Pragmatics and Politics: Abortion and the Presidency.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:33 pm (Teaching)
With the 2008 Presidential elections coming up I thought I would share a few simple thoughts that have been looming in my mind. 1) I will not vote for a pro-abortion presidential candidate and 2) Thankfully I don’t have to vote for Obama or McCain.
First off, I would like to state that I would never vote for someone who is a serial murderer or serial rapist. I don’t care how great their foreign policy is, how wonderful their economic stimulus plan is, how experienced in running a government he is, if the man is a murderer, I will not vote for him. If my choice is between a murderer and a rapist, I would look for another candidate who is truly qualified, as murder and rape disqualifies a man to be president, in my book. I will not vote for the lesser of two evils.
In the same way, if someone supports murder by being pro-abortion, he is disqualified, he will not get my vote. It seems that most conservatives used to think this way until the last few elections. It was a litmus test, a legitimate litmus test that said, “If you are pro murdering little babies in the womb, you won’t get my vote.”
A couple paradigm shifting realities that don’t seem to get mentioned much are 1) McCain supports murdering babies in some cases and 2) There are more than two presidential candidates, at least one of which is truly pro-life in all cases.
As everyone knows Obama is pro-abortion, he is for murdering babies in the mother’s womb (and even outside at times). Many folks think that McCain must therefore be pro-life, anti-abortion. We know that McCain stated this year that he believes that life begins at the moment of conception, whereas Obama said the question of when life begins is above his pay grade to answer.
However, it is not highly publicized that though McCain is pro-life in most cases, he is pro-abortion in some cases, namely in the cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is in jeopardy (typically known as the exception clause). So he would say he is pro-life with exceptions, but you could just as accurately say he is pro-abortion with exceptions.
Let me ask you a question, do you think it is the right of a woman who was a victim of rape to be able to murder her 1 year old baby? How about her 6 month old baby? Of course not. Just because she was a rape or incest victim does not give her the right to kill another human life. Now what if the baby is 4 months old…in the womb? Now does she have the right to kill her own baby? I hope you see the clear answer. But McCain (and George W. Bush for that matter) believe that the rape or incest victim somehow has the right to murder her baby in the womb! This is unconscionable, let alone unbiblical.
In a sense, Obama is actually less cruel than McCain when it comes to the abortion issue. Obama basically says he doesn’t believe life begins at conception, therefore when he supports killing babies in the womb, he ostensibly does not believe he is ending actual human life. McCain, on the other hand, since he does recognize that life begins at conception, when he support abortion in the “exception” cases, he knows that he is ending a human life.
Just as there are abortion survivors who are giving their voices to those little babies who are born alive in a failed abortion attempt, there are children of rape victims who would not be here if McCain had his way, they would be murdered by their own mothers and physicians.
Imagine if Obama was pro-life with exceptions (i.e. pro-abortion) and McCain was completely pro-life with no exceptions. Do you think Christians would vote for Obama? Do you think Christians would see the exception clause as merely a coverup for supporting the murder of babies in the womb? Do you think conservative pundits would say that Obama and McCain were both pro-life? I could see Christians up in arms as they see the truth that Obama is pro-abortion and that McCain is the only true pro-life candidate. Unfortunately I have seen even strong, biblical Christians trade principle for pragmatics during an election year.
Interestingly, McCain actually disagrees with the official Republican platform, which is truly pro-life with no exceptions. Watch a clip from the 2000 Republican primary race as McCain tries to change the official platform to be in line with his values, while George W. Bush tries to keep the platfrom unchanged, even though it conflicts with his values (Bush is pro-abortion as well). Alan Keyes, a fully pro-life candidate shows the treachery of both positions. It seems that during this year’s campaign, McCain has taken Bush’s strategy of simply counting on the fact that most conservatives will think he’s pro-life. Unfortunately, it seems to be working.
Now that we have established 1) That I will not vote for a murderer and someone who supports murder and 2) Both Obama and McCain support the murder of babies in certain situations, does this mean that I will not cast a vote this year? Or are there other presidential candidates who are truly pro-life and thus not disqualified for the presidency? Praise the Lord, there is at least one.
Chuck Baldwin, on the Constitution Party ticket, is seeking to become the next President of the United States of America. This is a man who is truly pro-life with no exceptions. I may not agree with him on every issue, but at the very least he is not disqualified to be president based on the abortion issue. Chuck Baldwin (and Darrell Castle for VP) is on the ballot in 37 states including Ohio and Kentucky (in Indiana and 10 more states you can write his name in).
Is this just ‘throwing away your vote’ or ‘a vote for third party is a vote for Obama’? Not at all. Christians are to live by principle, not pragmatics. We are called to employ biblical principles in our decision making and not cast votes primarily out of fear. Christianity is not a system that is concerned with ‘winning’ nor even with ‘doing what works’. Christianity is concerned with honoring God, fearing Him and making decisions that glorify Him, even if they don’t seem to ‘work’, or put us in a position to ‘win’. Our responsibility is to be obedient to His word, the consequences are God’s responsibility.
Here’s an independent website that compares all the candidates. This particular webpage shows Chuck Baldwin’s take on the issues http://www.ontheissues.org/
Please cast your vote “Corum Deo”, i.e. before the face of God and vote according to biblical principles. I pray that we remember God is sovereign over all things including our nation and who leads it. Whoever our next leader may be will be God’s doing to work out glory for Himself, be it blessing for us or a curse on our nation. May the Lord bless you as you seek to honor Him with your vote.
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Anonymous said,
October 27, 2008 at 6:24 pm
NO JOHN MCCAIN IS PRO-LIFE PUT HIM DOWN BECAUSE OBAMA IS THE BABY KILLER..GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT BEFORE YOU THO THEM OUT THERE