As you by no doubt have heard, this weekend President Obama gave the commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame. If you've seen the news at all in the last few days, you no doubt saw the violent protests, screaming, yelling, cursing, and horrifying images of dead fetuses being posted all around Notre Dame. The sole reason, of course, is that President Obama, like many Americans, is pro-choice, while the Catholic Church, like many other Americans, is anti-choice. The official view of the Catholic Church is that life begins at conception, period. Abortion is not a choice, it is destroying God's creation.
Abortion is not the wildly hot topic that the media and some extremists make it out to be. I would posit that many Americans are indifferent on the subject. Those with an opinion one way or the other tend to keep it to themselves, because whether you are pro-choice or not, in America you have the right to have the personal belief that you do.
Judging by the violent protests and beyond "R" rated images, Catholics are anti-abortion, and are happy to damn you if you have a differing opinion. But what about Adventists? Does our church even have a stance on abortion at all? After some digging, here's what I discovered.
The Official Seventh-day Adventist Church Guidelines on Abortion in brief are:
1) Prenatal human life is a magnificent gift of God. God's ideal for human beings affirms the sanctity of human life, in God's image, and requires respect for prenatal life. However, decisions about life must be made in the context of a fallen world. Abortion is never an action of little moral consequence. Thus prenatal life must not be thoughtlessly destroyed. Abortion should be performed only for the most serious reasons.
2) Abortion is one of the tragic dilemmas of human fallenness. The Church should offer gracious support to those who personally face the decision concerning an abortion. Attitudes of condemnation are inappropriate in those who have accepted the gospel. Christians are commissioned to become a loving, caring community of faith that assists those in crisis as alternatives are considered.
3) In practical, tangible ways the Church as a supportive community should express its commitment to the value of human life. These ways should include:
a. strengthening family relationships
b. educating both genders concerning Christian principles of human sexuality
c. emphasizing responsibility of both male and female for family planning
d. calling both to be responsible for the consequences of behaviors that are inconsistent with Christian principles
e. creating a safe climate for ongoing discussion of the moral questions associated with abortion
f. offering support and assistance to women who choose to complete crisis pregnancies
g. encouraging and assisting fathers to participate responsibly in the parenting of their children.
The Church also should commit itself to assist in alleviating the unfortunate social, economic, and psychological factors that add to abortion and to care redemptively for those suffering the consequences of individual decisions on this issue.
4) The Church does not serve as conscience for individuals; however, it should provide moral guidance. Abortions for reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are not condoned by the Church. Women, at times however, may face exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. The final decision whether to terminate the pregnancy or not should be made by the pregnant woman after appropriate consultation. She should be aided in her decision by accurate information, biblical principles, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, these decisions are best made within the context of healthy family relationships.
5) Christians acknowledge as first and foremost their accountability to God. They seek balance between the exercise of individual liberty and their accountability to the faith community and the larger society and its laws. They make their choices according to scripture and the laws of God rather than the norms of society. Therefore, any attempts to coerce women either to remain pregnant or to terminate pregnancy should be rejected as infringements of personal freedom.
6) Church institutions should be provided with guidelines for developing their own institutional policies in harmony with this statement. Persons having a religious or ethical objection to abortion should not be required to participate in the performance of abortions.
7) Church members should be encouraged to participate in the ongoing consideration of their moral responsibilities with regard to abortion in light of the teaching of scripture.
A couple of key points from the Adventist Church's guidelines are:
- Abortions for reasons of birth control, gender selection, or convenience are not condoned by the Church. Women, at times however, may face exceptional circumstances that present serious moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. The final decision whether to terminate the pregnancy or not should be made by the pregnant woman after appropriate consultation. She should be aided in her decision by accurate information, biblical principles, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, these decisions are best made within the context of healthy family relationships.
- Christians acknowledge as first and foremost their accountability to God. They seek balance between the exercise of individual liberty and their accountability to the faith community and the larger society and its laws. They make their choices according to scripture and the laws of God rather than the norms of society. Therefore, any attempts to coerce women either to remain pregnant or to terminate pregnancy should be rejected as infringements of personal freedom.
The Adventist Church, like most other churches in the country, does not condone abortion except in very extreme circumstances. What the Church does stress above anything else is that women facing the prospect of unwanted pregnancy should have safe, spiritual and family counsel in making her decision. Her church family should surround her with love and a lot of prayer. Most importantly, in my view, the Church explicitly states that trying to pursuade a woman to have an abortion or NOT have an abortion violates her God-given freedom of choice. In the end, her accountability, just all of us, is to God and God alone. We, as a church family should be there to provide guidance, comfort, and love.
Many people have a personal view of abortion, and as the church suggests, most people keep that discussion (if there is one) within their family. I know my wife and I have discussed it (mostly because it seems to come up every other news reel), but we don't share our view, or have any intention of forcing our personal view on anyone else. The beauty of America is that we are all free to have differing opinions!
I take heart in the advice of Peter:
Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.
The Great Abortion Debate will never be settled and will go on forever. My personal opinion is that the Government should not legislate the issue. We should each love according to our convictions and the guidance of our church leaders and our church (and actual) family. If you're Catholic, it means not having an abortion. If you're Adventist, it means hours of prayer and Spirit-led guidance to make the decision you feel the Lord wants you to make. In the end, you are accountable to God, and God alone. The rest of us will do as we have been called to do, and love you no matter what.
The bottom line of this issue is how we treat and love one another. We must take care to follow the counsel of John when confronting the issue of abortion or any other issue:
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
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