What it really means to be pro-life

It won’t surprise those who know me when I say I am pro-life. That doesn’t mean I have any right whatsoever to tell a woman what she can or can’t do with her own body. So, you see I am pro-life and pro-choice.

When God commanded “thou shall not kill,” he did not equivocate. When it comes to an abortion, the overriding question separating pro-life and pro-choice factions is, “when does a fetus become a life?” That question remains unresolved. God’s law seems absolute, although the Israelites killed in war and self defense. The commandment seems not to allow any killing of human beings. If so, killing someone in self defense is no different than murder in the first. Most Evangelicals don’t seem to believe in that commandment. When it comes to killing another human being, they appear to be pro-choice.

I saw a sticker on a car the other day that read “Pro-life, Pro-God, Pro-gun.” That kind of sums it all up. The God that about 80 percent of Evangelicals worship is pro-gun, I guess.

I’ll admit, I am not even close to being able to keep all of God’s commandments. If I were on the battlefield in World War II, I would have found it impossible not to kill the enemy. There were some conscientious objectors who obviously thought God’s law was absolute. I am not that strong. Breaking God’s commandments makes me a sinner, pure and simple.

I believe any Evangelical who would kill another human is also a sinner. Now, that’s no big deal, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Thank goodness we have a forgiving God.

Still, that makes it quite evident that Evangelicals should not be condemning any woman who chooses to have an abortion. People who live in glass houses ought not throw stones, as they say.

Eighty percent of Evangelicals support Donald Trump because he says he’s pro-life. That isn’t so, of course. Trump has taken us to the brink of a nuclear holocaust which could kill hundreds of millions. The Israelites not withstanding, that’s not pro-life.

It appears Evangelicals believe Trump can do whatever he wants as long as he says he is pro-life. Where Trump is concerned, Evangelicals don’t seem to value the commandments, especially, “thou shall not commit adultery” or “thou shall not bear false witness.” Most surely it is against God’s law to sexually abuse or molest women. No less than 15 women have stepped forward and accused Trump of doing just that. The number is up to eight women who say Trump had extra- marital sex with them. Stormy Daniels is not alone. Why aren’t the Evangelicals outraged?

Is there anything Trump could do that would upset Evangelicals? The author of a book about Trump’s spiritual life said on the Chris Hayes show that Evangelicals would be upset if Trump did what Bill Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky. WHAT? He explained that Trump wasn’t president when he transgressed. Evidently committing adultery or possibly molesting women is OK since it didn’t happen when Trump was president. That’s kind of a strange statute of limitations.

Trump lies all the time, has almost certainly committed adultery, believes killing is OK, and could be in jail right now if the accusations of sexual molestation were proven true. But by golly he says he’s against abortion and that makes him pro-life, say the Evangelicals. Nothing else seems to matter. Here’s news for them: Just being against abortion doesn’t make a person pro-life.

I’m pro-life. I support children after they are born. I support healthcare for poor children and feeding them at school. I want reasonable, sensible gun-control to protect them while in school. That’s pro-life. I am opposed to the death penalty. That’s pro-life. I want to bring our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan and I don’t want to go to war with Iran or North Korea. That’s pro-life. I think healthcare is a right, not a privilege. I support food stamps and welfare for very poor families. That’s pro-life. I support full funding for the Center for Disease Control. I support the U.S. taking in our fair share of Syrian refugees. That’s pro-life. I support efforts to keep our air clear, our water clean, and our environment free from pollutants that will kill us. That’s pro life. President Trump fails on all counts.

There are many other reasons that make me pro-life. In my opinion, Trump and many, certainly not all, Evangelicals are not pro-life. They’re phonies.

Glen McAdoo, a Fallon resident, can be contacted at glynn@phonewave.net.