I read in The Federalist that not everyone in churches believes what the church confesses. . . at least when it comes to abortion. You go ahead and read the article Yes, You Can Be Pro-Choice And A Christian, Even Though It’s Not Consistent. D. C. McAllister cites the Pew Research study which gives purports to give the percentage of church members who approve of abortion and believe it should be legal in most circumstances. Read it and then tell me where we went wrong.
Episcopal Church: 72%
United Church of Christ: 72%The surprises? Well, no surprise for the first four and number six on the list. They are among the most liberal of all Christian denominations. What is a surprise is that the African Methodist Episcopal Church and National Baptist Convention are such supporters of abortion since a disproportionate number of abortions are of African American babies -- thus fulfilling Margaret Sanger's desire for birth control and abortion to be ethnic cleansing (eugenics). Could it be that this support actually encourages her racist agenda? Another surprise is that the Orthodox are majority supporters of abortion -- definitely in conflict with the church's stance (although the Orthodox have not been as vocal in their opposition as Roman Catholics or the LCMS).
Presbyterian Church USA: 65%
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 65%
African Methodist Episcopal Church: 64%
United Methodist Church: 58%
National Baptist Convention: 57%
Anglican Church: 56%
Presbyterian Church in America: 54%
Orthodox Christian: 53%
Roman Catholic: 48%
American Baptist Churches USA: 47%
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod: 46%
Seventh-day Adventist: 42%
Church of God in Christ: 41%
Churches of Christ: 36%
Southern Baptist Convention: 30%
Mormon: 27%
Church of the Nazarene: 27%
Assemblies of God: 26%
Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.): 20%
Jehovah’s Witness: 18%
The biggest surprises for me were the members of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod who support abortion and its legality. While not a majority, it is close and it is clear that the case and the cause have not been well addressed and taught, or, if they were, how little the people were listening to that catechesis on the most basic life issue. Could it be that our people have been listening to other voices and have decided that either it is a lost cause or an unworthy one? Clearly, we have our work cut out for us!
6 comments:
Maybe the Purple Palace can ask its member congregations for statistical information on the number of people denied communion or excommunicated because of their professed position in favor of murder-by-abortion.
Perhaps an overture requesting that information could be submitted to the synod convention, even though some floor committee would make sure it would never reach the "calm" convention floor.
In any case, from the Pew Research study, the number is probably very close to a number starting with "z". Because if you want calm, you got calm.
Unless someone is vocal in their opposition to the Synod's position, how would you know? I would think most of those in churches opposed to abortion, if not all, are silently in favor of abortion.
A befuddled Mr. Anony Mous asks: "Unless someone is vocal in their opposition to the Synod's position, how would you know?"
In addition to vocally professing a woman's "choice" to have abortions, a Lufauxran may also indicate abortion advocacy by lapel pins, t-shirts slogans, participation in marches, bumper stickers, and other public displays (and campaign contribution lists) supporting a pro-abortion political party, pro-abortion political candidates, Planned Butcherhood, and other pro-abortion organizations.
Of course there will also be hypocrites who publicly profess a pro-life position within the church but secretly support the abortion industry.
It is hard to comment on the numbers since I don't know how the survey questions were worded or how the percentages are tallied from the responses. So I will have to speak from experience. I personally know of very few LCMS members who support abortion as a morally acceptable choice, although given our stance, those who support it may just be quiet in their support. However, I have met people who although they find it objectionable, justify its legality on the grounds that the state should not legislate morality, separating the civil from the religious. I think this stems from poor catechesis with regard to the two kingdoms philosophy that the role of the civil realm is supposed to be in submission to God's will, just as the heavenly realm is, and that the failure of the civil authorities to do so constitutes sin. I think the only thing we can do is address both sides of the equation, showing how abortion violates God's law, and that the purpose of the civil realm is to uphold God's law. I don't know what else you can really do.
In the June, 2017, Pew survey, the question asked was:
Q.B21 Do you think abortion should be [READ IN ORDER TO RANDOM HALF OF SAMPLE, IN REVERSE ORDER TO OTHER HALF OF SAMPLE]?
1 Legal in all cases
2 Legal in most cases
3 Illegal in most cases
4 Illegal in all cases
9 [VOL. – DO NOT READ] Don’t Know/Refused
Excerpted from the Pew Research Questionnaire (p. 4).
Abortion is murder. That almost half of LCMS members are pro-choice is an abomination.
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