City Life Starter

By Scott Fiddler

While we should never compromise our ability to make disciples over politics, Christians are called to be salt and light in the world. And, just as Jesus promised, the kingdom of God has been leaven in the world since Jesus planted the flag of the Kingdom during His earthly ministry. The Kingdom has been like leaven in the way it has spread throughout the world and in how it has raised every civilization it has permeated.

In the first century, when the early Church took up the cause of babies abandoned or “exposed” by the Romans, they changed the culture’s view toward infanticide. After Emperor Constantine became a Christian in 312 A.D., he outlawed the bloody gladiator contests that cheapened human life and the temple prostitution that objectified women. In each of these historical examples, Christians were salt and light to a culture that had become numb and blind to its own fallenness. Abortion is today what the exposure of infants, gladiator contests, and temple prostitution was to the Roman culture of the early Church.

The problem with the issue of abortion is both sides start from opposing presuppositions. Pro-lifers presuppose a fetus is a human life.  Abortion-advocates presuppose a fetus is not a human life or believe a woman’s choice trumps all. Compounding this problem is pro-lifers often start from the Bible which speaks about God knowing us while we are still in our mother’s womb, and those who support abortion rights do not acknowledge the authority of Scripture. A different approach is needed.

Because both sides start from opposing presuppositions they will never reach the same conclusion.  Any resolution is dependent on one or both sides starting from a different place. That’s why I have suggested both starts from a more humble and honest place: the place of uncertainty.  The great jurist, Learned Hand—yes, that was his name—said, “The spirit of liberty is the spirit that is not sure it is right.”  That is a great place to start.

I think there is great evidence, both scientific and Biblical, that a fetus is a human life, but I am willing to set that aside and state that I might be wrong. If you are on the other side of the issue you will surely admit you cannot know for certain that a fetus is not a life.  It may be. It may not be. You may have an opinion, but you cannot honestly say you know for certain. Now that we are at the same place–the place of uncertainty–we have something to talk about.

Suppose we were out hunting and you saw something moving in the thicket in the distance you thought was a deer, but you were not sure. It might be a deer, but it might also be a man. You are uncertain. Would you pull the trigger? Would anyone? Would you take the chance of killing a human being? Of course not. The issue of abortion is no different. If you cannot be certain a fetus is not a human life, you cannot advocate abortion, and the truth is you cannot be certain.

What happens is people allow expediency or the mother’s preferences or desires to trump their uncertainty. But this is not rational, nor in the face of uncertainty can it be ethical.  It’s just expedient. It’s no different than slave owners deciding African-Americans were not fully human because slave owners didn’t want to give up their cotton and tobacco profits.

I’ve never had to deal with an unwanted pregnancy and while I can guess, I cannot say I fully understand what a mother of an unwanted pregnancy feels in the moment of decision.  But I don’t need to know because we are trying to arrive a rational, ethical decision, not an emotional one.

Anyway, that’s how I see it, but I may be wrong.