Defending All Life. (Or in other words "Yes, I'm going there")

I wasn't going to, I really wasn't!
But here I am, being political.

I had a good talk with my brother this morning.
He has been instrumental in a shift in my thinking--and I think, vice versa.
We often challenge each other to actually stop and think about our worldview, and I am thankful for that.

In case you're wondering, the reason I haven't written much was because I was unsure of my motives.
In the past, I think I would only written so at the end of the day, I could win an argument, or prove someone wrong, and that made me feel yucky.
Or, I was afraid that everyone would think I was crazy.
I mean, I see how people would.

I'm crazy to some, for believing that a man who lived 2000 years ago is truly, truly God.
I'm crazy to believe the bible is true.
I'm crazy because I am a pacifist.
I'm crazy because I'm not patriotic.
I sinfully care very, very much what people think of me, and I didn't want to alienate myself.

Today I am burdened.
Today my heart ACHES, my stomach hurts, my soul longs for people--especially other people who are also followers of Jesus, to at least try to see things a different way, to at least consider these thoughts.

4 years ago, I was an un-enthusiastic Bush supporter.
I disagreed with much of his policy, but I didn't know what other choice to make, because I thought the only way to defend life, in this case, the unborn, was to cast a vote for a right wing political leader.

Josh told me he was probably voting for Nader, and challenged my about my choice for Bush.
I brought up abortion, and the fact that to me, nothing else mattered.
In my perspective at the time, I was choosing between the economy and the life of babies, and to me the choice was clear.

I know that to many pro-choice proponents, that sounds crazy, but I do really believe in my heart that even if I didn't think of myself as a believer in Christ, I would still think the unborn are people, solely based on my pregnancies and having seen ultrasounds of my children.

That doesn't mean that I don't think about the slew of problems that come to children born to parents who don't want to be parents, etc., it's something I think about all the time, and something I'm sort of working out in my own brain at the moment--but back to the issue at hand.

Josh brought up issues I had NEVER thought of before.
I remember we were in the car, driving up to our San Luis house, and I was crying and asking him why it wasn't important for him to think about the lives of the babies.

He said things like, "Is there a difference between the life of a civilian Iraqi child, and the life of an American unborn baby? Have you thought about the life of the child forced to work in a factory in a 3rd world country because of our policy in America?"

Wow.
No, embarrassingly enough, I had not thought of it that way, and I had nothing to say.
It opened a gigantic can of worms.
It wasn't easy anymore.
It was much easier to have one issue that just trumped all the other issues.

My brother and I began having conversations about pacifism.
I didn't really realize that's what we were even talking about, but I started listening to some podcasts by a songwriter I respect, basically talking about pacifism, and I thought to myself, "THIS is what I think, THIS is what I believe!"

I know people will argue the numbers with me and say that more babies are aborted than are killed in a war.
I know people will use the verses in the New Testament that talk about the government wielding the sword, and the example in the Old Testament where God tells the Israelites to wipe out an entire nation, as arguments.

Our church hosted a talk about war, pacifism, etc., one night.
The speaker explained the idea of "Just War Theory" and how even though a lot of Christians use this to defend war, if you follow the tenets of the theory, there has not been ONE war that has been fought that would be considered a Just War.

Also, in the Old Testament, the example people are so quick to use in defending war, was an isolated incident, a command directly from God when Israel was directly RULED by God.
We do NOT live under a theocracy right now.

We are ruled by (sinful) men, and when someone decides to go to war, I have to think about the consequences of that, and if I believe that my support of that war is sinful, I must not support it.
The New Testament does not say we must blindly follow our political leaders, even if they "claim" to know Christ.
We need not submit when they are practicing evil.

No matter what I think about war, I think an argument can be made, even by Christians in favor of "wielding the sword" against evil.
But what does that mean?
First of all, I would say, even if you think that means using violence against our enemies, I don't believe under Christ's idea of evil being dealt with, that means civilians being killed.

Even if I don't support abortion, is it ok to bomb an abortion clinic?
Just to be clear, I am NOT ok with blowing up abortion clinics, but I wonder why other Christians are so quick to defend war, especially in cases where they believe the war would free oppressed people, but would then say they obviously would not support the bombing of an abortion clinic.

That's why I have to draw the line somewhere, and I really believe God calls us to solve the issues without violence.

If you are a Christian, and you're thinking "well that won't work!", I would first challenge you to think about the fact that the world is broken, and we are called to be restoring that broken-ness. Second, think about how God calls us to do things many times that might not make sense.

I know not everyone will believe in Jesus, but I do think I'm called to evangelism.
I know the bible says war will be inevitable, but Christ calls me to be a peacemaker.
I know if a man robbed me at gunpoint, he might still pull the trigger, even if I took a moment to share with him that his life could be different, and that Christ could set him free, but I still believe that's what I'm called to do.

How can anyone say it's alright to bomb civillians in order to protect others?
Or ourselves?
Did Christ ever say it was our responsibility to fight for, or defend our freedoms?
Even religious ones?
No.
He promised persecution, not freedom, not comfort.

It drives me insane when I hear Christians defend America so greatly.
I have a hard time being proud of a country that from the start was built on tearing down the lives of others, often in the name of religious freedom.
America does what it wants with no regard for the lives of others.
There's a song by my favorite songwriter, Nanci Griffith, that is about the wiping out of the Native Americans in our early history, and the chorus sums it up well:

"And the gold she lay cold in their pockets,
And the sun sets down on the trees
And they thanked the Lord for the land that they live in
Where the white man does as he pleases."

I don't have all the answers right now, and I admit it was a whole lot easier when I could just vote according to an easy-to-read pamphlet.
Now I have to vote, or not vote, according to my conscience, because I don't believe Jesus would have an less from me.

I know these thoughts are super scattered, I'm watching Amelie in a busy coffee shop trying to make sense of this, and it's not easy, but I had to get this off my chest.

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9

Imagine if we were really peacmakers?
Imagine if that's how people thought of the children of God?