"Another Christian Idiot"

Earlier this week, I discovered a fallacy-laden blog piece railing against Christianity Today and Christians in general who oppose abortion.

Unable to respond to all of the assertions made within the article, I chose to discuss the old "acorn vs oak tree" argument. The author writes, "A human embryo is not a person in the same way an acorn is not an oak tree. One is ‘potential’. The other is ‘actual’. Destroying an acorn is not the same as destroying an oak tree."

My brief response elicited this comment: "What Seth said is an acorn is an oak tree. I hate to think of the fate of the next generation that cannot distinguish an acorn from an oak tree or an embryo from a person." Seeing I'd been misunderstood, I clarified with another response.

And then I received this gem from another user (not the author):

"Seth: Another christian idiot I’m sure. A fetus can not get up and walk to the fridge for a glass of milk. Now I’ll ask you since all christians seem unwilling to answer this, I expect you’ll be the same. Why are you willing to murder 70,000 women annually (this is not debatable, pregnant women are actual persons) and leave 5,000,000 of them be left in a position where they will likely never be able to conceive again. Why do you insist that women remain as your chattel? Do you realize that 70% of the people who are against abortion are men? And, 100% of those men have never carried a fetus to birth. You can’t switch terms here. A fetus is a fetus. It is not a living walking human being and YOU are willing to witness the murder of women when they are forced to obtain and illegal unsafe abortion. You will stand by and gleefully watch as they lose their lives. GET REAL SETH. WOMEN WILL GO TO WHATEVER LENGTHS NECESSARY TO OBTAIN AN ABORTION. And, when they give their child up for adoption guess what? Most are not adopted or adoptable. These kids aren’t wanted. YOU SIR (and I use that term loosely) ARE AN IGNORANT *SS WHO WANTS TO REDUCE THIS TOPIC TO CONJECTURE AND ARE WILLING TO TURN A BLIND EYE TO THE WOMEN YOU ROB OF THEIR LIVES. Babe"

And then, after a short time without a response from one of the few pro-lifers engaging on the blog, Babe wrote, "Come out and play Katherine, Seth and A.C.T. I’m missing you all. You have the advantage of being able to confer with your god to get all the correct answers and I have to think for myself … won’t any of you tell me why you think it’s important to continue to oppress women? Won’t any of you tell me why you want women to die due to illegal unsafe abortions? This is your deal, pro-death is what you support. Come out, come out wherever you are. Babe"

Condescension? Name calling? (This isn't middle school . . .)

This causes one to wonder why I have been deemed an idiot in the conversation. Although there could be many reasons, one possibility seems clear in Babe's writing: "You have the advantage of being able to confer with your god . . . and I have to think for myself."

Could the anti-theist prejudice of our day be any clearer? Oftentimes, Christians aren't merely treated with skepticism, they're banished from the marketplace of ideas with derision.

While deeming Christians "idiots" is any easy way to write off anything they have to say about life, morality, and ultimate meaning, does it really respond to any of the actual positions we lay forth? Not at all.

Now, I want to be careful not to generalize from Babe to all atheist abortion advocates. I have in fact met many who treat me with respect in conversation. Nevertheless, I think this interchange is a sign of the uphill battle we face in today's society. When we present our case for God's existence, for the Resurrection, against injustices like abortion, we are not speaking to a culture hearing for the first time. We are speaking to a post-Christian society who finds us idiots for not evolving like the rest of them.

We can still speak to them. We just have to know how. Time to read more Schaeffer.

______________________

Note: Interestingly, I just noticed the author's "blog rules."

"Rule #1: I am not interested in ad hominem arguments, so if you must call someone a bad name, at least have the guts and intellectual integrity to (1) identify yourself and (2) back up your [sic] ascertain with compelling objective facts."

I don't think Babe is following the rules.

Midnight Musings

It’s 4:00 a.m. The 97-year-old man in the bed in front of me is dying. His family has gone home to get some much-needed rest, and I have been here at his bedside for almost three hours, providing comfort care and pain relief to him.

I recite Psalm 139 to him from memory. The rich meaning of the words has made it a longtime favorite of mine: “When I was made in the secret place, Your eyes saw my unformed body… All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” I don’t know if he can hear me anymore, but I tell the dying man that he is known and loved by God. I tell him that it is not too late to receive forgiveness and eternal life. I tell him how to do so.

His breathing is shallow, and he begins to hiccup rhythmically. A moment later, the baby in my womb gets the hiccups, too. The poignancy of the moment startles me. Tonight I am witness to one life that is ending and home to another that is just beginning. Both are immeasurably valuable.

I think about how marginalized both the elderly and the youngest among us are. The 97-year-old because he can no longer contribute to society in a productive way, and the 26-week-old for the very same reason.

And yet, God knows all the days ordained for both of them. He knew the old man when he was a fetus in his mother’s womb, hiccupping, and He knows him now. And, He knows the day that my baby will be in this man’s shoes, dying.

I usually don’t feel very happy to be woken in the middle of the night and dragged out of bed to care for someone who is sick, but tonight, I am struck by the sacred gift that it is. God knew this man as he was knit in his mother’s womb, and He created this man in His beautiful image. This man is precious to God.

Similarly, sometimes Seth and I don’t always recognize the great honor that it is to be able to stand for the preborn. It becomes mundane, or even tiresome. We want the battle to be over.

But both old lives and new lives are infinitely valuable to God. Both are human, both made in His image, both worth protecting.

Tonight, I am reminded that it is a privilege to care for that which God calls precious.