A ridiculous idea

William J. Stuntz has an interesting article on The Academic Left and the Christian Right. He believes there are areas where the two opposing sides can come together for the good of humanity.



"1. Abortion. Begin with the hardest nut to crack. The secular left believes strongly in abortion rights. Conservative Christians believe passionately that abortion is evil. Surely common ground can't exist here.

Yet it might. The key is that the two sides don't need to agree on premises in order to buy the same conclusion. Pro-life Christians want to see fewer abortions. That is already happening: the abortion rate has been falling since 1981; from that year to 2000 the rate fell by 27 percent, according to census data. Among teenage girls, the decline is greater still. The abortion rate is probably lower today than in 1975; it might be lower than in 1972, the year before the Supreme Court legalized the practice nationwide. What lies behind these trends? Strangely enough, the answer has a lot to do with the law being pro-choice. When the culture is sharply divided on some kind of behavior, the side that wins the law's endorsement tends to lose ground, culturally and politically. Roe v. Wade has been the pro-life movement's friend. Those who want abortions to be rare would do well to keep them safe and legal."



Mr. Stuntz doesn't seem to understand either side of the issue. He continues in the article to equate abortion rights with abolition, an analogy that is perposterous at best. Christians think abortion is more than just evil--it is murder. It is as sinful as any sin can be. How can any Christian be expected to tolerate any type of evil so heinous? Liberals belive that abortion is a civil right, one of the "unalienable rights" of mankind. It is right up there with life and liberty (both referring solely to the mother, of course). Thus, it is immoral to outlaw it. Slavery was immoral, and no resonable person could argue against abolition. The Civil War was partly the outgrowth of one man's religious convictions. It was necessary for our nation. Mr. Stuntz talks as though both abolition and abortion are a natural progression in our social evolution. If policies with the side of law tend to weaken, then why not legalize everything we want to eventualy eliminate. Would rape occur less if we made it legal? Would pedophilia dissipate with governmant support? Mr. Stuntz ignores the spiritual aspect of the issue of rape. He views mankind as good and capable of healing itself. So far no human civilization has been able to do so. They have been very successful at destroying themselves.



"2. Poverty at home. Urban poverty should be America's number one domestic policy issue."



It is the mark of a liberal mind to place higher priority on poverty than on murder. Poverty is an important issue, and every Christian organization out to be occupied with helping those in need. Poverty will diminish as a economy grows stronger. The way to combat poverty is to provide an economy in which people can be successful.



You should read the whole article. I do not agree with most of it. Right now, however, I am finding it difficult to articulate my objections. I may come back in a while.