Just for the record, I'm an Abolitionist. I'm NOT Pro-Life.
The term "Pro-Life" doesn't fully encapsulate what I am, because you can be "Pro-Life", and be Anti-Justice, as the Pro-Life flag bearers have plainly shown over the last year.
🧵
The term "Pro-Life" doesn't fully encapsulate what I am, because you can be "Pro-Life", and be Anti-Justice, as the Pro-Life flag bearers have plainly shown over the last year.
🧵
Our historians have memory holed the anti-slavery movement into one movement: The Abolitionists.
But let me tell you, that was NOT the case. There were two distinct groups: the 'Gradualistic' anti-slavery crowd, and the 'Immediatist' Abolitionists.
But let me tell you, that was NOT the case. There were two distinct groups: the 'Gradualistic' anti-slavery crowd, and the 'Immediatist' Abolitionists.
The Abolitionists, for the majority of their movement's lifespan, were the hated minority of the anti-slavery movement, and the majority of Abolitionist sentiment was AGAINST the Gradualists.
In William Lloyd Garrison's "The Liberator", that was nearly his sole focus.
In William Lloyd Garrison's "The Liberator", that was nearly his sole focus.
"Gradualism in theory is perpetuity in practice", he would say. He virulently opposed the Fugitive Slave Act, or the Free-Soil program.
(As an aside, the Free-Soil program is exactly what many people think we Abolitionists are persuing today. State-by-state abolition, ...
(As an aside, the Free-Soil program is exactly what many people think we Abolitionists are persuing today. State-by-state abolition, ...
... rather than national repentance)
So, I find no qualms with presenting our cause as distinct from the Pro-Life cause. Too many of our brothers in abolition want to say that we're "consistently pro-life", or we're the "truly pro-life" ones. To me that rings hollow.
So, I find no qualms with presenting our cause as distinct from the Pro-Life cause. Too many of our brothers in abolition want to say that we're "consistently pro-life", or we're the "truly pro-life" ones. To me that rings hollow.
'Pro-Life' is too broad for me. Pro-Lifers are actually what they say they are, they're pro-life of the child and of the mother, but that's not ENOUGH. You must also be Pro-JUSTICE.
It's not as if Pro-Life is just half of the pie, and I want the full pie, either.
It's not as if Pro-Life is just half of the pie, and I want the full pie, either.
It's more like Pro-Life is the filling for the pie, but no crust. It's not a pie at all. It's just meaningless slop of haphazard ingredients served to you loose-leaf.
What am I getting at here? Why is there a distinction? Simply put, the Pro-Life cause has been consistently ...
What am I getting at here? Why is there a distinction? Simply put, the Pro-Life cause has been consistently ...
ANTI-Justice, SINCE its conception in 1973. In fact, they're the REASON that Roe was decided in the first place.
The law in Texas that was being evaluated by SCOTUS was rightly shown to be inconsistent by them, because if they truly believe 🅰️ was murder, it would have been ...
The law in Texas that was being evaluated by SCOTUS was rightly shown to be inconsistent by them, because if they truly believe 🅰️ was murder, it would have been ...
Criminalized in the same way murder was in their criminal code. It wasn't. Texas had 🅰️ as illegal, but they would have never thrown a mother in jail for self-inducing one, so therefore it wasn't "truly" illegal.
SCOTUS rightly pointed out this inconsistency, and used it to ...
SCOTUS rightly pointed out this inconsistency, and used it to ...
side with Roe.
This has DEFINED the Pro-Life movement, as it still does today. Not only that, but the Pro-Life movement has always been DEFINED by gradualism, and secular activism.
The tenets of Abolitionism hold us as DISTINCT from the Pro-Life movement.
This has DEFINED the Pro-Life movement, as it still does today. Not only that, but the Pro-Life movement has always been DEFINED by gradualism, and secular activism.
The tenets of Abolitionism hold us as DISTINCT from the Pro-Life movement.
Abolitionism is:
1. Gospel-Centered
2. Aligned Providentially
3. Through the Church
4. Engaged Biblically, and
5. Sought Providentially
(Mine might seem different, I use @DustyDeevers's GATES acronym to help me remember it)
1. Gospel-Centered
2. Aligned Providentially
3. Through the Church
4. Engaged Biblically, and
5. Sought Providentially
(Mine might seem different, I use @DustyDeevers's GATES acronym to help me remember it)
HUUUGE CORRECTION:
5. Sought IMMEDIATELY Without Exception or Compromise.
🤦♂️(I need an edit button)
That immediate tenet is the main point I'm trying to make here.
5. Sought IMMEDIATELY Without Exception or Compromise.
🤦♂️(I need an edit button)
That immediate tenet is the main point I'm trying to make here.
The Pro-Life movement has NEVER sought the abolition of 🅰️ with immediatism, they've NEVER sought it Providentially, using the prophetic witness of the church, they've NEVER centered their movement around the gospel, and ...
The Pro-Life movement has NEVER been faithful to the Bible's clear and unfaltering call for JUSTICE.
Matthew 23:23 ESV — “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: JUSTICE and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Isaiah 1:16-17 ESV — Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; CEASE to do evil, learn to do good; seek JUSTICE, correct oppression; bring JUSTICE to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
So what am I doing here?
I'm calling out those brothers in the movement of abolition that wish to co-opt the Pro-Life movement with ours. We MUST see and present ourselves as DISTINCT. Too many of us want to win hearts and minds, and they compromise our peculiar message ...
I'm calling out those brothers in the movement of abolition that wish to co-opt the Pro-Life movement with ours. We MUST see and present ourselves as DISTINCT. Too many of us want to win hearts and minds, and they compromise our peculiar message ...
...in the process.
Many people are afraid to carry the flag of 'Abolitionist', because they're afraid of adopting a specific 'brand', as if this was the thing abolitionists have been doing this whole time: creating a 'bRaNd'. We haven't, we've been calling for immediate justice.
Many people are afraid to carry the flag of 'Abolitionist', because they're afraid of adopting a specific 'brand', as if this was the thing abolitionists have been doing this whole time: creating a 'bRaNd'. We haven't, we've been calling for immediate justice.
Using the Pro-Life label is useless, because it's an encapsulating term that DOESN'T INCAPACITATE what we are! It's like saying you're a pedal-user instead of a bicyclist, or a steering wheel advocate rather than a car enthusiast.
Homie's over here in his driveway sitting on the pavement holding a steering wheel in his hand, thinking he's going to drive to work, and you're saying "Let me help you, brother. You need to be a more consistent steering wheel user".
What he needs is a CAR.
What he needs is a CAR.
Abolition IS that particular vehicle which God WILL use to abolish 🅰️, through the Church.
Abolition IS the label that the church must adopt, assuming it aligns with the tenets of AbolitionISM.
This is the biblical formula as well, when faced with unfaithful: Go out from them.
Abolition IS the label that the church must adopt, assuming it aligns with the tenets of AbolitionISM.
This is the biblical formula as well, when faced with unfaithful: Go out from them.
We should no more consider ourselves the "More consistent wing" of the Pro-Life movement. We should consider ourselves SEPARATE and PECULIAR.
What if the Reformers handled their controversy in the way you guys do?
What if the Reformers handled their controversy in the way you guys do?
Yes, they acknowledged that they were catholic in the true meaning of the word, just like I'm pro life of the baby in the true sense of the word, but they never considered themselves 'C'atholic, nor do I consider myself Pro-Life. This isn't the model the Bible has set out.
So, go out from them. #PLEXIT.
Adopt Abolitionism, not as a brand, but as a movement-defining label, that plainly says what we are.
This flag only flies high when we hold it together.
Adopt Abolitionism, not as a brand, but as a movement-defining label, that plainly says what we are.
This flag only flies high when we hold it together.
@threadreaderapp unroll
Quick correction. Earlier in the thread, I said Pro-Life is too broad. It's more like Pro-Life is too vague, and not definitive. Too broad and yet somehow not definitive. Tries to cast too wide of a net, yet somehow still misses the forest for the trees.
Encapsulate*
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