Dear Editor,
I am writing to confront the rhetorical twisting necessary for many members of the religious right to be simultaneously anti-abortion, pro-death penalty, and pro-war. I have read several articles in various newspapers last week regarding the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, including a Daily News article about the Ball State Students for Life, and I could not help asking myself a few questions. First of all, what is the most common basis for the pro-life position?
At least in the case of the religious right, this stance is generally founded in the Christian doctrine of the sanctity of human life. According to this doctrine, all humans are created in the sacred image of God, and thus all life has an intrinsic value. Further, since humans are created in the image of God, they are thus instructed to love one another as they love themselves and as they love God.
If one were to ask many Christians why they seem to almost unswervingly support the agenda of the Republican Party, I think that many would cite the abortion issue as a primary motivating factor. Yet, what about the Republican and/or conservative stances on the issues of war and the death penalty? It seems that, on these issues, many Christians wish to only use the Old Testament, turning a blind eye to essential parts of their own doctrine.
In reference to the issues of abortion and the death penalty, I have heard the argument that murderers deserve to die because they have taken the life of another, but unborn children are innocent and thus deserve life. But, is this not "an eye for an eye?" Is this not the old covenant? In terms of war, I have heard the argument that our enemies are non-Christians and wish us harm or have harmed us, therefore, they deserve our swift and violent retribution.
But did Christ not tell us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? When Peter raised his sword to ward off those who came to arrest Christ, did Christ not rebuke him, saying, "Put your sword back in its place ... for all who draw the sword will die by the sword" (Matthew 26:52, NIV).
This new covenant of love and grace through Christ is the covenant that Christians, by their very name, assume to be under. Are not our enemies then fellow human beings? How, therefore, can Christian conservatives and Republicans argue for the sanctity of all human life in one situation but argue for retribution and most bloody vengeance in another?
David C. Dunham
graduate student
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