Deception In The Ranks Of Abortion Protestors

Sorry, abortion protestors. When you’re standing in the fire of public ridicule, law suits, or police intimidation, I don’t think the barely visible person standing with you is the appearance of divine presence as enjoyed by Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshak, and Abendigo. More than likely, it’s the one who appears as an angel of light to deceive – to deceive you.

These are fighting words, I know. But, if theologically conservative Christians care about reflecting the heart of God to our society, we must confront ourselves with truth that will likely, at first, anger us, only then to transform us into effective witnesses to Truth.

If God’s self revelation reached its zenith in Jesus Christ, then we must admit that his priority is not to merely prevent abortion, but to rescue all lost humanity. No true Christ-follower can go about ridding the world of abortion in a way that hinders the “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16) and “He does not want anyone to be destroyed” (2 Peter 3:9) mission.

To rescue an unborn child in a way that hardens the mother’s heart to Christ is both un-Christ-like and contrary to God’s redeeming passion for the world. When you do this, you fall into trap of the Deceiver! The God who showed himself in Christ must ache when you picket the homes of abortion providers and directors and employees of women’s centers. You have so successfully projected what Christians, especially Roman Catholics and Evangelicals, are against onto the consciousness of this nation, that the average person on the street hardly understands the holy and transformative love that dominated Jesus’ life and ministry, and compelled him to the cross.
Yes, the child in that mother’s womb is important to God, from conception forward. Why else would God himself (in the second person of the Trinity) come into the world beginning with 9 months of gestation in Mary’s womb?

That said, the 50-million aborted babies since Roe v Wade have received no greater love from the Heavenly Father than far greater number of infant to 5-years olds who have died from preventable diseases in the world during the same period.

Consider these statistics from UNICEF as reported in the British medical journal, Lancet. Worldwide child mortality rates dropped about 2.5% annually from 1960 to 1990. From 1990 to the present, rates of decline have slowed (!) to about 1.1% annually. Even with these declines, death still visits over 10 million children under 5 years old every year! The highest rates of death are on the continent of Africa while, due to population size (1 billion) the largest number of child deaths occurred in India.


If you read the previous paragraph you know that 10 million childhood deaths reflect the lowest rate if deaths since 1960! So do some conservative math. Arbitrarily cut that number to 5 million. Multiplied by 35 years (since Roe v Wade) the math results in 175 million deaths. The majority of these deaths are caused by solvable issues like unsafe water and sanitation, and lack of vaccines. Let’s assume the bare minimum majority, 87.51 million deaths.

Do not be deceived. If conservative Christians had invested the same entrepreneurial energy in preventing early childhood death in the world as we have in the anti-abortion campaign, we would have saved as many or more birthed children from death as we have unborn children, and that despite international hurdles! There is no way to prove this, of course, but I cannot imagine it not to be true.

Are we, are you really interested in saving children?

More important, I believe caring for impoverished birthed children at home and abroad, while speaking the truth about God’s value of children in the womb, would very possibly have prevented much of the contentious cultural warfare that divides the nation today and hardens so many against a “we’re against it” kind of Christianity. I suspect, the same Deceiver who tricked Peter into opposing Jesus’ talk of death (Mark 8:33), has also used the anti-abortion movement to hinder his disciple-making mission in America.

Think about it. The so-called culture war really took off with the creation of the Moral Majority. The major impetus for its creation was what? Abortion. This single issue has done more to polarize the nation and set verbal, and sometimes, physical fists flailing than any other issue since 1980.

Lest you forget, most of our mamma’s lectured us about how many it takes to tangle. If conservative Christians had taken the Roe v Wade decision as a clarion call to get passionate about birthed children around the globe, and had we gotten passionate about making sure health care, living-wage jobs, and quality education is as abundantly available in the inner city as it is suburbs, and had we offered the proverbial cup of cold water in Jesus’ name; tell me the cause of disciple-making would not be further ahead today!

We can’t undo the damage Roman Catholics and Evangelicals (my religious group) have perpetrated in the past 28 years. Still, we could start making some small, yet significant, changes now. Like what?

• Attitudes changed from seeing abortion providers as enemies to persons loved by God.

• Protests outside clinics changed to coffee, donut and cookie kiosks. “Here, enjoy a little refreshment. You’ve got a tough day. Wish you’d make a different decision, but whatever you decide, you can count on our love.” And on the way out, after the abortion, “Care for another cup or a cookie?” And the signs? Let’s start with the slogan, “You are valuable beyond what you can know!”

• Stop giving to anti-abortion organizations and shift that money to organizations like World Hope, World Vision, and CareNet pregnancy centers.

• Elect leaders you believe will best help America’s poor and poorly educated (these are those among whom the greatest number of abortions occur!). Then get involved in ministry to them yourself.

Are we, are you really interested in fulfilling the Great Commission (to make disciples of every nation – literally “ethnic group”) in the spirit of the Great Commandment (Love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and your neighbor as yourself)!?