We have long set out to document the corruption in Christian media. The latest example comes from Baptist News Global which is a rather liberal outlet already, but a recent column put out in their newsletter is some heretical hot garbage, showcasing why BNG should not be taken seriously in Christian circles.
In a column titled, “Why Christians should support reproductive justice, including abortion access, Baptist News Global promotes abortion using wokeness. The first sentence of the article is enough to facepalm and egret the decision to read it:
“Reproductive justice” is a term coined by Black women activists in the 1990s to recognize the intersections of race, class, sexuality, nation and gender in reproductive health and decision-making.
The author, Susan Shaw, is White, by the way. Nevertheless, she seems intent on justifying the barbarism of the Black community. The first of her three reasons for her absurd position is as follows:
But is opposition to abortion really the Christian stance?
I’d argue, no. In fact, I’d say Christians actually should support reproductive justice, and here are my reasons why.
One: Reproductive justice is about whole persons whom God loves and tells us to love and care for as well.
According to SisterSong, reproductive justice includes access to “contraception, comprehensive sex education, STI prevention and care, alternative birth options, adequate prenatal and pregnancy care, domestic violence assistance, adequate wages to support our families, safe homes, and so much more.”
Reproductive justice is about addressing the whole range of issues related to sexual and reproductive health, including situations of poverty, marginalization and violence that put people at risk for sexual abuse, unwanted pregnancies, trafficking, domestic violence and negative health outcomes, including death.
While this reason was gobbly gook, she then proceeds to make a biblical case.
Two: Abortion is not a sin.
The Bible does not speak of abortion. Not once. Ever.
Some people have read passages like the Psalmist’s song of praise, “For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb,” to suggest that from the instant of fertilization, a zygote is a full person. The Bible does not make that claim.
This fails to address the other passages that humanize the unborn. Moreover, the sacrifice of infants is condemned in Scripture.
In fact, the Psalmist would have known little about the biology of reproduction and certainly would have had no idea how fertilization happens. Ancient people thought the whole of human life was in semen and that the womb was simply an incubator. Not until the 1660s and ’70s did scientists identify the egg and sperm, and it was not until the 19th century that scientists began to understand how fertilization worked.
It seems that people understood enough back then to know that the unborn is life, hence why the Bible punishes a man for causing a woman to miscarry. But even if the Bible does not specifically condemn abortion (it does), the idea of women killing their offspring to pursue being a girlboss is evil on its face. Moreover, as a matter of national policy such frivolity cannot be allowed to contribute to population collapse.
The rest of this section presumes that abortion is illegal in some parts of the United States. Unfortunately, this is a misnomer as nothing is standing in the way of abortion pills.
Three: We can lower abortion rates without making abortion inaccessible.
This is technically true. Using social stigma women who murder their own children could and should be blacklisted and shunned from society. This is the only realistic way in which abortion rates could plummet whilst widely available. But her point is not about stigma.
We know exactly what lowers abortion rates: access to contraception, accurate sex education, the empowerment of women and access to abortion services. That’s right. Having laws restricting abortion does not lower abortion rates. It only makes things more dangerous for people who are pregnant.
The idea that sex education lowers unwanted pregnancy is laughable and ultimately amounts to government public service announcements through public schools. There are no people having sex that are unaware it leads to pregnancy, nor are contraceptives foolproof. The pill has a high failure rate, in large part because it requires optimal use to be effective. Dumb people + improper use = unwanted pregnancy. The pill has been around for several decades, condoms longer, yet people still claim contraceptives are a magic bullet.
Christians should support reproductive justice because it aligns with our call from God to love our neighbors, to care for the physical as well as spiritual needs of our neighbors, and to trust that the highest authority is the individual conscience before God. Christians should not let their convictions be turned into fodder for ambitious politicians who use them to access power. Rather, we should be the examples of love, inclusion and justice who seek a better world for all people.
No call for Christians to support abortion would be complete without a call to love your neighbor.
2 Responses
First, it’s ironic that she is calling it “justice”. Sexual relationships outside of what God has designed and decreed as true marriage, as well as the murder of unborn human beings, are not “justice” at all. It is pure wickedness in the eyes of God. If we care about the “whole person” (which is a tired argument from people like her) then we need to teach them the truth about these issues and how God sees them. Really, it should lead to a lot of repentance.
Next, it is clear that her entire premise is flawed. She has to argue points one and two to get to point three, but the first two are just dead wrong. Even if you can find some “technical” truth in point three, because abortion is evil, it should be inaccessible. Inaccessibility, clear teaching from God’s Word, and the social stigma you mentioned will significantly lower it.
The bottom line is that we ought to care more about what God says on these issues than what black female activists said in the 90s. But clearly Susan Shaw is not concerned with that.
Thank you for sharing this. Goodness gracious the gymnastics exercised in the article by BNG are nothing short of satanic. She constantly references worldly authorities and sprints away from Scripture and even the simplest proper exegesis. Very eye opening to see how the enemy has infiltrated “christian” media.