Osler's Razor

This morning, I have a piece in the Waco Tribune Herald (see it here) on abortion.  Specifically, it addresses late term abortions and follows on an earlier CNN piece and a presentation I gave in February at Stanford.

Abortion is such a hard topic, and passions run deep, but people who know me realize that I find that kind of topic hard to avoid.  In part, I think there is an imperative to think hard about the toughest issues, even when people will strongly oppose you (and they will).  Often, it is faith that drives me there-- because Christ stopped an execution and was a capital defendant, I care about the death penalty.  Because he was born poor, I care about poverty (though not enough).  Because he loved all who were despised by society, I try to see the world that way.

Abortion, as rooted as it has become in religion, does not fit in that way.  Jesus did not teach about it.  Still, it is a matter that involves the most vulnerable among us (both the pregnant women and the unborn children), and Jesus always did care about them.

Even at that, I will admit that it isn't religion that shapes my views on this one.  There are two key questions relating to abortion, and neither has a distinctive answer clearly provided by the Protestant faith.  The first question is "can it be right to take an innocent life?"  The second question is "should be consider a child in the womb an innocent life?"

The first question receives the same answer from people of all faiths, or outside of a faith-- no one favors the taking of innocent life.

The second question isn't resolved clearly by Christ's teachings.  Even the idea that God knew us when we were in the womb isn't determinative, given that God knew us before we were conceived, as well, given his omniscience.  If I were part of a faith like Catholicism that has specific church teachings on this, that would be different of course.

While, at least to Anabaptist Osler, Christianity does not resolve the issue politically, our faith does compel us to care about the least among us.  It is an issue that must be engaged, because it is important, and part of the problem with abortion is the toxicity of the debate, which has driven so many people away.  I want to be a part of the solution to that problem.