Question: Why do your pro-life groups refuse to compromise and allow some abortions, e.g. of seriously handicapped babies? You would save some lives.
One Oxford dictionary definition of the word compromise is, “to modify one’s principles.” The pro-life principle is that to abort a baby – conceived but not yet born – is to kill a child. The pre-born child’s life belongs to the baby, not to the mother, not to the abortionist, but to the baby; it is his or her inalienable right, and it cannot ever belong to anyone else.
Another definition of compromise is “to settle by mutual consent.” The life that is to be destroyed is the baby’s – not the mother’s, not the doctor’s, not the abortionist’s. A pre-born child cannot give consent; he cannot come to a “mutual consent.”
But, in fact, the bottom line is that, even if one forgets about principles and ethics, allowing “a little abortion” does not work – it merely becomes abortion on demand. Study the abortion statistics for countries in Europe as well as Canada, Australia, etc.
Question: Is there any way to influence people who claim to be pro-life (even those in our church) but who openly support, or vote for, candidates of their own political party, despite the fact that the candidate is pro-abortion and-or pro-euthanasia?
I have no answer, except prayer. People do not face the truth. The way we use our vote is just as much a Christian responsibility as anything else in our lives; we cannot vote for our favourite party candidate if he or she believes it right to exterminate the pre-born child, or the handicapped, etc.
A number of years ago I found a booklet called “Conscience Voting” by Jeremy Lee, an Australian pro-life, pro-family Christian. He proposed that there should be an “Organization of Conscience Voters,” and he also suggested a “Conscience Voting Manifesto.” His draft was as follows:
I believe that my vote is a right I have been granted by Almighty God to be used in His Name and in His service.
I believe that my vote should not be used on any account to sanction evil – great or small.
I believe that I have not only a right, but a duty to withhold my vote completely if I feel the choice I am offered does not conform to what I believe is God’s will.
I believe it is my lawful right to associate my vote with the votes of others in seeking right choice and good government.
I believe that my prayer for those in authority should be matched by my action in seeking good government, and that to do so is a responsibility which God expects me to fulfill.
I believe that my committal to a lawful and right use of my vote is not a vain one, and that God will at all times and in all places comfort and help those who seek to serve Him.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
When I first read the Manifesto I assumed that it applied only to the citizen, voting in elections. Today, it seems that it applies equally to Members of Parliament, especially the “I believe” number three which commands them to follow God’s laws, not the demands of the party leader or the political bureaucrats.
Question: What exactly are the words about God that Svend Robinson wants removed from the Charter?
