When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:7 (NIV)

  I believe that the worst thing we can do as Christians is to constantly preach a guilt-invoking message to those who are hoping to understand how Jesus would view them should they ever have to make the decision to abort their child.  For some women, it is far too painful to imagine letting the product of such a vile act as rape to live inside them.  I understand why this would hurt, but having not suffered that particular pain; I can’t speak to each and every woman’s mental and emotional state when confronted with this dilemma.  What I do know is that everything is not always a black and white issue.  Yes, God’s word says that it is wrong to kill; however, a woman who decides to have an abortion is hardly going into it with the same intent as a person who goes out and murders another person.  In fact, in most cases these women are trying desperately to save a life; their own.

And women are the worst of their critics.  But simply being female does not qualify you to speak down to or on behalf of those who have been raped or molested.  Until you have been violated in this way, you cannot understand how difficult it is to suffer the torment of not only worrying that you might be pregnant or infected with some disease that your attacker carried; but also dealing with just never again having the feeling that you are completely safe.  God does allow certain things to happen as a means to glorify Him, but make no mistake, no woman feels blessed to have been attacked and I’m just speculating here, but I’m pretty sure that any woman who becomes pregnant as the result of an attack feels ten thousand times more broken and confused than those who escape that injustice.

Ladies, when you are aggressively defending your right to tell other women what they should and should not be ashamed of, you’d better look closely at your own life.  None of us have been 100% pure in heart and deed.  And if you haven’t experienced the pain and trauma of being raped or molested, you really have no place to tell someone who has that they will burn in hell if they choose to abort the product of that crime.  If you don’t agree with me, then don’t agree.  All I know is that I spent a lot of time judging women for their behaviors before I accepted Christ and now that He lives in my heart, He tells me that it is absolutely wrong to spew hateful accusations and judgments against my fellow human being.  No matter how strongly I hold to my view that their behavior is wrong, I can be assured that my own sins are just as bad as or worse than the other person’s.  I am not the judge.  All I can do is have faith and try as it says in James 4 to “keep the law” to the best of my ability if I want to take my place in God’s Kingdom when all is said and done.

Correction is one thing, but if we’re just casting stones then all we’re doing is piling one transgression upon another.  And that’s not what it means to share the light of God in a dark, dark world.  Be nice to one another.  Love one another.  Understand that God’s plans for us are tailor-made.  You just don’t know what He has planned for that woman you just belittled or humiliated.  It was more than likely part of His plan for you to lift her up in prayer and show her the love of Christ by accepting that sometimes we have to sin in a huge way to truly know grace and mercy than it was for your to further injure her with your hate-filled doctrine.  Don’t deprive her of her opportunity to be loved by Him and don’t take away His authority and power to grant her that mercy.  It’s not your job.

Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.  There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

James 4:11-12 (NIV)

answers beliefs Bible conservative faith fear God grief humility liberal loss prayer pro-choice pro-life sadness thinking abortion being a light molestation persecution rape victim