Thread by @RuscoPColtrane

So much energy in the #sbc (and broader conservative evangelicalism) goes into saying that we must vote Republican because of abortion. Abortion is the great evil of our time and thus, we must subordinate all other issues to it or potentially face God’s judgment on our nation.

But I think there’s a possibility that those that espouse this view have not considered. Based on Romans 1, there’s a strong case to be made that our nation’s allowance and celebration of abortion is not inviting God’s wrath, it *is* God’s wrath.

In Romans 1, Paul teaches that God’s wrath is not merely something that is coming at the end of all things. It is already here in part. And it’s here because of people’s unrighteousness, by which they suppress the truth.

God’s nature and attributes have been clear in the things that have been made since creation, leaving man without excuse. But even though men knew God, they didn't honor or give thanks to Him and their hearts became darkened.

They became fools that exchanged the glory of God for idols of their own making. So God gave them over to their sins and to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They not only did these things but give approval to others who did them, as well.

So what's this got to do with abortion? Based on the pattern Paul gives in Romans 1, it's possible that our nation's approval of abortion could be God giving us over to our sin. It's a consequence of our unwillingness to honor Him from what is clear in creation. But how?

The creation often spoken about when teaching this passage is nature and the cosmos. But there's another aspect of creation that uniquely displays God to the world: mankind, who God calls His image-bearers.

From the beginning of scripture, God sets up dire consequences for anyone who does not respect His image in man. Thus, it is the refusal to honor God's image-bearers that has invited His wrath in the form of America's abortion culture.

Abortion is the destruction of God's image-bearers on a scale never conceived by the biblical authors. Hundreds of thousands killed each year. But if it is God's wrath, what made Him give our society over to it?

My proposal is that throughout its history, America has selectively valued lives insofar as it was convenient to do so. The treatment of Native peoples has by and large been abominable. Historic and systemic racism against Black people continues to be a stain on our society.

America, which the Republican Party likes to paint as a Christian nation, has never honored the image of God as we ought to. We have stolen from it, dispossessed it of its home, enslaved it, raped it, and murdered it.

We have made every excuse/justification why "those people" are not worthy of the dignity and respect that God gave them as His image-bearers. And at those times where we *have* recognized their rights as human beings in His image, we have been dragged to it kicking and screaming.

I find it interesting that Roe v. Wade followed closely after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, a bill that faced disgusting and determined opposition in the South. Told that they could no longer legally discriminate against Black people,

white Americans resorted to terrorism, murder, and assassination. Looking at history through a providential lens, I don't think it's a leap to theorize that God said, "Your refusal to honor my image in all men is a slap in my face.

"Therefore, you will now see what marring the image of God looks like to a grotesque degree." Tens of millions of souls offered on the altar of convenience to illustrate to us the truth of our country's history.

Now, I don't claim to have a direct word from God that this is true. I just think it's a realistic possibility. I think it's one that ought to be considered humbly and prayerfully, because if it's true, it requires our response.

At the very least, it means that we ought to evaluate our political allegiances to a party that promises to end abortion (yet never takes any real steps to do so) while still pushing policies that implicitly or explicitly deny our responsibilities to our fellow image-bearers.

And it means that we cannot personally devote all our time to ending abortion, but must be pro-life on a macro-scale, from womb to tomb. We ought to work to end racial injustice in our legal system, from over-policing to racist sentencing and death penalty disparities.

We ought to work to continue to root out the legacy of red-lining, which still finds ways to inhibit minorities from accumulating wealth.

We ought to reverse white flight, not going into minority neighborhoods in order to "fix" or gentrify them, but to be neighbors and friends. To live in community with them. In other words, to view and honor them as our fellow image-bearers.

There are too many other ways that we ought to fight for the dignity of image-bearers to fully go through here. The elderly, the disabled, the incarcerated (currently and formerly), the immigrant, the refugee. All of these people and more bear the image of God.

As believers, we are called to love and pray for all of God's image-bearers. We are called to demonstrate God's love for them by our love for them. We cannot do that if we continue to subordinate all other groups to serve one, even if that one is the unborn.