A Moral Issue, Not a Political one.

Sometimes when we are traveling, I’ll have my girlfriend read me the newspaper and such was the case this morning as we made our way down to Casa del LuMarfin.  One of the articles she read to me elicited from me a freshet of agreement and kinship because it contained echoes of things I have long felt and said.

The Dubuque County Right to Life organization held their annual fund raising dinner recently.  With over 800 in attendance, their featured speaker was Mary Ann Kuharski, the founder and director of Prolife Across America.  Her organization strives to educate people regarding the alternatives to abortion.  “I believe in conversion and the power of prayer,” Kuharski said. “Some people don’t even consider something like adoption, and we want to change that.”

I applaud that approach but I am even more enthusiastic in my support of some of the things she said later:

“The answer isn’t in politics — it’s in education,” Kuharski said. “Oftentimes, women feel pressure from someone else and we want them to know their options.”

Recently, here in Dubuque the Planned Parenthood of the Heartland clinic just a mile from my home closed its doors.  The stated reason was that there was not enough activity to warrant having a clinic there.  I don’t suppose it had anything to do with the picketers who stood/sat on the sidewalk in front of the place in all sorts of weather for months on end.

“Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the world,” Kuharski said. “I certainly consider them to be public enemy No. 1.”

What really caught my attention was the report that Kuharski avoids getting involved in the political aspect of the abortion issue. When she first became a pro-life advocate, Kuharski spoke with federal lawmakers and met former President Ronald Reagan.  But over time, she said, she began to see politics as an ineffective method of reaching people.  “I don’t think you can name one election in the past years where the issue of abortion hasn’t been brought up,” Kuharski said. “I used to debate with people on television about the issue, but I’ve avoided doing anything like that for years. I honestly find it to be useless.”

Linda and I talked about that and we agreed that, sadly, Kuharski is right.  This is one of the reasons why we are not particularly sold on the pro-life litmus test for the office of the Presidency, or congressional office.  We’ve had pro-life officials before and what did it get us?  Nothing.  The fact of the matter is that abortion, homosexuality, and other perversions that are part of the woven cloth of our modern society are not political issues regardless of how hard people try to make them so.  Those who parade them as political issues may garner votes, but they don’t produce results.  They are moral issues, issues that emanate from the depravity of the fallen man’s heart.  The proponent of abortion or homosexuality is not merely a person who holds to a particular political view.  They are a person who holds to an immoral view!  To believe that the issues can be resolved politically and/or through legislation is to believe in a false solution.  The real solution is to use the only antidote for a morally depraved heart … the Gospel … the Word of God.  It is only by prayerfully persuading people and bringing them to the light of God’s Word, educating them regarding issues that fuel the demand for abortions and the alternatives that exist as we provide help and support to those that would otherwise consider abortion that we can see real answers and real solutions put into place.

I fear that for too many, and for too long, the enemy successfully diverted our attention, energy, and resources in the direction of  futility while he has worked to entrench himself while our backs have been turned.