Editor, Times-Union:
I was travelling in Central Illinois earlier this summer and came across this poster in a shop window. Unfortunately, the shop was closed at the time, as I would have liked to have spoken to the owner because the words on the poster caught my attention. Many individuals who follow Dave Barnhart, a traditional Christian pastor, may be familiar with this quote. However, I was so moved by his words I felt compelled to share them as food for thought in these troubled times. Following are his words:
“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. It’s almost as if, by being born, they have died to you. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus but actually dislike people who breathe.
“Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn.” - Dave Barnhart
It is imperative that we first learn how to accept and legislate for the living BEFORE we can ever effectively accept and legislate for the unborn. Think about it.
Barbara Fabyan
Leesburg, via email