Andrew Thompson is dissatisfied with the term "pro-life" to describe his ethical stances and has come up with a better term:
I propose a new term: Pro Vita Christians. It is a way of saying "for life" or "in favor of life" but without the political baggage of the term "pro-life." It is a way of affirming God's love and care for all of his creatures - from the unborn baby in the womb to the convicted killer on death row.
This is a confessional stance, to be sure. And it is sure to be unpopular with both conventional liberals and conventional conservatives. But isn't it time Christians started thinking about their stances based on theology rather than secular political ideology?
I'm a Pro Vita Christian. All the way down. Who's with me?
Monday, November 12, 2007
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4 comments:
Reminds me of something Bishop Timothy Whitaker said here:
In the United Methodist Church often many of us are silent and passive about abortion. At the same time, we can be outspoken and active in our opposition to war and capital punishment. Do we not perceive how opposition to violence requires us to be as vigilant in our witness against abortion as in our witness against war as a normal political tool and our witness against executions by the state? Opposition to war, capital punishment, euthanasia and abortion is a coherent and integral witness to God’s good purposes in a world under the evil spell of violence.
Interesting. And I see the truth in Jonathan's quote of Bishop Whitaker. "Conservative" Christians are guilty of this too, though, in supporting war and the death penalty while opposing abortion. That's my perception at least. So I like the idea of "pro-vida" but I don't know that it will catch on.
One of the best things to come out of this "ethic of life" movement is the wholesale abandonment of abortion advocacy by the Religious Left.
For better or worse, "Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice" are terms that work. We may find one or the other intellectually dishonest but that does not change the fact that these terms work because they communicate at a viseral level touching upon ideas of personal freedom and liberty so prized by Americans. "Pro-Vita" is inadequate as it simply says nothing to anyone about anything. It might work if the majority of Americans spoke Latin as a first language. But the first language of the majority of Americans is English. To that majority, "Pro-Vita" will have nothing to say.
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