It's been a minute.
And, now, there is so much to unpack. Too much. So much rumbling in my mind and I need to get it out. Somewhere. Prayer? Yes, I've lifted my concerns to God. To no avail. To no relief. My heart still feels burdened. I NEED to unburden my mind/my soul of these thoughts. God already knows. But, He also knows I'm not good with confrontation, but it's time I start to be ok with it. Because, things are serious folks. Things are bad. So, I'm sharing. Knowing some who might read this won't be happy. Knowing I'll get backlash. Knowing I could strain relationships. But, God made it clear. I can't be silent about this anymore.
There's a LOT on my mind and it'll take several posts to unpack it all. But, pressing heavy on my mind this week is Roe vs. Wade. So, here we go.
Abortion. Personally, I'm not a fan. I would never choose it for myself. I know it's been "abused" by women using it as a form of birth control. It's upsetting. I'm not ok with that. Especially because, for the time being, we have lots of forms of contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies. But, I am also NOT okay with the reversal of RvW because of the fundamental right to control your own body. It's a slippery slope. And, I've worked as a nurse in maternal and children's health for the past 4+ years and I've seen some terrible shit. Abortion isn't just "killing unborn children". It's used, and frequently, to save the mother's life. It's used, and frequently, to save the unborn infant long lasting suffering from underdeveloped or undeveloped organs that will not support them outside the womb. It's used, and much too frequently, to prevent a child, a child who was abused and raped, from having to bear months of changes to her body, changes her body isn't ready for, from having to relive her torture. Same can be said for women who were forced to have sex without proper conception prevention. It is unfathomable to me that anyone would be okay criminalizing something that has literally saved lives. Please, tell me, how does that make you pro-life? You can't. You are anti-abortion, you are NOT pro-life. Here's why:
If you support the death penalty, you are NOT pro-life.
If you support regular citizens owning assault/semi-automatic weapons, you are NOT pro-life.
If you support police officers killing black men in routine traffic stops, you are NOT pro-life.
If you are against legislation allowing taxes to support underprivileged families (i.e. WIC, SNAP, state funded health insurance, etc.), you are NOT pro-life.
If you are in favor of separating families at the border, families who are fleeing government oppression, and putting children in cages, you are NOT pro-life.
If you oppose gay couples adopting foster children, you are NOT pro-life.
If you oppose affordable health care for ALL, you are NOT pro-life.
So, get off your anti-abortion high horse. I know enough of you so-called Christians to know I've described you to a tee with each of these statements. And, the truth hurts. You are NOT pro-life. What really gets me is so many of you are the same ones who didn't want to wear masks or get vaccines and here we are now, in year three of Covid with no end in sight. All in the name of "my body/my choice". And, over 1 million people have died in the U.S (over 6 million world wide). That's NOT pro-life. You're the same ones who cry out against gun control laws in the name of "constitutional rights", even after all the terrible mass shootings our country has seen the past 20+ years. Face it, you're NOT pro-life and you're fooling no one but yourself. And, maybe whatever church you call home.
I left the church almost 6 years ago and haven't really looked back. At least, not where I live (super conservative town). Because, y'all are a bunch of hypocrites. And, you definitely don't demonstrate Jesus's love the way I have read in the Bible. You don't demonstrate Jesus's mercy the way He's taught us. You don't love your neighbor as yourself. In fact, I've seen more vitriol and hate coming from Christians in these past years than I have from my non-Christian friends/community. It's been terrifying. And it's torn me in two. Because I love Jesus. I do. But, to see folks calling themselves followers behaving the way I've seen over the past several years has caused me to pause and reconsider if I want to be affiliated with any of that. Jesus, yes. The church? No thanks. In my opinion, much of the American church has become the antithesis of Jesus's teachings. It started with so many of them supporting Trump and only got worse from there. And, Jesus weeps....
I know so many self-proclaimed Christians disagree with what I've purported here. And, that is what it is. Doesn't mean I'm wrong. But, maybe, somewhere, there's another Christian like myself who has been too scared to speak up in these volatile times. Too oppressed by the church to speak out against it. Maybe this will give that person or persons a little more courage to free their own minds and spirits. To know you can love Jesus, you can be a Christian and still be pro-choice. Because, the simple fact is abortion has saved many lives over the years. Because it has been done safely, by properly trained doctors and other health care providers, who could perform them legally. Changing that is going to change things. It's setting us back 60 years. More lives will be lost because of this recent SCOTUS nonsense. And, there is nothing pro-life about that.
Jesus weeps.
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