The thought of an abortion has always been emotionally upsetting to me. But so is seeing a cat pounce on a baby bird that has fallen from the nest. So is the image on a nature program of a polar bear trapping a baby seal on the ice before the seal can make it back to the water. So is the idea of a Coyote catching a baby bunny. Death is an unpleasant reality, and is particularly disturbing when it cuts short a life just beginning.
In my life I have rescued baby birds who have fallen out of the nest - it made me feel better for a moment but then what? Have I accomplished anything other than frustrating a cat and making myself feel better? Am I willing to take responsibility for that baby bird? Or capable of not botching the job? It has taught me to have a certain humility about indulging my emotional desire to defeat death.
To me God gave us free will to follow our emotional inclinations, even if that means making mistakes. The gift of being allowed to learn from our mistakes has led us to a world of unprecedented abundance and growing worldwide freedom. The genius of Jesus is about humility - about not trying to change the rest of the world, but focusing on how we behave. Focusing on treating others as I would like to be treated. To me that means I need to exercise a little humility when I do not like another person's life choices - to be cautious about trying to force others to behave in a manner that that would make me more emotionally comfortable.
In responding to one of the comments to an earlier blog in this series I suggested one of the keys to what Jesus taught was the distinction between man's law and god's law. That was a revolutionary idea at that time - an idea later incorporated into the DNA of the United States in our Constitution. Man's law covers behaviors we engage in that directly impact other persons. We make agreements about the limits of our conduct to protect our individual freedom from the actions of others. So we punish assault, murder, robbery, theft etc.
But when we extend that protection to a fetus and ban abortion we are not creating rules to protect ourselves from the behavior of our neighbors so we can live free. A woman having an abortion has no direct impact on the life of any family member, friend, neighbor or stranger. To me, exercising the humility inherent in the golden rule means we accept that she answers to God for that decision, not man.
The genius of the United States is linking the separation of church and state with a commitment to individual freedom. Both values are undermined by banning abortion.
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