So you should read this article, because it’s very illustrative. It got me thinking, actually. Because, Murdock is actually right about something here. “I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
If you think about the logical conclusion of most “pro-life” supporters, this is really what you get. God intended it to happen. I should clarify too and say that Murdock is not at all saying God wants rape to happen, but it does raise an interesting theological issue to the fore: how much say does God have in birth and what is he saying about it? And what’s really interesting is going to be how people deal with what I think is going to become something of a religious crisis. Because everyone knows rape is bad and God is good, so what does it mean if God intended for the woman to get pregnant? God doesn’t like rape either. Okay good, logical God. Makes sense. But the next step: to get pregnant you need God, so God must have somehow given his approval for the pregnancy: problem. Logical problem, moral problem, etc.
What I think is going to happen rhetorically in the U.S. soon is that someone is going to try and explain either a) why God promotes rape pregnancies (that’s not going to go down well. at all.) or b) someone’s going to try and be a little more precise about how God is involved with pregnancy. And therein lies the real danger for more conservative Christians. Because if they distance themselves from this idea (which I think they will soon have to), they open a door to something that I think is a bit more extreme than it needs to be.
Because I’m not sure that the right question is being asked. The assumptions aren’t necessarily correct. However, I find it unlikely that the politicians who will likely lead the rhetorical backtrack on this issue will backtrack far enough and that could pose a major problem for God in the modern Christian sense. Because maybe if God isn’t so instrumental in abortion, what does he do exactly? I personally hope things don’t swing that way, and I suppose looking at it more closely it is more likely that these christian politicians will quietly change their opinion, whatever they believe about God’s influence on birth is or is not. But either way, I think this poses an interesting problem for the Christian church. A philosophical dilemma, if you will.
I’ve spent way too much time on this. I think I’m just avoiding homework. Oh boy.
Adventures in Yonderland 