Family Values by Carol Wolman

Family Values by Carol Wolman

America's families are in shambles.  Yet divorce is not a political issue; abortion is.  Why?  Certainly not because of Jesus or the Bible.  Moses and Paul, both sticklers in matters of sexuality, never mentioned abortion. 

Jesus never mentioned abortion.  He never mentioned birth control.  However, he was strict on the subject of divorce.  Yet the divorce rate is just as high among born-again Christians as it is in the rest of the American population.   

http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=20

 

Mark 10: ⁷For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;  ⁸And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.  ⁹What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. ..¹¹And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.

Their focus on abortion rather than divorce proves, once again, the hypocrisy of the radical religious right, which uses the abortion issue to whip their loyal supporters into a frenzy, and to intimidate the half-hearted.  It is an appeal to sentimentality and to fear.

The abortion foes stake their emotional appeal upon a claim to be pro-life, but their hypocrisy is evident in support for capital punishment, war, depleted uranium weaponry, and the Left Behind series, which predicts the extinction of life.  What could be more pro-death?

Staying married requires maturity, love, patience, forgiveness- all the qualities that we associate with godliness, all qualities which are taught in the Bible.  It leads to emotionally healthy children who can perpetuate the chain of life.  Staying married is not a popular cause. 

What would restore some semblance of order to America's families?  Perhaps it would be a focus on preventing divorce.  Perhaps if the progressives wish to counter the radical right's self-righteousness, a commitment to maintaining marriages would be a good place to start. 

In the name of the Prince of Peace,  Carol Wolman