Let’s face it. Social media has not always been a well spring of well thought out, intellectual arguments. But every once in a while, I see a comment that is more laughably bad than others. Enter Jo Luehmann, a lady who opined on Twitter (1):
Well, isn’t that special. Basically, her argument comes down to: being adopted by white evangelicals is a fate worse than death.
Two things can be said in response to this. First, while I do think she is promoting her own special brand of racism and bigotry here, Luehmann does bring to light a problem within Evangelicalism. As Lisa Fields notes, “Racism, slavery, and oppression are skeletons in the evangelical closet and cannot be overcome until they are honestly addressed.” (2) When Evangelicals took part in these practices, we sinned because we failed to treat people of other races as image bearers of God. (Genesis 1:26-27) Therefore, we need to repent of this. As Fields goes onto say,
“This is the very nature of the Gospel message. The gospel confronts the sinful nature of humanity and requires confession and repentance to have a right standing with God. There is no reconciliation without confession. If evangelicalism cannot be honest about its dark past, it will never see wholeness in its future.” (3)
I know efforts are already being made to that end in Evangelical churches and I hope and pray that it continues.
Calling us out for this sin is not what is laughably bad. What falls into that category is making the jump that the sins of White Evangelicals somehow make abortion justified. In this type of situation, Pro-life apologist, Trent Horn suggests “take the reason being given to justify abortion and used it to justify killing a two-year-old.” (4) So, let’s reword her tweet:
“I would rather murder my two-year-old then have a brown child who ends up being adopted by White Evangelicals. It is not a kindness to children in the global majority to give them to people who will traumatize them with self and ancestral hatred. Killing a two-year-old is an act of love.”
Luehmann might respond that this idea is silly and I agree. But I also find her argument silly because as Scott B. Rae notes, it begs the question: “This rationale assumes that the fetus is not a person, for if it is a person, the argument doesn’t work.” (5) If the unborn are persons, then it should be just as silly to consider killing them just so they avoid falling into the hands of White Evangelicals. (6)
In conclusion then, White Evangelicals should own up to our mistakes in the past. But the solution is repentance, not killing unborn children.
(2) Lisa Fields, “The Challenges of Racism within Evangelicalism,” in Joshua D. Chatraw and Karen Swallow Prior, Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 169.
(3) Fields, “The Challenges of Racism within Evangelicalism” in Chatraw and Prior, Cultural Engagement, 169.
(4) Trent Horn, Persuasive Pro-Life: How to Talk about Our Culture’s Toughest Issue (El Cajun, CA: Catholic Answers Press, 2014), 61.
(5) Scott B. Rae, Introducing Christian Ethics: A Short Guide to Making Moral Choices (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 65.
Born in Vancouver, B.C., Chris has been married to Amy for 3 years. He has a BA in Religious Studies (Youth Leadership), and an MA in Theological Studies (Apologetics). He enjoys acting, evangelism, and debates.
The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Human Defense Initiative.
Chris Christiansen
Born in Vancouver, B.C., Chris has been married to Amy for 3 years. He has a BA in Religious Studies (Youth Leadership), and an MA in Theological Studies (Apologetics). He enjoys acting, evangelism, and debates.
Better Dead Than Adopted By White Evangelicals
Chris Christiansen
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The Objective Morality of Transcendent Experience Part 1
Let’s face it. Social media has not always been a well spring of well thought out, intellectual arguments. But every once in a while, I see a comment that is more laughably bad than others. Enter Jo Luehmann, a lady who opined on Twitter (1):
Well, isn’t that special. Basically, her argument comes down to: being adopted by white evangelicals is a fate worse than death.
Two things can be said in response to this. First, while I do think she is promoting her own special brand of racism and bigotry here, Luehmann does bring to light a problem within Evangelicalism. As Lisa Fields notes, “Racism, slavery, and oppression are skeletons in the evangelical closet and cannot be overcome until they are honestly addressed.” (2) When Evangelicals took part in these practices, we sinned because we failed to treat people of other races as image bearers of God. (Genesis 1:26-27) Therefore, we need to repent of this. As Fields goes onto say,
I know efforts are already being made to that end in Evangelical churches and I hope and pray that it continues.
Calling us out for this sin is not what is laughably bad. What falls into that category is making the jump that the sins of White Evangelicals somehow make abortion justified. In this type of situation, Pro-life apologist, Trent Horn suggests “take the reason being given to justify abortion and used it to justify killing a two-year-old.” (4) So, let’s reword her tweet:
“I would rather murder my two-year-old then have a brown child who ends up being adopted by White Evangelicals. It is not a kindness to children in the global majority to give them to people who will traumatize them with self and ancestral hatred. Killing a two-year-old is an act of love.”
Luehmann might respond that this idea is silly and I agree. But I also find her argument silly because as Scott B. Rae notes, it begs the question: “This rationale assumes that the fetus is not a person, for if it is a person, the argument doesn’t work.” (5) If the unborn are persons, then it should be just as silly to consider killing them just so they avoid falling into the hands of White Evangelicals. (6)
In conclusion then, White Evangelicals should own up to our mistakes in the past. But the solution is repentance, not killing unborn children.
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash
References
(1) Found at https://twitter.com/cliftonaduncan/status/1527093237969731584?s=20&t=LENYR477vTBtms_AG4EkCQ (accessed July 28th, 2022).
(2) Lisa Fields, “The Challenges of Racism within Evangelicalism,” in Joshua D. Chatraw and Karen Swallow Prior, Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 169.
(3) Fields, “The Challenges of Racism within Evangelicalism” in Chatraw and Prior, Cultural Engagement, 169.
(4) Trent Horn, Persuasive Pro-Life: How to Talk about Our Culture’s Toughest Issue (El Cajun, CA: Catholic Answers Press, 2014), 61.
(5) Scott B. Rae, Introducing Christian Ethics: A Short Guide to Making Moral Choices (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 65.
(6) Horn, Persuasive Pro-Life, 61.
Chris Christiansen
Born in Vancouver, B.C., Chris has been married to Amy for 3 years. He has a BA in Religious Studies (Youth Leadership), and an MA in Theological Studies (Apologetics). He enjoys acting, evangelism, and debates.
The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Human Defense Initiative.
Chris Christiansen
COMMENTARY
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INTERNATIONAL
Wyoming Becomes First State to Take a Stand and Ban Abortion Pills
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