One Methodist pastor is making rounds on social media for his remarks belittling Christians who stand up for the rights of unborn children. Elevating social welfare and economic status to the level of murder, this pastor argues that Christians are “hypocrites” when they stand against abortion because unborn children can’t talk.
On his Facebook page, Dave Barnhart writes,
“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. It’s almost as if, by being born, they have died to you. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus but actually dislike people who breathe.
Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn.
Of course, while most Methodist Americans are standing up for everything the Bible speaks against — gay rights, abortions, feminism, etc. — true Christians are standing up for those who are actually oppressed. Perhaps he’s never read Proverbs 31:8, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Nobody, literally nobody in America today falls into this category except for the millions of children being slaughtered in the womb of their mothers. None. No racial group. No biological sex or gender group. None. To act as though we should be guaranteed equal outcome of economic status isn’t Christianity — it’s Communism.
