The Mindful Life with Waylon H. Lewis
Anti-Abortion and Pro-War…What Gives?
By Waylon H. Lewis, 3-17-06
What would Jesus drive..? Neither. He'd ride an Electra w/a Shimano Nexus internal 7-speed hub.
Abortion is everyone’s favorite political issue. But in daily life, it’s a non-issue.
Ask a deep-South candidate why he’s running for something, he’ll say “Pro-Life” before you can say ‘knee-jerk,’ or even just ‘jerk.’ Ask him why he (because, yes, he’s a he—over 108% of Republican candidates are men) supports The War, on the other hand, and suddenly our Right-to-Kill is a good thing. Death Penalty? He likes that, too.
So if we’re not talking about a Right-to-Life, just what are we talking about?
Abortion is a made-up issue. It’s divisive, and it’s meant to be, and anyone who plays the Choice v. Life game is playing a losing game. It’s a game meant to keep everyday Americans and everyday Christians (not the Far-Right) voting against one another.
Fact is, 73.76% of Americans could get behind something like the following: abortion is sometimes the best of two bad choices. Most non-ideologically-drunk Americans support the woman’s right to a safe (legal) abortion. No one supports the use of abortion as a casual form of contraception—and, of course, it’s such a invasive procedure, no one ‘uses’ it frivolously. It’s a last resort, as it should be.
Fact is, if Anti-Abortioners were so concerned about the as-yet unborn fetus, their concern would extend to the babe’s infancy—to education, to welfare. But, politically-speaking, it doesn’t. Fact is, Republicans are the ones cutting welfare, supporting ‘wars of liberation’ (Mao, anyone?) that cost $1 billion a day while leaving All Too Many Children Behind (I think of that bumper sticker re: the Air Force holding a bake sale. I’d buy a cookie).
Fact is, war sucks. Or, as General William Tecumseh Sherman said (and he knew something about it, much more than you or I do) war is hell. Or, as FDR famously intoned,
I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen two hundred limping exhausted men come out of line—the survivors of a regiment of one thousand that went forward forty-eight hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.
Now, hating war is every liberal hippy’s favorite pastime—that and voting for candidates, if we vote at all, who can’t win anything but moral victories.
Chögyam Trungpa, the Tibetan guru who brought Buddhism to the West in the early ‘70’s, once said that martyrdom isn’t good enough. He said that it’s much better for Goodness to actually Win. Look at Jesus. He lived a life that continues to inspire millions of people, thousands of years later. But after he was killed, the Church that inherited his example of humility, of love, of compassion promptly decked itself out in gold and velvet, prosecuted Crusades in its name, and to this day uses His name as the ‘password’ to Heaven (as in, if you don’t accept Him as your Lord and Savior, you’re going to Hell—yes, ‘proper’ Christians actually believe that Jews, Muslims, rock climbers and other heathens are going to burn in flames for all eternity—a well-known fact that never ceases to amaze me).
So, of course, we’d of been better off if He hadn’t been martyred. That would’ve been a wonderful thing. A legacy of hatred and hurt would never have started up.
Hatred? Hurt? Now that’s not Jesus’s faith. Jesus was about love, not passwords. Jesus was about compassion for lepers and poor folk, not sinning and burning in hell. Jesus was about understanding and inclusion, not gay-bashing and Hummer-driving. There’s a reason ‘kids these days’ think more about video games and iTunes and sex and fashion than they do Church on Sunday. And it ain’t entirely the kids', nor their parents’, fault. A church that preaches hate will fade, fade away. Hate’s boring.
The key seems to be to find a sort of middle ground, both politically and religiously. For whatever side of the aisle we sit on, we're all Americans—as Senator John McCain, Congressman Mark Udall and too few others like to remind us. That all sounds nice, but get a few feminists and Pro-Lifers in a room together, close the door, and try and come to a compromise everyone can live with. It's tough stuff.
My magazine, elephant, recently held its first 'ecofashionshoot.' 25 gorgeous men and women, ages 2 through 65, gathered and preened and posed and, eventually, forgot about the camera entirely. We got some good shots. It was a good time. But there was a black lining on our silver cloud. One of our ecomodels had wanted to bring her granddaughter along. But she wasn't allowed. The father of the child—a gentleman I'm on friendly terms with—didn't want his babe having anything to do with a magazine that had featured the Dalai Lama on its cover. He's a devout Christian. That's great—more of us ought to be devout, these days. But when devotion to a faith or ideology hardens—when 'others' become 'bad'—we've crossed a line. We're missing the point of our own faith. Now, I know my friend meant well—he loves Jesus, and wants to stay true to that love. But be careful, y'all—for love admits no boundaries. You let in just a little, you're asking for it.
So let's forget about being right, just for a second. Let's move an inch or two toward one another. Let's decide that being right isn't quite as important as being together. I will if you will.
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I'm impressed. I found this to be a powerful, important and compelling piece. The gift of sprinkled Waylon humor and some lightness makes the strong message even easy to digest. Let's get this one syndicated!
Good work!
Sid
Point by point:
A. "Anti-Abortioners" do support pregnant women materially as well as spiritually. Check out Real Choices, a local, prolife Christian organization, for example. The Prolife Catholic Church in Denver operates at least two homeless shelters, one specifically for women, and Catholic Charities works to alleviate suffering both here and abroad.
B. The Church (by this I suppose you mean the Catholic Church) voiced strong opposition to the War in Iraq. It is also against the Death Penalty. The problem is the media are not so quick to cover the anti-war and anti-death penalty pronouncements as they are the "pelvic issues".
C. Jesus did in fact speak of Hell. In the Gospel of Matthew, (Mt 13:41-42) Jesus spoke of gathering all evildoers and throwing them into the furnace of fire, for example. There are other examples, too. Jesus loved sinners but demanded that we repent of our sins. By his martyrdom we are redeemed. Repentence means believing you are a sinner but knowing God loves you in your sinfulness. Good has already won but you won't know it if you don't believe.
D. The Church has had sinners in its ranks, just like other faiths also sinners in their ranks. It is our broken humanity. Waylon, you are just plain wrong when it comes to what "proper Christians" believe. The Church, and most understand that term to refer to the Catholic Church, does not teach that people of other faiths will go to Hell. This is an outright falsehood. Nowhere will you see this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Finally, you write that you want a "dialogue" etc., but you how can you expect this to happen when you won't take the time to accurately represent the convictions of those with whom you disagree? You say you want to us to move toward each other, but mischaracterizing folks is just another way to drive us apart.
First of all, thanks for raising the bar on this discussion--from my obvious ignorance--to something a little more meaty--something more like 'the truth.'
A few things: I attended Sunday School as a child, and have a great deal of affection for the people I knew there. I've studied the Bible, attended church, read Thomas Merton & dozens of other true believers, and count countless Christians as friends. So, the truly bad news is that if I am ignorant of your faith--and I am, obviously--I'm also probably better-educated than most.
Meaning? The main message Christianity seems to be getting out to the American mainstream, these days, is a Right-Wing, politicized one. And it may be too easy to blame that 100% on the shoulders of 'the media,' a term as frequently bandied about, and misunderstood, as 'the Church.'
By 'Church,' I meant to refer to Christianity generally. That's a vast, diverse group, of course—and it's one that did not make its opposition to The War, if indeed that was its considered opinion, vocal enough in the U.S. to reach my ears, or the ears of our President.
Here's a question for you, Zerb: you failed to mention the exclusion of gays in many communities. That's prejudice (if prejudice is to be defined as judgement prior to understanding)—and all the pointing to stanzas in the Bible in the world won't make that fact go away. What's your stand on that, brother?
Secondly, you're right again—churches, by and large, of any faith are more involved in serving those in need—the homeless, victims of events such as the tsunami, etc.—than five Bush Administrations put together. And that's appreciated.
Finally, glad to hear I have a chance, despite my avowed Buddhism, to stay out of the fiery depths of your mythic fire. Thanks for that. I would say that I've been told by many friends that, because I declined to accept Jesus as my personal savior, I would not be saved—and I would 'go to hell.' So maybe you ought to talk with your Christian sisters and brothers, and enlighten them.
Finally finally, I'm truly sorry to hear Jesus was a fan of "gathering all evildoers and throwing them into the furnace of fire." But his basic message, the one that inspired humanity for generations upon generations, isn't hatred. It's just the opposite. And as many have shown, pointing to the Bible as you did re Jesus & Hell, to justify a particular belief—is great until you find another stanza that says something else entirely. The Bible is mythic (so-and-so lived 500 years and begat so-and-so, etc.). It's also full of God's wisdom. I think it's up to the individual to figure out the difference between the two.
The Buddhist teachings talk plenty about suffering and evil-doing, but always in a context of workability. For human nature, in the Buddha's view, is itself workable. Original Sin? Nah. Howwabout clouds of confusion passing before the sun of our basically good nature.
Finally finally finally, here's our dialogue! Let's keep it going, Zerb. I will take the time to learn, if you'll have the patience to teach me. I mean that. And you're right—my ignorance is unfortunate—but with your help, it just may help bring us together after all, hey?
Yours in remembering the point of Faith in the first place—
Way
There is a deep social wounding going on here, that continues to split 'US' apart. It is happening in every corner of the world, Us vs Them, Right vs Wrong. And it speaks of values, and the belief structures, both internal and external that uphold those beliefs and values. Religion is a structure, built by people for many reasons. Some noble, some not so noble. Some use it for political gain, (see God and Ceasar in America, an essay on Religion and Politics, by Gary Hart ,2005). Some use religion to make 'other' bad, sin-filled, (see The origin of Satan, by Elaine Pagels,1995), and many use religion as a structure to relate a message of universal compassion, understanding and love for all living creatures.
What we need remember is the 'universality' of life and death and the 'truth' that rings through all the great religions. If we find ourself mired in the social woundings that have been and are preached, politicized and marched around the world, we will truly be 'lost' to the kingdom of heaven within, (not 'up' there).
'Leaders' want/need 'followers' (aka, power), and many are willing to do anything from murder to mud-slinging to get it.
Thus the power of shame. And many social institutions, from family units, to schools, to corporate entities, to religious doctrines, use shame to control the followers. (see Shame: Theory, Therapy, Theology, by Stephen Pattison, 2000).
My point: Until we - you and I, examine, up close and personal why we believe, what we believe, and where, and whom we obtained those beliefs from, we will be tied to the wheel of fortune, (karma). We will constantly repeat our own personal (story) history, and therefore social history as well. A history that is steeped in murder, mayhem, mud-slinging, sin, so-to-speak. And what word goes hand-in-hand with sin? Shame. (see Adam, Eve and the Serpant, by Pagels, 1989).
And let's keep talking about it, because there is one sure way to cure sin, (shame). That is to expose the illusions (beleifs) that shroud it, and keep it hidden, that make it 'bad'.
On the upside, every one of us that squirms while in contact with a belief we do not share is being taught a very important lesson. That faith comes from within, not from without. By changing ourselves, we transform the world. Hopefully we can all learn this lesson soon, and completely.
Not only for your eloquent, thoughtful and opinionated piece, but also for your openness to really hear other voices, digest what they say and continue the conversation. . .
I grew up the only Jew in the "Bible Belt" of Colorado (did you know we had one of those here?), so I have a bit of a knee-jerk reaction myself to talk of fire, brimstone and eternal damnation--usually I just don't want to hear it. So, I appreciate you raising the bar. I heard you say: let's really talk about this, let's not not get paralyzed and polarized in our separate corners, we can do better than that, and in these times we MUST.
Warmly,
Danya
You are so refreshhing. Thanks for encouraging trying the clarity and bliss of unfettered love that is the true nature of our human heart. This is what Jesus seemed to be talking about with his teachings on love thy neighbor, and not just your neighbor who has your same belief system. I truly wish, as you do, that he had been able to stick around longer then he did to have said more.
Yours,
Susan
I was very interested in this article, and I chuckled at the photo and its caption. The premise of being pro-life not extending to being anti-war or anti-death penalty is a good one to explore. I wonder how the pro-choice or pro-abortion groups relate to those issues as well. Is there a correlation?
I disagree that hatred is boring, though. I think that hatred is either entertaining and intoxicating or toxic and repelling. It doesn't take many of the resitations of "Death to America" (intoxicating for those chanting) for an American listener to want to turn away (toxic and repelling to the listener). But maybe you were thinking of getting tired of listening to all the media reports from the war and preferring to watch a DVD to watching more news stories? Still I bet if the report were to say that Osama bin Laden were captured, everybody would be glued to the receiver again, just a question of new news.
What do you think?
Best,
Deanna