On August 2nd Donna Fielder wrote an editorial in the Denton Record-Chronicle that probably a great percentage of the community agreed with: “Propagating Hate at Church.” The purpose of her column is to take issue with the protesters who show up each week in front of the First United Methodist Church building here in Denton. She calls it harassment. Public sentiment probably agrees with her; most of us would not appreciate being greeted by protesters on our way to worship each week.
Fielder points out that protesters wave pictures of aborted fetuses at worshippers as they enter the building. Nearly everyone would consider such behavior inappropriate and uncivilized. Nearly everyone.
Personally, I would never have thought of doing such a thing, I have not done it, I have no plans to do it. Furthermore, I don’t know anyone who has done it, nor am I encouraging anyone to do it. Certainly, I have no idea if the law defines this conduct as harassment.
But someone needs to ask, “What is the purpose of this demonstration?” Donna Fielder apparently assumes that these are the actions of a hate-filled people. Has she “judged” them (a favorite line usually wrongly thrown at conservatives)? These protesters could have motives other than hatred.
Although the columnist tries to disassociate the picketing from the abortion issue itself, such is not possible. Consider a portion of her column, which will then be followed by a reply to it.
I suppose a doctor who performs abortions can expect such treatment, though she shouldn’t have to.But the church she attends?
This column is not an arrow for either side of the pitched battle of pro-life/pro-choice. It is not about abortion. It is about harassment. And the well-planned campaign behind it (16A).
We have no doubts that the author is sincere in what she writes, but she errs in saying that her column is not about abortion. The issue cannot be divorced from the actions of the protesters. They are doing what they are doing because they know that abortion takes the life of an innocent child created in the image of God.
They know that the Scriptures teach that the life in the womb is just as human as the life out of the womb (Luke 1:41, 44; 2:12, 16). The Holy Spirit uses the exact same Greek word to refer to the “fetus” as he does to the newborn child. Pro-life people are not philosophers who speculate about the beginning of life.
We are not materialists or evolutionists who believe that everything can be explained by natural means. [Even if we were, the scientific evidence for life beginning at conception is compelling.] We glean wisdom from the Scriptures. The prophet was told: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew youÉ” (Jer. 1:5). Before WHO formed him in the womb? Zechariah records the words of the Lord who, among other things, “forms the spirit of man within him” (12:1). WHO forms the spirit of man within him? Consider Psalm 119:13-16:
For you have formed my inward parts; you have covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.God not only had a hand in man’s original creation; there appears to be involvement still. An abortionist, however, terminates that life which God formed in the womb. This makes the abortionist uncivilized, a killer of human life; yes, a murderer. Isn’t it ironic that those who describe this “occupation” accurately are the ones who are accused of being barbaric? And the abortionist is supposed to be treated with respect, as we would honor a pediatrician or a cardiologist? It is a sick society that elevates cruel killers while disparaging and condemning the compassionate and merciful.
If one understands that abortion is an issue of life and death, then the actions of the protesters is understandable. But why picket the church that the abortionist attends and wave ugly posters at their people?
Certainly, this seems an impolite thing to do, but ideas and philosophies have consequences. Should the proponents of those ideas be shielded from their results? There is a logical connection between the members of First United Methodist and the behavior of those who picket outside their building.
1. Do the members of First United Methodist consider themselves Christians? [“Yes” is assumed.]
2. Then they have an obligation to abide by the Scriptures. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
3. The Scriptures teach that the taking of innocent human life is sin (Matt. 5:21-22). Murderers will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8).
4. Christians cannot fellowship those who commit sin publicly and refuse to repent of it (1 Cor. 5:11). Murder is not included in this particular list, but it is a like sin, and the principle is stated clearly. In Corinth a man was living with his father’s wife. Everybody knew it–including members of the church. They should have mourned the situation and withdrawn fellowship from the one practicing this sin. Likewise, no congregation of God’s people would allow an abortionist (murderer) to be a member in good standing. Fellowship should be withdrawn from such a person. Just as Corinth did not mind fellowshipping a sexually immoral person, some today apparently condone having an experienced, “practicing” killer of babies in their midst.
5. The purpose of the protesters is to set before the fellow worshippers the results of their ideology. The members of First United Methodist have tacitly approved of the behavior of an abortionist, just as those in Corinth approved of sexual immorality. Those outside their building every Sunday morning show them the results of their beliefs. If a person is doing nothing wrong, why should such placards bother them?
Someone might respond, “My doctor removed my appendix, but I don’t want to see a picture of it on the way to worship, either.” True, but the result of his operation is a healthy person. The result of an abortion is a dead child. To be fair, the end result of both operations would need to be shown.
Many of us have been present at pro-life rallies when a ten or twelve-year-old was introduced, whose mother had been talked out of an abortion, perhaps by an obnoxious sidewalk protester. The mother is grateful; the child is grateful. It is a powerful argument. What parallel display can the abortionist offer? His or her life is littered with the corpses of human beings, whose blood will cry out as witnesses in the day of judgment.
And as the people of Germany were silent about the holocaust, shall we remain silent? Shall no one speak on behalf of the defenseless? Thank God that somebody is saying something–even if it does offend the sensibilities of others. We cannot bring ourselves to be unhappy with those who protest each week, reminding others of the consequences of their beliefs. We shall not join with those who remonstrate against them periodically. It is not their fault that a perverted court made abortion legal in what can only be described as a legislative (rather than a judicial) act. Our Constitution nowhere stated or implied that abortion was a “right.” The protesters may be using extreme measures, but what other viable options are there?
Donna Fielder also complained that there is an anti-abortion industry selling postcards and posters. She did not say how much profit was being made on the sale of these items. Lady, you picked the wrong thing to criticize. Who do you think has been making money for the past 25-plus years on abortion? Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion agencies have been receiving millions of tax dollars to support what they do. [You’re a reporter; why don’t you investigate the facts of the matter?]
If there is a government handout to pro-life groups, we have yet to hear of it. Has anybody read Carol Everett’s book, Blood Money, to see what abortionists earn? She operated in and around Dallas; if she has not been truthful, why not dig into the facts for the rest of us? How ironic that, with all the money being made in the abortion industry, someone would complain that pro-lifers would sell 100 postcards for $6.50!