Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou
camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and
I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jeremiah 1:5
Recently, Raphael Warnock the Sr. Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, joined a growing sickening choruse of religious leaders, who for political convienence, have taken time to reinterpret the bible to suit their political views, by asserting that the practice of abortion is not only legal according to current law, but also biblically justifiable and supported.
Please keep in mind that the good Pastor is running for the US Sentate and the views as he has expressed as I will contend are simply party-line views, which I am certain he believes for one reason or another, not to mention the political expediency of the position.
Yes, HERESY and HERETIC 101!
Instead of following the BIBLE, which is a believer's first obligation, this pastor is clearly caught following democratic, party line, politics and the same flawled reasoning that abortion itself, is somehow tantamount to healthcare, and that a woman's right of choice extends to murder or to the taking of life of the unborn.
Pastor Warnock stated:
“I believe unequivocally in a woman's right to choose, and that the decision is something that we don't want government engaged in – that's between her and her doctor and her minister. And I will fight for that in the United States Senate, and at the same time continue to fight so women can receive the kind of services that they need in order to have a healthy pregnancy and healthy babies. We have a maternal death rate in this country that is exceedingly high, particularly to be the richest country in the world.”
As you can see, the pastor believes in a zero sum game. Unknowingly, affirming party line rhetoric, he apparently unwittingly (or maybe purposefully) embraces the exclusion of the father from the decision to abort, or the murder an unborn fetus, which is another fatal flaw of the abortion rights crowd as they never venture further than "a woman's right of choice".
The Pastor's statement also affirms that "life" is not as valuable as God says it is. Apparently, in his view and the view of his party, "choice" is greater than the "right to live" of and persona that can only be determined to be an entirely seperate and wholly individual human being. To make things worse, the good Pastor incorporates a totally different issue other than the right to life of the unborn, by associating the complications of pregnancy, which occur more abundantly in Black women in particular, against the right of life of the innocent.
A HODGE PODGE of Confusion
Dissecting this confusion is not as complex as it may seem, especially when the essential nature of man and purpose of God is considered, as I will discuss shortly.
First, there are a couple of issues to clear up as most people have no clue as to what is really going on as it pertainst to abortion and abortion issues. However, a woman's right of choice, or anyone's right of choice, does not extend to the MURDER of another individual especially the murder of the innocents.
An argument seeking to make "choice" and "murder" morally equivalent is what is called an argument of a false equivalacy. In this case it is rehearsed to downplay that fact that a baby is being mudered at or during the abortion process, seeking to make the act less morally repugnant and therefore more socially acceptable and exalting "choice" as the premiere act or action and the motivation for what can only be called murder. ie: this is the justification of evil and the immioral act of baby murder.
Secondly, another issue that the Pastor raised was the disparity of actual physical health and wellbeing of the pregnant mother during pregnancy. Now, to be fair, Black women in partucularly, for some currently unknown, but speculative medical reasons, have a higher rate of mortality during pregnancy and child birth in particular than nearly every other ethnicity. From this perspective "pregnancy" is certainly an issue of women's health and should be considered.
Digging Deeper
Examining this further, according to the CDC and as noted in a 2015 study funded by the BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION (please keep that in mind) and published by The Lancet (keep that in mind as well) found that Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die from pregancy related causes than White women. As noted by Dr. Ana Langer director of the Women and Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, at Heart.org, many of these deaths during pregnancy are preventable with proper care. Specutively, the lack of quality care and racial disparities are to blame for this disproportionately negative outcome and high mortality rate among Black women. Currently, the whole argument falls under the perview of "systemmic racism" which seems to permeate every facet of our society according to some and is responsible for everything that the Black community currently suffers and or experiences. (surprisingly enough it is White people championing and carrying this idea on-but that's another article)
However, upon examination, the unhealthy pregnancy argument really should not be or has nothing to do with abortion per se. Although this concern may drive a certain portion of abortions, it has everything to do with a woman's ability to care for and take care of her body, therefore insuring optimal health both prior to and during pregnancy. In other words, it is NOT the baby nor the pregnancy that is creating the mortality risk, it is the LIFESTYLE and other physical factors that is determining the overall health of the woman aside from pregnncy. This is a very important distinction, as many who speak on this assume that Black women simply are are more of a health risk during pregnancy because of the pregnancy itself, and that is NOT what the evidence states and or affirms. So at best, this is a false narrative and a myth perpetuated to "scare" women into abortions especially early on in their pregancies.
Amazingly enough, the primary cause of abortion remains ECONOMIC in nature. MONEY is the issue and the primary concern when it comes to sustaining a child or "feeding another mouth". The perception is that the baby will be a financial or lifestyle "inconvenience" of some sort.
According to a 2019 article at theBMJ.com 75% of women requesting abortion in the US are in poverty or in the low income bracket and the poorest 12% of women account for almost 50% of abortions and the poorest 30% for 75% of abortions.
It seems that neither of Pastor Warnock's arguments hold up under scruitiny. Now, let's look at his greater assumption that abortion is consistent with both biblical theology and biblical morality. Does such a connection exist?
Essentialism vs Existentialism
Prior to the passing of the late Bishop Robert Sanders formerly of Illinois Third Jurisdiction COGIC, I had the opportunity to minister at both of his churches on a particular Sunday AM as he would ask me to do on rare occassion.
Believe it or not, on a Sunday morning in a church known rather for shouting, dancing and speaking in tongues more so than for philosophical centered Sunday AM messages (not that Bishop's messages were not deep, as they certainly were and will be missed by me in particular) The Lord gave me to talk on the difference between Essentialism and Existentialism and show the people why we must live according to HIS will and not our will.
What many did not previously know in the terms I presented, was that the BIBLE is an Essentialist book and that God is an Essentialist God! However, we live an Existentialist reality or a world seduced into believing or constructing existentialist moral values. Quicky, Essentialism centers around what God has created in you or called one to do or purposed one to do, whereas exestintialism centers around what one chooses to do and or become.
Jeremiah 1:5, as quoted above, is the epitome of essentialism or essentialist thought, and reveals our, man's, nature and existence as not one of a series of cosmic accidents and or random processes, such as those we find taught by Charles Darwin in his 1859 thesis "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life".
The BIBLE teaches that we are PURPOSED, divinely and transcendently set in order, and as Jeremiah reveals, that is done prior to knowledge of self or self effacacy. We have been "communicated" to by God and born into this world with both identity, mind and mission.
Whereas the Existentialist would contend that "life is what YOU make it" and that you make your own destiny and purpose and that you have the ability to handle yourself or do what you wish to do and finding satisaction in doing whatever you wish to do is the greatest good. You create your own journey. This is the carnal minded man's answer for his rejection of God, HIS kingdom and HIS plan.
Question: What does this have to do with abortion?
Answer: EVERYTHING!
If the good Pastor affirmed what the BIBLE actually taught at just that point, that we are all born with an ESSENTIALIST nature, or one that is PURPOSED by God from the moment of conception, I
am nearly certain he would see the staunch and magnanamous error of his ways, by contending that the message of abortion is tantamount to, or consistent with the BIBLE message regarding the value of life. He would certainly REPENT and RECANT his notion that "choice" of a woman or man, to murder anyone, in particularly the most innocent and vunerable among us, can be done without incurring the wrath of God.
I am nearly certain, that if the good Pastor fully understood, that as human beings our very existence is rooted in the ESSENTIAL or PURPOSEFUL mind of God, and that even a baby enjoins the same rights of PURPOSE and ESSENTIAL nature as a creation of God, who is the ONLY author of life, that he (Pastor Warnock) and those SEDUCED into believing him regarding his shoddy message, would abandon their arguments and position that abortion is in line with a BIBLICAL construct on the issue of human life.
I am almost and nearly as sure that YOU, after coming to understand the ESSENTIAL nature of your own being, knowing that you, like any and every baby born or conceived, are not some cosmic accident or a simple piece of flesh meant to be excized from the womb as if you were a disease, would greatly stand in favor of the RIGHT OF THE UNBORN TO LIVE because even they (YOU) have a purpose for existence...
As we can see, Pastor Warnocks position on abortion is in no way consistent or compatible with the BIBLICAL position of the individual right to life that ALL men have since conception. There is no biblical theology that Pastor Warnock can pose that affirms his position and therefore his position is flawed and should be jettisoned immediately, even if the party that he embraces rests on such anti-human and anti-God rhetoric.
Conclusion
A friend of mine shared that believers of a pentecostal/holiness church were in strong debate over the issue of abortion when this pastor made this politically centered (not BIBLE centered) argument. He shared that the "SAINTS" or should I say "AINT'S" were in agreement that abortion was acceptable and should be considered a form of contraception and wasn't that bad...I would say to them and to you if that is your position...YOU ARE NOT A REPRESENTATIVE OF CHRIST! I don't care what the church name is over your door. You are a SAD example of BIBLICAL salvation and that salvation is not in your heart. For the endorsement of the murder of the innocents tells me all that I need to know about who you really are and what is in you. Call it "judgement" if you will, you too are judging just to make that assessment now aren't you???
Some will say, "Preacher, I am in error, and I really didn't know"....WELL....NOW YA KNOW!!!
Blessed!
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