Anti-abortion rallies were all around this week. Abortion is a big issue for Republicans and Democrats, but used most effectively by Republicans. Being anti-abortion is one of their moral victories and they tout it as much as MTV touts speaking for our generation. Neither has much credibility and neither is more moral than Paris Hilton.
Those who are anti-abortion are sometimes called “pro-lifers.” It is a nice title. It sounds very humanitarian and positive. Being “pro-life” is one of the few moral issues Republicans stick too, and it is a kind of a blindfold Republicans want to place over the eyes of the public.
Yes they are anti-abortion, they do not believe in killing babies because it is in the Bible, and being good Christians, they do not want to disobey God.
However, being anti-abortion is not being pro-life, it is only pro-birth. If someone is pro-life, they work to support and nurture life around the world. But they do not look after the poor; they ignore humanitarian aid in Africa; they ravage the land of its resources and they only initially proposed 35 million dollars in initial aid for victims of the tsunamis.
The Christians who are fighting against abortion are displaying true Christian beliefs, but at the same time by supporting war, they are contradicting the same beliefs they hold firm in their case against abortion.
This week, President Bush, who is anti-abortion/pro-war phoned in his support to an anti-abortion rally that was being held … outside the White House.
Yet he is more than willing to go and visit Iraq, land on aircraft carriers and personally thank troops. For President Bush, why is war, something definitely immoral and un-Christian, an easier thing to support than something as controversial as abortion?
Bush was able to get a huge constituency of his votes from churches. He lobbied Christians throughout America. He relayed his anti-abortion and no gay marriage stance to these people. He was marketed as a good Christian while John Kerry was portrayed as immoral.
Many politicians such as Bush are citing the Bible in their fight against homosexuality and their fight to bring wide- acceptance to war. Granted, not all Republicans are doing this, not all Republicans are Christian, and not all Christians are war hawks.
In the eyes of God, according to the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus, war is as much a sin as abortion. Jesus was all about peace, love and helping people. To be Christian is to follow his example and to make the world better by loving our neighbors and helping them, not harming them.
“Above all, we must continue with civility and respect to remind our fellow citizens that all life is sacred and worthy of protection,” Bush called in to the “March for Life” rally on Thursday.
Indeed all life is important. But if Bush really thought life was worthy of protection he would not have started a war. He would have put that money to better use: AIDS relief in Africa, the war on drugs, the countless homeless and penniless souls on this earth, third-world countries that are in major debt due to Western Colonialism and its after effects.
Imagine if we did fund these efforts. Imagine if our foreign policy consisted of helping those in need and nothing more. Countries would not hate us. We would not be attacked by terrorists. America could be the world’s champion and lift it out of sorrow.
Through his actions, all that President Bush is saying to me is that he is anti-abortion, not pro-life.
This is why I do not support President Bush. I do not support someone who uses religion as a means to an end. I do not support hate.
