Abortion is not a Legitimate Reason to Vote Republican

Abortion. A practice that respects a woman’s right to choose to give birth or not. If there is an issue that most Conservative Christians unite behind when it comes to voting, it’s difficult to find one more motivating than this. Unfortunately, most Christians are on the wrong side of this one.

I hear it all the time: “I am a one-issue voter (and that issue is abortion).” “I vote for Republicans because I am a Christian, and I believe abortion is murder.” “I am Pro-Life, therefore I must vote Republican.” And on and on. It’s stupid and ridiculous, but the Republican party couldn’t be happier with the arrangement. They love it, especially when it means they get a free-pass on all kinds of other evils and the categorically unChristian decisions, policies, and maneuvers that categorize most of the remainder of the Republican party. 

I am sure that Conservative ears burn at my assessment. I don’t particularly care, but I will point out that if you aren’t concerned about eliminating the death penalty, protecting the environment, creating and enforcing common-sense gun control measures, addressing systematic racism and police brutality, or mindful of treating immigrants well, and caring for disadvantaged children, and their families (especially single mothers) beyond the second a baby is born, then you aren’t really “pro-life” at all. You’re just anti-choice and for forcing women to have babies against their will (you know, *small* government, right?). The bottom line is that you simply cannot be pro-life for the un-born if you don’t give a crap about the already-born and the life support system (Earth) that sustains them. Anybody can deceive themselves and others by calling themselves whatever they like, but the hypocrisy of the official Pro-Life crowd is simply astounding. If you want an authentically pro-life political platform (and hence, one that is more Christian), then Team Democrat is your best option in the United States. 

I can hear the protest, and we’ll get to abortion in just a moment, but the Democratic party does an exponentially better job at advancing life in each and every one of the categories mentioned above. Progressives are concerned about all of these things and actively working to address them. And just so we’re clear, Jesus was a Liberal “leftist” in his own day. The sum of the biblical narrative also bucks against the conservatism of its cultural and historical settings. He was pushing in new directions, putting up a bigger, more equitable, more loving tent for everyone, just like Progressives today. I have addressed some of these issues before, most notably in this blog post I penned before the 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The names have changed, but the party platform hasn’t. If you are concerned about the things Jesus was/is concerned about, then the Democratic party comes closer than anything else in the American political sphere. 

I’ve also written about abortion here, but I have evolved even further on the issue and now see abortion as the most “Christian” thing people can do in all, yes ALL, circumstances when abortion is being considered. You may think that’s insane, especially if you are a self-described Christian who’s been programmed by your church to think abortion is pure evil. So how can I say that? It’s remarkably simple if one actually believes in Christian dogma on the so-called “age of accountability” for children and / or that children who die before they reach this age (and choose Christ) automatically go to Heaven. It’s pretty basic free-will stuff. Even though there is no biblical evidence for it as far as I know, Christians widely believe that God is perfect justice and that it would therefore be unjust (by definition) for God to condemn a child to Hell before that child even knew what evil was or who Jesus was. I actually agree with them on this point. To do otherwise would seem to make God an insufferably evil asshole, which is not well received in the churches I have visited (unless they’re Calvinists -Ug-). But most Christians I know of tend to believe that 12 years old is the approximate “age of accountability” or the point at which kids can authentically understand the sin/salvation, Hell/Heaven, and the “Jesus saves” dogma. I think there’s some flexibility here and that it’s not a number etched in stone, but word to the wise if you’re 12-years old…  you better watch yourself.

And of course I understand that not all Christians believe this. Roman Catholics in particular are very concerned that babies will burn in torment forever if they are not baptized as soon as possible after birth. God is great, eh? As I understand it, most of this goes back to St. Augustine and his novel understanding of what “original sin” meant. Be that as it may, I am here to grind an axe against Protestantism, evangelical Protestantism in particular, because those are the skeletons in my own closet. Most of those folks teach that children get a one-way ticket to Heaven if they meet death before the age of accountability or before they understand the Christian paradigm. Most of these Christians are the same ones who let Republicans play them for fools every election.

So enter abortion. It doesn’t matter what any of us happen to believe about the official “child” or “baby” status of a zygote, embryo, or fetus in the womb. The fact is that by most evangelical Christians’ own dogma, all babies and young children get a non-stop, direct flight to the heavenly realms upon their deaths. That’s right, abortion means Heaven. 

There are worse things that could happen to an individual, like, oh I don’t know, having one’s mother be forced to have you against her will and having a parent or parents who don’t want you, can’t provide for you, and only see you as another inconvenience. Maybe abuse, neglect, and general lack of investment in you as a human would qualify as being worse than a one-way ticket to Heaven? And that’s just this life. Do we really believe that these unwanted children are going to have devoted, loving Christians as forced parents who will tenderly indoctrinate them with the right beliefs and actions to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior? If not that, do we think that they will ALL be converted later on in life? In a word, no. 

It’s undeniable that by Christians wanting to force women to have kids against their will, these well intentioned (but gullible) believers are actually giving millions of children a pretty good shot at Hell rather than an express lift to Heaven. Sounds really good, right? The fact is that abortion, as horrid as it may seem to certain people, is not only the humane thing to do in most cases, it is also a way to get more people into Heaven if you believe in that sort of thing. Christians are helping Hell, both on Earth and in the hereafter, when they seek to force women to be mothers against their will. 

There’s two other things mentioned above that need just a little more attention as they pertain to Christians being perpetually conned by Republicans into voting for them or thinking that they are “pro-life.” The first regards healthcare and food, shelter, and education of children after they are born. The record proves that Republicans are ALWAYS trying to roll back or do away with these things and the programs that make them more accessible, especially as they pertain to poor families and people of color. They love babies so much that they just can’t help themselves to neglect them after they are born. “Those lazy, degenerate, welfare queens are just trying to game the system!” It is utter hypocrisy.

Then there is all the other evil that well-meaning Pro-Life Christians let in the door with their vote for Republicans. Like I said before, pick a topic: gun right(s), environmentalism, education, immigration, the death penalty, affordable healthcare, etc. Republicans are on the side of evil, abuse, death, and worshipping money (“the economy”) on every level, every time. They have sided against Jesus and against life, not with them. If Christian voters actually cared about children, you would think that maybe they’d be a little smarter about it, be more consistent with what they claim to believe, and vote against Republicans rather than for them. 

We may be waiting awhile given how common it is for evangelicals to be utterly brainwashed by their leaders into fearing “The Left,” mainstream media, and Demon-crats in general. It’s very sad. I cannot stand the evangelical tendency to incorporate militaristic language into their faith and songs (“Onward Christian Soldiers!”), but the fact is that they have been conned into thinking they are fighting cultural “battles” for Jesus. The reality is that they’re losing the “war” by demonstrating their gullibility and hypocrisy, thereby turning off millions of people who might otherwise be interested in the biblical Jesus who truly cares about life in all its aspects. My prayer for these people is that they would indeed become one-issue voters, and that this “one-issue” would be to take Jesus seriously.

For a change.

-Corbin