Postcards from Babylon: The Church In American Exile

by Brian Zahnd

If it threatens the wellbeing of children, followers of Jesus oppose it. Nothing less is truly pro-life. This is why a consistent pro-life Christian ethic opposes the death-friendly practices of abortion, capital punishment, torture, war, predatory capitalism, environmental exploitation, unchecked proliferation of guns, neglecting the poor, refusing the refugee, and keeping healthcare unaffordable for millions. Using an anti-abortion position to provide moral cover for pro-death practices and policies advantageous to the principalities and powers should not be confused with a pro-life ethic derived from the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. As early as the second-century Didache, Christians have said abortion is incompatible with Christian ethics. But those same second-century Christians also said war is incompatible with Christian ethics. If we rightly claim that abortion for convenience is incompatible with Christian ethics because Christ was once in the womb, we must also recognize that refusing refugees is incompatible with Christian ethics because Christ was once forced to seek asylum in a foreign land. Christians must have their ethics informed by Christ, not by the vested interests of tyrant kings.