Abortion: It is all about compassion

In her recent article "It is all about the unborn" to The Catholic Register , Ms. Alissa Golob, Youth Co-ordinator for Campaign Life Coalition voices her opinion about abortion in the most extreme and militant manner.  None of which is likely to engage those families who have been or are now are faced with such a difficult but very necessary decision.      

If Pro-Life ‘crusaders’ (and I use that term deliberately) are truly interested in promoting their cause they will have to exchange ‘activism’ for compassion a quality so often exhibited by Jesus.      Nowhere in the Gospels do we find Jesus as an activist prepared to stand at abortion clinics handing out roses and literature.  And again the Gospels do not speak of a Son of God who openly defied the Roman civil authorities - instead he used a much more powerful and effective means of bringing about necessary change. It is called unconditional LOVE. 

The above article can hardly be expected to convert any woman who is considering an abortion.  The use of heaping guilt and shame on women automatically prevents any real and healing dialogue from taking place.  And for what reason does this article compare women who accept an abortion as ‘beating their toddler to death’, or as someone who condones the actions of the Nazi regime?  More guilt, more shame and more condemnation!   Where is God in that?             

Kindly understand that I am completely and utterly opposed to abortion – in principle.  As I understand all Creation is sacred and calls us to be respectful towards all things and beings. And so should we.   God’s compassion reaches far beyond any self righteous feelings we may hold as truth. There are numerous conditions under which an abortion is absolutely necessary. 

In recent years the call to end all abortions by Pro-Life groups has become one of the most divisive issues between friends and neighbours and indeed nations.  As Pro-life groups battle it out with Pro-Choice groups the rift appears to be growing ever wider.  As a result the heated debate has suffered   from an abuse of hurtful and damaging actions and language.   At this point we seem to have lost the ability to interact in a healing manner that could bring both parties together.  Pro-Life must also learn to speak about abortion in terms of life from the Alpha to the Omega!

To suggest it is all about the unborn immediately ignores much greater pain and suffering so evident throughout our broken world.  In the eyes of our Creator he loves everyone and everything – nothing is wasted not even an aborted fetus.  However, if we do not first love God, our neighbour, the enemy and our self how can we possibly understand or love the woman who chose to abort for whatever her reason?  Must we assume she is not following an informed conscience to the best of her ability?  Who and what group can claim to possess a superior conscience?  Have we perhaps forgotten that the highest moral law is the one God wrote on our hearts? Does anyone deny that there are plenty of moral and ethical circumstances under which some abortions are necessary (and thereby should be funded)?   Under these circumstances is it even reasonable to state abortion in ABSOLUTE terms?

Many activists are motivated by a self-righteous attitude which is revealed in their desire to openly defy civil authority.   That same attitude, when lacking in compassion is often used by some to justify unspeakable actions under the name of God.  Pro-life groups must never think that their actions are morally above those who advocate Pro-Choice.   God judges hearts and his justice is about restoration never about punishment.  

Finally, abortion must never become a political issue because it is first and foremost an issue of the heart! 

On being a Cafeteria Catholic

"Cafeteria Christianity" according to the definition by Wikipedia is a derogatory term used by some Christians, and others, to accuse other Christian individuals or denominations of selecting which Christian doctrines they will follow, and which they will not. In more complimentary terms I like to think of it as Jesus inviting everyone to come and eat with him regardless of their particular beliefs or disposition. Jesus accepts us to come and eat as we are not as others would have us be.

Michael Coren is a well known British born Canadian Radio & TV personality hosting his own daily talk show on the Global network. Brutally honest, spiritual, strong-minded, author, compassionate, opinionated, ethical, witty, confident, are just a few of the self appointed attributes taken from his own website.

As a writer he is a frequent contributor to Canada’s conservative religious newspaper ‘The Catholic Register’. Michael’s entries consistently display a heavy Catholic apologetic emphasis - often quick to condemn those who fall short of his idea of what it means to be Catholic . This week’s uncompromising essay ‘On ‘Cafeteria Catholicism’ is his latest damning contribution. This article is a typical expression of a fundamentalist understanding of what it means to be a Christian and or a Catholic. You could be forgiven for believing that the two terms are necessarily synonymous. In the case of Mr. Coren the Catholic Church is God and all other churches using the words of Pope Benedict “are not Churches in the proper sense and that non-Christians are seriously deficient in terms of access to the means of salvation.” Catholic or otherwise this supremist attitude is hardly likely to bring reconciliation among the world’s competing religions. More importantly it completely contradicts a God who loves all humankind unconditionally. What follows is his article to the Catholic Register which appeared on line together with my posted response.

On 'cafeteria Catholicism'
Written by Michael Coren Wednesday, 03 November 2010 10:43

In mid-October I was part of a panel at a Toronto university discussing how the world views the Church. It was all pretty good stuff with some faithful and successful Catholic writers on the platform. The academic present, however, was not known to me. But her views were. Not that I had ever heard of the woman before; what I mean is that her opinions on Catholicism were entirely typical of an attitude that has caused colossal damage to the Church in recent years. While discussing abortion, for example, she said that there were “gradations” within Catholicism and implied that supporting the rights of the unborn or promoting their slaughter were various and valid Roman Catholic positions.I asked her if she liked Jews. 

Read the rest here

My Response:

Reading this self righteous and sad article one can clearly hear the mobs gathered once again to witness the fires licking at the bodies of thousands of innocent heretics being burned at the stake. One can hear the instructions from the Inquisitor to ratchet up the ‘strappado’ and other instruments of torture as they try to unmask those wrongly accused of “treason against God”. There is the voice of Pope Innocent VIII condemning those blameless victims who supposedly had ‘blasphemously rejected the Faith’ and were now accused of witchcraft to be drowned or burned at the stake without trial. Again, we can hear the echoes of crowds chanting “Christ-killers” against our Jewish brethren. Hear the miserable shouts from those accusing others of their sins at the expense of their own. Here then is the new Inquisitor ready to condemn anyone who dares to challenge an institution mired in the cover-up of sexual abuse - the institution that wants to return to darker ages rather than embrace the God of the present the God who loves his children unconditionally. A God who invites all to come and eat at his table.