Anyone who's read my blog knows I'm not a fan of organized religion. My "position piece" on the subject is here.
I'm back to call out some of the most recent hypocrisy and generally offend fundamentalists, because I haven't offended enough of them this week.
I'll start with the contentious topic at the moment, abortion, where being completely up front, I think it's a woman's choice because it's her body. Full stop.
Of course, evangelicals scream that it's murder and life begins at conception. Science says otherwise, but why do they hold such a position? Their cherished book makes no mention of abortion or when life begins, so why would anyone pay attention to an entity that's mostly ignored science as a matter of course (except when it suits them)? That makes as much sense as asking a blind man to review a silent movie. If it wasn't your god, then the position could have only come from the church leadership.
The evangelical church really didn't weigh in on the subject until the late sixties. In fact, before that time, some (SBC) were expanding access to abortion. Then the Equal Rights Amendment and Roe came along. The evangelicals live and die by their belief in the patriarchal structure, meaning the man is the leader, with his wife being subservient to him. Evangelical leaders saw ERA and Roe as threats to the patriarchal structure. Women would have power over both their bodies and paychecks; they could demand equality in the family!
Evangelical leaders couldn't allow such a threat to exist. They needed to solidify their power over the women in the church. So they caucused and decided God considered life to begin at conception and abortion was murder. Who knew that God could change his mind like that?
This is one of reasons I despise organized religion. The supposed word of God has been perverted and twisted so many times by power hungry white dudes, that there's no way it can bear any resemblance to true Christianity at this point. Lest their be concern I fabricated these events, I highly suggest reading Jesus and John Wayne, by Kristin Du Mez. She's an Evangelical scholar and pastor. Even as an atheist, I found the book to be quite interesting. She pretty much admits what I've been thinking for decades, which is literally everything the church does is about power.
While I may seem pretty raw on this subject, I hold a great deal of sympathy for Christian women who've been betrayed by their church. They've been manipulated for decades by men not fit to lead their flocks and it will certainly shake the core beliefs of those who finally wake up to the fact. But the fact remains abortion was accepted by the church until they felt the need to tighten control over women.
Evangelicals endorse having the baby and "taking personal responsibility", "rising to the occasion", and all that other bullshit. That's a lovely idea, but expecting sixteen year old's to become adults overnight is pretty fucking unrealistic. Let's say the new mother does make that leap, but has no support structure. Evangelicals can't fathom this because they have the whole klan of cousins and spouses (who are typically one and the same) to help out. In any case, if she doesn't have that safety net, she's not getting one from the right wing. "Get a job." Okay, how about some assistance for child care, because the kind of job an uneducated new mother can capture won't pay enough to cover half of that burden. If those making these horrible laws truly believed in the sanctity of life, they wouldn't abandon fetuses after they pop out of the womb.
Ultimately, I think most Republican politicians could give two shits about abortion. You know damned well most of the men have knocked up at least one impressionable girl and paid to make it go away. But they need the evangelical vote and abortion is a hot topic for them, at least it is now. So they pander, laughing behind their backs. Remember, with very few exceptions, your elected officials consider their only job to be reelection.
A perfect example of this popped up in today's election news. Mike Erickson has secured the Republican nomination for the House in Oregon's 6th district. Here's a story about how gave a girlfriend $300, took her to the doctor's for the procedure, then later claimed he didn't know she was pregnant or having an abortion. Many Republicans seem to share a brain defect that either prevents them from being aware of their surroundings or forget things they said. Are they really fit to govern this country?
To those evangelicals who are amazingly, still reading, I'd love to hear how you reconcile the (recent) belief that every life is sacred, but don't give a thought to tossing that life aside, once it leaves the womb. Also, please explain why you consider abortion to be murder, when your church didn't until recently. I'd really like to hear from women anti choice politicians, who are actively working to help men bring women under control. Evil or fucking moronic; no other option for them.
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