Thanks for all this, Lindsay. This idea that if you are pro-life, you HAVE to want abortion to be illegal, is one I've seen time and time again, but I honestly don't really understand. Do they really think that a woman who's had an abortion should be prosecuted and jailed? What if her partner pressures her to have one -- should he go to jail? The laser focus on this issue to the exclusion of others, the narrow "abortion is murder" equation ... it's got a lot of social capital in the Christian world but it just feels so harsh.
I finished that Richard Rohr book I was telling you about (The Tears of Things) and he talks a lot about the reward-and-punishment mindset in our culture and in Christianity. If you have a punishment mentality, you can't allow any room for empathy. Stuckey knows that; that's her point! It's like she's thinking, "If I empathize too much with this woman, I might find myself thinking it's understandable and acceptable for her to have an abortion, and where does that leave my 'Abortion = murder' stance?" She needs to constantly reinforce her own walls and rules because if she lets empathy in, she's afraid everything will crumble. It's sad.
That is the thing, Jeannie, she isn't answering the question of what should be done to the people who have had one. She really just doesn't care. She wants her point to be taken and to be the ultimate. She is even downplaying Lecrae--who is behaving pretty awful these days. It is so hard for me to remain empathetic to her. I am glad you wrote about Richard Rohr and the punishment theology. I was going to highlight that too but the post was long and it took me hours to put together. I was so tired. It is good I waited b/c you writing that helped me figure out a way to feel some kind of compassion for Stuckey. I don't know if she really believes what she is saying--she could be a conflict entrepreneur--but someone who reads her stuff definitely does. I am going to work to keep them all human in my psyche--even the conflict entrepreneur.
Listen, I grew up believing some people were in and some were out, but I never thought I could not associate them or needed to shame them to death. Studying how they may have been nurtured as a kid helped me understand how this can happen. It is so, so sad.
Thanks for reading with me. Knowing you are involved makes this all worth it and not lonely.
Interestingly, Ben Cremer wrote today on Facebook about how he used to have a very cut-and-dried, binary approach to his faith and how he's had to unlearn that. I have always appreciated his humility and restraint in the things he posts and maybe this is why -- because he knows what it's like to think that way. Rohr is always cautioning against binaries and either-or as well.
It's important to keep people human in your mind -- that's a good reminder, Lindsay. Allie Beth too. Maybe she'll come to see that she needs to embrace a broader, more inclusive kind of faith. You never know!
I’ve been frustrated bc I feel like we’ve been cautioning about either/or thinking forever. But I guess that’s the message of our time. The one song we sing
I am wondering when we can send a message of where we are going. That’s what I’m trying so hard to do.
Thanks for all this, Lindsay. This idea that if you are pro-life, you HAVE to want abortion to be illegal, is one I've seen time and time again, but I honestly don't really understand. Do they really think that a woman who's had an abortion should be prosecuted and jailed? What if her partner pressures her to have one -- should he go to jail? The laser focus on this issue to the exclusion of others, the narrow "abortion is murder" equation ... it's got a lot of social capital in the Christian world but it just feels so harsh.
I finished that Richard Rohr book I was telling you about (The Tears of Things) and he talks a lot about the reward-and-punishment mindset in our culture and in Christianity. If you have a punishment mentality, you can't allow any room for empathy. Stuckey knows that; that's her point! It's like she's thinking, "If I empathize too much with this woman, I might find myself thinking it's understandable and acceptable for her to have an abortion, and where does that leave my 'Abortion = murder' stance?" She needs to constantly reinforce her own walls and rules because if she lets empathy in, she's afraid everything will crumble. It's sad.
That is the thing, Jeannie, she isn't answering the question of what should be done to the people who have had one. She really just doesn't care. She wants her point to be taken and to be the ultimate. She is even downplaying Lecrae--who is behaving pretty awful these days. It is so hard for me to remain empathetic to her. I am glad you wrote about Richard Rohr and the punishment theology. I was going to highlight that too but the post was long and it took me hours to put together. I was so tired. It is good I waited b/c you writing that helped me figure out a way to feel some kind of compassion for Stuckey. I don't know if she really believes what she is saying--she could be a conflict entrepreneur--but someone who reads her stuff definitely does. I am going to work to keep them all human in my psyche--even the conflict entrepreneur.
Listen, I grew up believing some people were in and some were out, but I never thought I could not associate them or needed to shame them to death. Studying how they may have been nurtured as a kid helped me understand how this can happen. It is so, so sad.
Thanks for reading with me. Knowing you are involved makes this all worth it and not lonely.
Interestingly, Ben Cremer wrote today on Facebook about how he used to have a very cut-and-dried, binary approach to his faith and how he's had to unlearn that. I have always appreciated his humility and restraint in the things he posts and maybe this is why -- because he knows what it's like to think that way. Rohr is always cautioning against binaries and either-or as well.
It's important to keep people human in your mind -- that's a good reminder, Lindsay. Allie Beth too. Maybe she'll come to see that she needs to embrace a broader, more inclusive kind of faith. You never know!
I just now saw his post. It’s a good one.
I’ve been frustrated bc I feel like we’ve been cautioning about either/or thinking forever. But I guess that’s the message of our time. The one song we sing
I am wondering when we can send a message of where we are going. That’s what I’m trying so hard to do.