A post-Evangelical Position on Abortion

In 2008, a close friend of mine called me a “baby murderer” after Lindsay and I drove to Vegas to campaign for Barack Obama, a pro-choice candidate. No doubt, many other evangelical christians said these sorts of things behind my back. I felt the distance. I also took the criticism and the silence seriously. So I continued to study the bible—which scripted for me a post-evangelical position on abortion. 

What I found weaving through the ancient text, over and over again, was a fundamental critique of Pharoah, Solomon and Caesar—men of power who sanctified their human hierarchy of value with a supremacy god always on the throne, always in control. The good news is that, throughout the scriptures, there is also a Sabbath God delivering a dissenting opinion that gives agency and empowerment to women, the working poor, the orphans and the overlooked. 

The Sabbath God certainly cares about the protection and care of fetal life. However, the focus of divine love is on investment, not prohibition. Sharing resources, not social control. Providing care, not policing women. Sabbath says that if every parent had access to the same healthcare, childcare and education that every President does, abortion would be rare in America. 

The bible does not actually say anything about banning abortion. But it does say a lot about birthing a new world. When bible readers subvert white male supremacy with the Sabbath God, they are impregnated with new possibilities. Power is redistributed. Priorities are reordered. Less for the Pentagon, the prisons and the police force. More for our families. Less for bombs. More for wombs. Sabbath says we can have a world like this. Only when we stop bowing to supremacy.