The course of my life roughly coincides with the post-Roe v. Wade abortion debate in America. The Supreme Court decision was issued on January 22, 1973, a few days after my first birthday. On January 24th thousands of marchers will rally in Washington, D.C. for the 38th annual March for Life, joining the many millions who have marked this gruesome anniversary in American political life over the course of the last four decades.
There are consequences to all political speech and action, and there has been no greater, more sustained political action in the Christian church in my lifetime than the pro-life movement. I haven’t known a church that wasn’t to some degree engaged in this debate. What have the consequences been?
Recently I put this question to a room full of congressional staffers attending a lunch hosted by our church on Capitol Hill. A young lady noted that the pro-life debate had contributed to the culture’s view of the church as angry and judgmental. In a later email — she had clearly been thinking deeply about the question — she added the charge of hypocrisy, noting that in the eyes of the world the church is accusing the world of great sinfulness while turning a blind eye to its own.
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