times of failure? Absolutely not!! Especially when the biblical witness emphasizes the metaphor so much.
I believe the same application is warranted here. Yes, there are, but the vision set forth in the Gospels, epistles, the book of Revelation, and even in the Old Testament lead us to use kingdom language. Why? To emphasize the goodness of God’s rule, and to show that there is a future hope which is a corrective to the failings of humankind.
Second, the kingdom of God is indeed exclusive, and I do not think this is something we as Christians should feel shame about. Paul is explicit in his writings that a person is either “in Christ” or “in Adam.” There is a strong line of demarcation, and the only way to go from one side to the other is through the cross. Essentially, a person either trusts in Christ’s work for salvation (in Christ), or they trust in themselves (in Adam). Either one trusts in grace for one’s righteousness, or one trusts in one’s works. There is no middle ground.
When you trust in Christ and His works, you shift your allegiance. No longer do you live for self: for self-indulgence; for self-affirmation; for self-preservation. Instead, you live for Christ. You live for God. No longer do you lay claim to the throne, but the rightful, righteous ruler is now seated upon the throne of your heart. You now serve a new master. (Romans 6) This is at the heart of the Christian creed, “Jesus is Lord.” You are announcing that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. You no longer rule over your life. Jesus does. And when He is king of your life, you enter into the Kingdom of God.
If you do not trust in Christ’s work, then you are not in the Kingdom of God. You are consumed by other hungers. You are on the outside looking in. In this fashion, the Kingdom of God is indeed exclusive, but, this does not lead to violence and conflict. It is self-righteousness which leads to such things, and a person who knows God’s grace is not self-righteous. They know they have no righteousness of their own. They know their sin. They know their dependence upon God and Christ’s grace. They also know they are commissioned to make disciples of all nations. They know the great command to love their neighbors as themselves. They do not seek to impose the faith or the Kingdom by imposition, but rather by invitation. The doorway to the Kingdom of God is always open, and the desire is to welcome all. Even though it is exclusive, it seeks the inclusion of all. This is not something to be ashamed of in the least.
A final word about patriarchy. Please know that I am using the following definition of patriarchy: a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line. The Kingdom of God is a patriarchy since God is our Father. As such, this is a rather neutral understanding.
However, there is another definition of patriarchy which oftentimes gets applied. “A system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.” The Kingdom of God was never meant to be such a thing. One would garner that self-evidently from Jesus’ own teachings on the Kingdom as well as St. Paul’s baptismal theology. However, living this ideal out on earth has proven to be quite difficult, and the Church has fallen very short of the ideal.
But again, the question must be asked: do we abandon the language because the ideal has not been met? No. There is no justification for that. You cannot change reality just by changing language.
Embracing Kingdom
And the reality of the Christian faith is this: you cannot have the “kin-dom” of God without the Kingdom of God.
As I hinted at previously, our Christian faith begins with God’s great grace poured out through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This grace captures and changes our hearts so that our allegiance shifts from ourselves and the desires of the flesh to allegiance to God and the desires of the Spirit. This is a vertical relationship, and it is primary. It must take place first. For through it, we actually fulfill the first and greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Everything starts with this vertical relationship.
Then, it moves to the horizontal. Then, it moves into our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Then, it moves to the second great command to love our neighbors as ourselves. This is where “kin-dom” language can come into play, but again, we must be careful.
Our neighbors may not share the same allegiance that we do. Our neighbors may not have Jesus as their King. They may still be “in Adam.” They still may belong to the kingdom of the world.
I was struck by a paragraph in Professor Green’s article:
This is the expansive sense of family to which Bishop Oscar Romero appealed when he exhorted the soldiers in El Salvador in 1980 before his assassination. He reminded them of Jesus’s vision of kinship, reminded them that we are all children of God, that we are connected through an honor code that values all, that provides security and a foundation for each person to be able to extend themselves into the community without losing their identity and sense of self.9
Bishop Romero appealed to the idea of “kin-dom” with the soldiers of El Salvador, but they still assassinated him. Why? Because they were serving a different master. They were serving a different king. They were not serving the King of kings and Lord of lords. Their hearts had not experienced the grace of God which would lead them away from committing such a heinous crime. The vertical relationship must always come first, and the Church’s primary job in the world is the proclamation of the Gospel which makes disciples of all nations–which calls our neighbors to have the same allegiance as we do.
To erase kingdom and replace with “kin-dom” means to place the second commandment above the first. It seeks to establish the kingdom without the King. That is not an option within the Christian faith, and it ultimately leads to failure. You simply cannot have the “kin-dom” without the Kingdom.
1. Florer-Bixler, Melissa. “The Kin-dom of Christ.” Sojourners. Nov. 20, 2018. https://sojo.net/articles/kin-dom-christ,
Green, Bridget. “On Kingdom and Kindom: The Promise and the Peril.” Issuu. Fall 2021. https://issuu.com/austinseminary/docs/insights_fall_2021_i/s/13746319
Butler Bass, Diana. “The Kin-dom of God.” Red Letter Christians. Dec.15, 2021 https://www.redletterchristians.org/the-kin-dom-of-god/
2.Green. https://issuu.com/austinseminary/docs/insights_fall_2021_i/s/13746319
5.Butler Bass. https://www.redletterchristians.org/the-kin-dom-of-god/
6.PCUSA. “Bible study at GA223 will Explore ‘kin-dom’ versus ‘kingdom.’” Feb.12, 2018
7.Montgomery, Herb. “A Kingless Kingdom.” Renewed Heart Ministries: eSights and Articles. May 31, 2019. https://renewedheartministries.com/Esights/05-31-2019/
8.Green. https://issuu.com/austinseminary/docs/insights_fall_2021_i/s/13746319
Does Doctrine Matter?
Does doctrine matter? That is a question that has been asked again and again in the Church. Sometimes, the question is asked because doctrine seems so dry and boring. It seems so much like academic hair splitting. A second reason is because doctrine divides. During the 17th Century, central Europe endured the 30 Years War, leading to the death of up to one-third of the population of Germany. That war was driven by doctrinal differences between Catholics, Lutherans, and the Reformed.
When the war was over, a movement arose called Pietism. Many saw it as a Second Reformation. Pietism emphasized many things that have become part of our common heritage as Christians. The man considered the founder of Pietism, Philip Jacob Spener, made six proposals to improve the life of the Church. One of them was this:
We must beware how we conduct ourselves in religious controversies.
Being at war with one another, either literally or verbally, does little to spread the Gospel. Non-believers are turned away from the Church when they see how divided we are. In particular, when they perceive that Christians are lacking in love for one another, they wonder about the truth of the Gospel. After all, didn’t Jesus teach that the greatest commandment was to love God and one another?
That is all true, but it’s not so easy to dismiss doctrine. In the Lutheran Church of the 17th Century there was another movement that emphasized doctrine. It is known today as Lutheran Orthodoxy. They spent a great amount of time disputing with Catholics and the Reformed over proper theology. At its best, Orthodoxy was not obsessed with doctrine for its own sake, as if one is saved by having the right answers to abstract theological questions. Rather, Orthodoxy understood that the purpose of doctrine is to preserve the pure preaching of God’s Word and the proper administration of the Sacraments.
Why does this matter? Because it is through the Word and the Sacraments that God gives us forgiveness, life and salvation. For instance, there is the question, “Is the Bible the Word of God?” You might be surprised to hear that question. Both the Pietists and the Orthodox held the Bible in high regard. In fact, Jacob Spener’s complaint was that there wasn’t enough Bible reading in the Church, particularly among the laity. Meanwhile, Catholics, the Reformed, and Lutherans all agreed that the Bible was the Word of God. They only disagreed on how it should be interpreted.
That is not the case today. In the past year, I have heard an ELCA pastor declare that the Bible is not the Word of God. Instead, he said that Jesus is the only Word of God. The Bible, he said, is a Word about God, but it is not the Word of God. The reason he did this is that he finds parts of the Bible to be offensive, outmoded, and oppressive. Rather than turning to the Bible on questions of faith and life, he would prefer that we ask ourselves what we think the “real Jesus” would do. In doing this, he drives a wedge between the Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus that we supposedly “know in our hearts.”
What does Lutheran doctrine teach? It certainly does teach that Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. However, it also teaches that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is in and through the Written Word that we encounter the Incarnate Word. In fact, Lutheran doctrine teaches that the Word of God comes to us in three forms: 1) the Incarnate Word, 2) the Written Word, and finally 3) the Preached and Sacramental Word.
This is where doctrine becomes practical, and not only practical, but a matter of life and death. Think of the question of the forgiveness of sins. If your sins are forgiven, you have life and salvation. If your sins are not forgiven, you will be condemned eternally. So, how do you know your sins are forgiven? How can you be sure? The answer that Lutheran doctrine gives is that you will know for sure when a Preacher announces to you, “Your sins are forgiven.” You will also know for sure when you are Baptized and when you receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion.
“But wait a second,” you might say, “how do I know that Preaching, Baptism and Communion do these things?” The answer is very important. You know because it says so in the Bible. Can a human preacher really announce the forgiveness of my sins? Yes! Go read John 20: 22-23 and Matthew 16:18. Does Baptism really save me? Yes! Go read Mark 16:16 and 1 Peter 3:21. Do I really receive forgiveness, life and salvation in Holy Communion? Yes! Go read Matthew 26:27-28.
It all depends on what we believe about the Bible. If it is God’s Word, then we can be comforted with the knowledge that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. If it is only a human word, we are left to figure it out for ourselves. Lutheran doctrine tells you that you can be confident that the Bible is GOD’S WORD. As the beloved children’s songs says:
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the BIBLE tells me so.
May God give all of us the childlike faith to believe those simple words.
In Christ,
Pastor David Charlton
What’s Next for the Pro-Life Movement?
Pro-life folks are celebrating the strong probability that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, which as even the late Justice Ginsburg acknowledged was too far-reaching and too sweeping. While she and I disagree on the outcome we desire, I affirm with her that any reforms to abortion regulations (and they were needed in 1973) should have involved legislative processes along with judicial ones (I would say legislative instead of judicial decrees).
But before we party too heartily, this is far from the end of debates over issues of abortion (or other matters regarding the sanctity of life). As Churchill said after the Battle of El Alamein, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
If Roe v. Wade is overturned, it will not end abortions in this country, but it will create hundreds of new challenges as the debates move where I believe they should always have been, to the Congress and the legislatures of the various states. And my sense is that most of us are not equipped to accomplish what is needed — to change hearts and minds of those who genuinely believe the debate is about “women’s rights” or “women’s health care.”
The reality is that over the past 50 years, the same arguments have been repeated (ad nauseam, I might add), by those on both sides. Some folks are persuaded by one set of arguments and some by the other. But there is no attempt to find a reasonable place most of us can move beyond our slogans to look for common ground.
As I see the various memes on my Facebook feed, folks are lobbing slogans and in some cases hysterical screeds that have no chance of persuading anybody to look at the matter differently. No, the next step is not to ban interracial marriages (I have actually seen posts to that effect), and no, it is not the end of abortions in America. [As an aside, those who laugh at believers in some massive Q conspiracy seem to be susceptible to their own conspiracy theories.]
A story: Way back in 1984, I was a delegate to the convention of the Lutheran Church in America in Toronto. My bishop assigned us to attend various workshops, and perhaps mischievously and perhaps wisely he sent me to one on the topic of abortion. The room was filled with pro-choice folks. My friends will be amazed that I kept a low profile, and once those gathered realized that the place was “safe,” they started sharing their dismay at the huge number of abortions being performed. Finally I went to a microphone, identified my position, and suggested that we had more in common than it appeared. A reporter for UPI even interviewed me afterwards, and the conversation became much more constructive.
We who are pro-life need to take seriously that many of those holding a pro-choice position are uncomfortable with the death of babies. And we should be uncomfortable with some of the rhetoric on our side which leads people to believe that we have no concern for very difficult decisions women and doctors sometimes need to make on terminating a pregnancy. Burn me at the stake if you wish, but there are times when an abortion may be a responsible decision. I believe this should be rare, but even the Roman Catholic Church permits abortion of an ectopic pregnancy.
Another story: When my mother learned of my pro-life views, she said, “There is something you need to know.” In 1948 she was in renal failure at Geisinger Hospital as she was carrying me, and the doctors told my father they couldn’t save both of us. He told them to “save the baby,” and in his best military veteran’s style would add later, “I don’t know what I would have done with a [bleep] baby.” Now as it turned out, my mother outlived my father by a quarter of a century, and I am still journeying around the sun 74 years later. My mother never had any doubts or reservations about the decision my father made; had she been able, she would have made the same one. But looking back (I hope with gratitude and humility) I do not believe my father could have been condemned had he chosen the opposite. Oh, and this was 25 years before Roe v. Wade but abortion would have been an option.
I have been told that after Roe v. Wade, Senator (and Lutheran) Mark Hatfield was prepared to introduce a human life amendment which probably could have passed. The problem was that some pro-life advocates wanted an absolute prohibition, and others wanted to include exceptions (rape, incest, preserving the life of the mother). Sen. Hatfield knew that he would not have enough votes if either group voted against it, so he told the groups to work out their differences and give him a bill they could all support. Sadly, that never happened, and millions of lives have been sacrificed. As is so often true, the perfect can be the enemy of the good.
We who are pro-life will never win the victories that matter in congress and state legislatures unless we are prepared to address the legitimate concerns of the large number of people who really are “pro-choice” and not simply “pro-abortion.” There are absolutists on both sides, and all they do in either case is radicalize the other side. Again, Justice Ginsburg recognized that Roe v. Wade empowered the pro-life movement (and I suspect, bears much of the responsibility for the ugliness of the political wars wracking our nation right now).
So I would challenge my pro-life friends — Tone down the rhetoric! Listen to the legitimate concerns of those persuaded by the pro-choice arguments. Take seriously the genuine compassion they feel toward women in crisis pregnancies. Be prepared gently to respond to the lies which are widely believed, such as that pro-life people don’t care about the child after it is born. And show by your actions that you do care! The narrative spread by the media and the abortion advocates is that we are a bunch of hateful fanatics (mostly males) who want to oppress women by forcing our narrow religious doctrines on them. You and I know that isn’t true, but sometimes we let ourselves get carried away in the heat of argument.
If in fact the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, our work will just begin. Are we prepared to engage in the hard work of speaking and acting in ways that might change the hearts and minds of those who disagree with us? Are we prepared to listen more than to argue? The lives of thousands, maybe millions of human beings will depend on our answer.
January 2022 Newsletter
