I understand and value the fact that believers are citizens of heaven but wonder sometimes if some of the brethren and sistren spend too much time and thought in an alternative universe where the bizarre is normal, the outlandish is true, and facts need not apply.
The country has Todd Akin, Missouri Republican senatorial candidate, to thank for a glimpse into that alternative universe. His comments on "legitimate rape" and on how a "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole [conception] thing down" have made him a household name.
Oh my.
I have heard both of these things in conservative Baptist circles for decades, especially the latter. If one values life, all life, even that of a child conceived as a result of rape, then it is quite natural seek an approach to the idea that the state should require rape victims to carry the child and give birth.
Most of our fellow citizens are repelled by such laws. I do not foresee the political stars aligning, ever, on such laws ever being passed.
What's a pro-life purist to do?
See Todd Akin. He posits that (a) some rape is not legitimate, and (b) that there are very, very few conceptions as a result of legitimate rape so we should not be too concerned about that.
Could we have the data behind the "shutting down" thing, please? I've heard that for years offered as an ex cathedra statement.
And, legitimate and illegitimate rapes? This would be the belief that if the state attempted to prohibit abortion save for the exceptions of health of the mother and rape then numbers of women would lie and claim rape to end a pregnancy. How the state would sort through such things should be pondered. In Todd Akin's America would such a woman be put on trial or investigated to see if she really was legitimately raped and allowed to have that abortion?
But, in an alternative universe, who needs data driven facts and who needs to worry about the details of public policy implementation?
But Todd Akin's problem moves, I hate to say it, from the foolish ("stupidity" as Charles Krauthammer and others put it) to the unethical. His explanation and apology which included the usual 'I misspoke' and 'used the wrong words' belie what he actually said. He didn't just foul up the syntax and vocabulary and his backtracking is simply not credible.
Aside from what abortion policy support we want from candidates, do the people of Missouri want a candidate who does not own up to his own words and who offers the usual attempt at political doubletalk?
Also dwelling in the alternative evangelical universe are David Barton, now in freefall, and some young earth creationists but unlike the rape comment these are secondary issues. If one selectively quotes Jefferson or believes that dinosaurs coexisted with humans, a la the Flintstones, no lives are lost, no freedoms are lost.
...all of which is why the idea of political salvation is foolish and futile and that Christians who are pursuing such with gusts are chasing a chimera.
We should have learned better after a generation and a half of the hyper-politicalization of religious conservatives, with precious few results.
In contrast, there are no flaws in the Gospel, no need to finesse the truth, and individual changed lives are the surest way to achieve a better citizenry.
The country has Todd Akin, Missouri Republican senatorial candidate, to thank for a glimpse into that alternative universe. His comments on "legitimate rape" and on how a "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole [conception] thing down" have made him a household name.
Oh my.
I have heard both of these things in conservative Baptist circles for decades, especially the latter. If one values life, all life, even that of a child conceived as a result of rape, then it is quite natural seek an approach to the idea that the state should require rape victims to carry the child and give birth.
Most of our fellow citizens are repelled by such laws. I do not foresee the political stars aligning, ever, on such laws ever being passed.
What's a pro-life purist to do?
See Todd Akin. He posits that (a) some rape is not legitimate, and (b) that there are very, very few conceptions as a result of legitimate rape so we should not be too concerned about that.
Could we have the data behind the "shutting down" thing, please? I've heard that for years offered as an ex cathedra statement.
And, legitimate and illegitimate rapes? This would be the belief that if the state attempted to prohibit abortion save for the exceptions of health of the mother and rape then numbers of women would lie and claim rape to end a pregnancy. How the state would sort through such things should be pondered. In Todd Akin's America would such a woman be put on trial or investigated to see if she really was legitimately raped and allowed to have that abortion?
But, in an alternative universe, who needs data driven facts and who needs to worry about the details of public policy implementation?
But Todd Akin's problem moves, I hate to say it, from the foolish ("stupidity" as Charles Krauthammer and others put it) to the unethical. His explanation and apology which included the usual 'I misspoke' and 'used the wrong words' belie what he actually said. He didn't just foul up the syntax and vocabulary and his backtracking is simply not credible.
Aside from what abortion policy support we want from candidates, do the people of Missouri want a candidate who does not own up to his own words and who offers the usual attempt at political doubletalk?
Also dwelling in the alternative evangelical universe are David Barton, now in freefall, and some young earth creationists but unlike the rape comment these are secondary issues. If one selectively quotes Jefferson or believes that dinosaurs coexisted with humans, a la the Flintstones, no lives are lost, no freedoms are lost.
...all of which is why the idea of political salvation is foolish and futile and that Christians who are pursuing such with gusts are chasing a chimera.
We should have learned better after a generation and a half of the hyper-politicalization of religious conservatives, with precious few results.
In contrast, there are no flaws in the Gospel, no need to finesse the truth, and individual changed lives are the surest way to achieve a better citizenry.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness
