5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. II Corinthians 3:5-6
Across our nation, men and women of good conscience celebrated the U. S. Supreme Court’s decision which rolled back Roe v. Wade. Like me, they mourned the death of voiceless innocents. But, if we place our faith in dubious political machinations gained through gaming the system, we lean upon a weak reed indeed. I remember a world before Roe v. Wade, a world in which abortions took place. It was also a world in which many Christians counted that as a decision between a woman and her doctor. Changing the law, while a good thing, will not solve the foundational problems.
We still exist in a culture that glorifies violence in its many guises. Just as Roe v. Wade was transient, this current change is transient. Given the nature of our political system, so dependent upon voter energy, a few election cycles may bring in a new crop of justices willing to reinstate an updated version of Roe v. Wade. The group of politicians, willing to carefully engage in a long-term campaign designed to game the system and place justices of their own stripe on the bench, may find themselves among the retired ranks next cycle, leaving behind a judiciary far out of touch with the citizenry as a whole and bereft of credibility. And we will be no closer to solving the problems which result in so many abortions. I find it astonishing that a group of people who decry the ability of law to solve human problems placed so much faith in changing the law and not working on the conditions that brought about such carnage. Now, those angered by this change will be all the more animated in reversing the change, leaving us a much more difficult task. If we truly believe in the sanctity of life, we must address the current cultural conditions which devalue life, starting with our infatuation with violence.
Over the past fifty years or so, we have carefully constructed a culture that glorifies violence in many different forms and venues. Movies, music, video-games, all contain many graphic and realistic depictions of violence in all its forms. The glorification of violence extends to sports. We love a good smashing hit in football or hockey. Motorsports fans ooh and ahh over a multi-vehicle crash that reduces cars to spinning, rapidly disintegrating, often flaming hulks. We must look at how our predilection of violence has spread to national and local policy. We increasingly look to armed force as the first solution to problems. This misalignment drives ever-growing military budgets. Increasingly police patrol our streets kitted out with all the equipment of military forces going into battle. We would do well to take a pause and reconsider how our devotion to and enjoyment of violence reflects a culture devoted to death instead of life. We need to reeducate ourselves concerning the ways of peace.
If we wish to defend life we need to pour more of our resources into education. We need to stop bleeding off precious resources into various schemes that target the wealthy and focus our efforts on strengthening the public institutions that serve the more vulnerable sectors of our body politic. The public education institutions, and those who work in them, shape the future. They need our support and help, not continual badgering. We must invest in their well-being through adequate salary, appropriate resources, and fewer intrusions into the classroom. Our children spend eight hours a day with them for most of the year, and the future health of the nation depends on them.
We must also continue to address healthcare. Far too many of our nation perish through inadequate healthcare. It is to our shame that the most prosperous nation in the world neglects so many of its citizens by not providing basic healthcare. We stand alone in the developed world in our intransigence regarding providing healthcare. All other developed nations provide some sort of universal healthcare; but, we continue to shirk this responsibility, claiming that it is too problematic, too hard. Surely, we can do much better than this, and we must if we truly believe in the sanctity of life. We have the resources at hand, we just lack the willingness to redirect them into this needful activity. Many suffer from a much-degraded quality of life due, in large part, to a simple lack of resources.
Those of us who honor the sanctity of life should also honor work. We need to address the tremendous wage inequity that exists in our culture. Since I graduated from high school, in 1979, wages for the top one percent of earners have grown by 179%, while wages for the bottom ninety percent have grown by twenty-eight percent. 2 The resulting wage gap forces many to maintain two or three part-time jobs just to make ends meet. Due to their expertise, the upper echelons will always enjoy greater remuneration for their labors; however, those of us that embrace the right to life ought to embrace the concept of a living wage for all workers, including appropriate benefits. Without adequate pay, we consign large sectors of our society to lives of endless work, near poverty, and no hope of improvement. Many families endure an existence that is only one problem away from homelessness and abject poverty. Their pay provides for a minimal life just above poverty, and nothing else. They rarely take vacations, live in fear of significant illness, drive marginal cars, and have no real hope of elevating their, or their children’s, expectations. We need to develop a culture that honors work through appropriate pay and benefits. We have the resources; we just need to strengthen our empathy.
Much of this discussion revolves around our ability to feel empathy and express it through actions and policy. Too often we hide behind the bromide of, “the church should do this kind of work.” I agree that the church should labor in these areas of endeavor, and some are doing splendid work; however, the need is great. Also, as Christians, we ought to raise our voices and cast our votes for compassionate policies and practices. We exist in a time of unprecedented riches and abilities. Our nation enjoys great prosperity. We need to adjust our priorities, and our priorities need to include helping the less fortunate among us. There is plenty of room at the table.
1. https://www.apa.org/pi/prevent-violence/resources/violence-youth.pdf
2. https://bit.ly/3QXFUVN
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