16 - Challenged Faith & Abortion

                                  CHALLENGED FAITH

   

                                                 (FAITH JOURNEY)  

Our faith must be challenging or it will stagnate. Without challenge, we would be shaping our faith into our own personal creation instead of our faith shaping us into God’s divine creation. Faith is a part of life and life is always changing, renewing and most of all sacrificing. The more comfortable we are with faith, the less challenging it can be for the soul to grow. We must ask WHY and have doubts or our faith would not be human (which is required in order to discover new things within our relationship with God). We cannot think that living our faith through a strict set of rules is challenging – it is orderly life instead. Some people need the structure of defined standards but faith is also within the heart and soul (not just the mind alone). Faith can also be of the mouth and feet with what we say and with what we do. Faith is sharing and that makes it challenging too.

                                                    (SACRIFICES)

Faith is a journey and it should be a struggle between thinking only about ourselves and thinking about the common good of all. God’s will is not planted in a garden of self needs but God’s will is revealed through the example of a sacrifice on a cross. Every day there are sacrifices we must do for family, friends, work and community. Every day there are small deaths and resurrections that we must experience through the challenge of faith.             D. Crone

QUESTIONS:

1 - Is your faith a comfortable thing? Why?

2 – Is your faith routine? Why?

3 – Do you like changes to occur within your church? Why?

                          (MANY SMALL DEATHS & RESURRECTIONS)

Jesus’ resurrection changed distress into joy and unbelief into faith. Our resurrection is meant to do the same thing for us. Our doubting faith is challenged by the promise of new life. We discover hope when our eyes have unbelief. Our Franciscan sister, death, gives us a new beginning through God’s grace. Jesus’ death and resurrection along with our final death and resurrection (to come) can be our guides to our many small deaths and resurrections throughout life.

Through the journey of life, we are introduced to pain, sorrow, grief, trials, hardships, losses, emotional suffering and much more (these are our many small deaths). Through Jesus’ resurrection there is hope that these small deaths can be new beginnings. These small deaths draw us towards God’s love. They do not separate us from life (itself); they are a part of life. Instead of controlling us, they bring us to new opportunities for growth and change through God’s love. They are not punishment for our sins, however, they can help us to cleanse ourselves of behavior that separates ourselves from the love of others and God. Our Lord’s love is too great to punish us with severe difficulties. We can unite ourselves to God’s grace during these moments of hardships and create a new heart within ourselves. We can change to become better. By remembering the suffering of Christ so we can now join with His resurrected spirit of hope. Through this hope we can find inner peace.                                    D. Crone

QUESTIONS:

1 Do you believe that every personal trial, hardship or loss can be new opportunity for personal growth? How do you encourage that opportunity for personal growth in someone else?

2 Do you believe that each life is filled with many small deaths and resurrections?

3 How do you feel about meeting Sister Death with our small deaths and also our final death?

4 How does your small deaths and resurrections become incorporated into Jesus’ big death and resurrection?

5 How can suffering take on new meaning for us during our small deaths (personal setbacks) in life?

6 Why do Franciscans welcome Sister Death? How can we welcome her with a peaceful attitude when we are experiencing the death of a loved one or our eventual death?

7 What kind of losses or trials have caused a new birth or resurrection for you?

8 Love demands a response of love. Can our forgiveness by God for our sins create a new response of more love (for God & others) as small resurrections?

9 How can a death of someone special to us cause unhealthy behavior (that behavior that separates us from others and God)? Can we create rebirth and produce love with a life of joy and peace afterwards?

                                                     (CONFLICTS)

There are all types of conflicts that will challenge our faith. Let us use the most political divisive issue of our time to demonstrate faith challenges within conflict – and that is abortion. You never win any friends with this argument but it must be seen through Jesus’ compassion.  D. Crone

                                           

                                    (ABORTIONS & POLITICS))

Society has taken a very moral issue and turned it into a very political issue and that creates problems for us all. Politics can be corruptive and it is so often divisive on purpose. Politics can demonize some good Christian people at the expense of other different Christian people (for political gain). Jesus never liked the politics of His day nor do I about politics today.

First, abortion has two lives at issue. It is about the mother and the developing human fetus. So often in politics one camp emphasizes the mother and the other emphasizes the fetus. One side makes it a murder issue while the other side makes it a reproductive rights issues. Politics takes all reasoning out of the argument and replaces it with political self-interest.

Second, I do not like the arguments about how the fetus is not fully human because (as a Franciscan) I value ALL life and give ALL life respect and dignity (as much as possible).

Third (as a Franciscan), I understand abortion in a different way from most people. I see abortion as a poverty issue. It lies within the domain of Lady Poverty. It is one of many social sins that we inflict upon ourselves. It becomes a part of Lady Poverty’s domain because of the physical, financial, mental, moral and spiritual poverty aspects behind the cause, the need and the act of abortion. If abortion was outlawed completely, there would still be abortions. The rich and upper middle class would be having their abortions in other countries. That leaves the poor and lower middle class doing unspeakable things. We would have no idea of how many abortions were stopped by the law. However, we would be hearing about the deaths of many young women who took or did something to abort their fetus. The Pro-choice people would be energized enough to demand reversal of the law with a lot of social sympathy.   D. Crone

                                    (THE POVERTY OF THE FETUS)

The Pro-choice people claim that a fetus is not human because it is not fully developed. Since the fetus completely depends on the mother - I guess they believe it is part of the mother; therefore, not human itself. I wonder, when does it become human - at birth it is still completely dependent?

Because of my opinion on abortion (not completely agreeing with either side), I could very easily suffer in a car bomb explosion by one of the extremists from either side. If I survive, what percentage of my former self do I need to retain in order to be considered human? Is it 50%, or 30% of what I once was to still be human? I would hope as long as I am still alive, that I would be considered human. Now let us reverse the process and that would be a developing human fetus. No one is in greater need than someone who is unable to speak, talk, see, walk and think for itself. A woman’s body is her own property but a fetus is not the property of the mother (for no one owns people). It is a product of the creative that God has shared with us. No matter what the circumstances, the fetus belongs to God (as one of His Children). A fetus is true poverty that is in need of God and human love. The fetus deserves all the respect and dignity that we should also give to its mother. Poverty is poverty no matter what the circumstances. When humanity is in need, Christian love should be the response (not politics). D. Crone

                                   (THE POVERTY OF THE MOTHER)

Pro-life people claim that the rights of the mother does not matter next to a developing (defensive) child-to-be. We should nor forget the needs of anyone for the sake of another (either the needs of the “child-to-be” or the “mother that is” should be forgotten). Poverty is poverty no matter what the circumstances and a vulnerable and pregnant unwed teenager or young adult is also in need. Sometimes they too are still a child. Their dignity goes way beyond their reproductive rights because they are experiencing physical, financial, mental, moral and spiritual poverty (all at once). Do we victimize the victim of the social and moral poverty that western culture is experiencing today? I would hope not?   D. Crone

                                         (CHRISTIAN HUMANE LOVE)

The only humane thing to do is to make giving birth easier than having an abortion. Naturally having a full term baby involves more discomfort and pain than an abortion of a fetus. If all the psychological, economical and spiritual hardships were eased then giving birth would be the easiest thing to do. If both sides started to work together to lessen abortion by easing the human hardships (together) for both fetus and mother – God’s love could be working through us all. Both sides can agree that there are human hardships (for both the mother and the fetus) and our Christianity demands that we pay attention to them all. We must realize that no one thinks abortion is a wonderful thing but some people may think of it as a necessary evil or a human reproductive rights issue.

The major issues of the other side need to take ownership with your side too. Women’s health care issues (and reproductive care) need to be extremely important to Pro-life people (for so many of these women are actually children under 21 years of age). The right of the fetus to live needs to be extremely important for Pro-Choice people (for the fetus could be female to have reproductive rights of its own someday). Christians need the “Christ Spirit” to guide us and not the party politics that wants to win at all cost. There is nothing wrong with the word “Choice” and there is nothing wrong with word “Life”; however, we can politically package these issues to create polarization on purpose. When you see abortion through Lady Poverty’s eyes the polarization disappears. D. Crone

  

                             (SOCIAL & MORAL POVERTY OF SOCIETY)

The “western culture social and moral poverty” part of abortion is indicated with how much easier it is to have a baby than to get married or to be in a committed relationship today. Young people are afraid of commitment. So much of the abortion issue is arguing after the fact instead of thinking of what to do before the fact. Sexual standards have changed (and no matter what I or you think, that is here to stay). I wonder, why aren’t young people afraid of being pregnant too - even more than marriage? Failed marriages are something to be afraid about but being responsible for another human life for about 20 years would be much more frightening to me. Terminating a pregnancy for convenience sake might not be killing a human (in your opinion) but you stopped it from being human - you stopped someone’s ability to live in the future). I think both sides would agree that abortion should not be an easy form of birth control. Both sides of the conflict is demonizing the other and sometimes presenting the other as not human. Conservative Christianity needs to think about what is the worse of two evils in their opinion (contraception or abortion). Progressive Christianity needs to explain the consequences of uncommitted (and unprotected) sex to their children (so grandparents do not have to raise their child’s child).

Just saying no to sex is not enough. It did not work for my generation, my parents’ generation, my grandparents’ generation and ever since the beginning of time.  Issues like abortion and uncommitted sex are not what is bringing our social morals down, they are indicators of our social morals today. We keep addressing the results of the loosening of social moral standards instead of addressing the causes (like our self-centeredness, our instant gratification approach to life and our obsessions to things for pleasure). We all are guilty of this at one time or another. To outlaw abortion is an eye for an eye approach to a social sin instead of dealing with the source (the poverty within our social minds).   D. Crone

                       

                                       (MAKING GIVING BIRTH EASIER) 

To make giving birth an easier choice would require more networks being set up to help teenagers and young adults to give birth. Pregnancy homes could be set up in local neighborhoods so mothers could be cared for. It should be an environment with companionship, fellowship and support for one another. Health needs should be provided and school should be provided by on-line means or through tutors. Adoption services could be provided for those who cannot keep their child. Job training for single mothers should also be provided. The support should not end after the birth but go on as needed. Babysitting networks should form to give these new mothers some time to get their act together. Being a young mother is a very frightening situation and non-judgmental family support should be there when possible. If all the huge amounts of money and energy that is being spent by Pro-choice & Pro-Life groups and politicians to fight one another over abortion could be spent doing these things – great miracles would occur and we would be loving one another as God commands.

                                                                                                              D. Crone

QUESTIONS:

1 What conflict causes a challenge in faith for you?

2 Are there any easy answers to moral dilemmas without Christian love?

3 In situations like abortion, can both sides become extreme at times?

4 If pro-life people are for the death penalty is there some inconsistency there?

5 If Pro-Choice people respect health rights should they also be concerned for the fetus’s health?

6 If both Pro-choice & Pro-life people believe abortions should not be another form of contraception – why can’t they both work together to reduce abortions?

7 Is it possible for both sides to love one another and to give the other side’s concerns dignity?