#consistentlife

It seems dreadfully easy for people to pick a “side.” It appears much harder for us to remember the humanity of those on the other “side.” More to the point, choosing a side seems to cause us to forget not only “their” humanity but also our own.

I particularly find it a gut punch to see Christians, and Catholics especially, showing so little humility in the face of the suffering of others, so little empathy, so small a sense of the struggles people face and the helplessness they (usually rightly) feel. I’m astonished and sickened at how many responses to the hypothetical eleven year-old rape victim boil down to, “Suck it up. It’s only nine months. Get a C-section.”

And I’m frankly outraged at the frequent disdain for discussion of the reasons that women have abortions and the righteous refusal to do anything about it. For reference, Alabama ranks 46th for health care, 50th for education, 45th for economy, and 45th for opportunity. During debate on the recent abortion bill, an amendment was proposed to guarantee healthcare for mothers. Predictably, it was overwhelming rejected.

Bad actors by instinct justify bad behaviour by pointing to the bad behaviour of the other “side.” Newsflash: VIRTUOUS BEHAVIOUR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT THE OTHER SIDE DOES. YOU ARE SINGLED OUT BY YOUR MORAL OBLIGATIONS. YOUR OBLIGATION IS TO BE A MORAL PERSON, NOT MERELY TO PICK THE CORRECT “SIDE.” Choosing the right team does not absolve you. This presses particularly hard if you are Christian!

I’m sure that in the last few weeks you have seen at least as many abortion posts as I have. Of those many posts, yours have consistently stood out as possessed of deep caritas, of a willingness to listen, to appreciate, to see nuance, to admit error or oversight, to acknowledge an opposing point made, to retain humility in the face of the sufferings of others, to stubbornly insist on putting at the centre the personhood of all involved, and to not forget that when you speak you speak as a daughter of the King.