Why overturning Roe v. Wade is a form of religious oppression
The religious roots of America
Conservatives are fond of pointing out that America was founded by Puritans fleeing oppression in England. In September of 1620, the Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock, and the Puritans founded the first colony in New England. In America, the Puritans had the freedom to practice their own beliefs without the interference of the English monarch, James I, or the Church of England.
That much is indisputable. The religious roots of America run deep. We have always been a deeply religious country, and even though our Constitution does not permit a state religion, Christianity has been a driving force in America from the arrival of the Puritans to the present day.
But deeply embedded in our history is the notion of religious freedom – the belief that people are free to worship (or not to worship) as they please. The Puritans did not come to America to control the religious beliefs of Jews, Quakers, and Catholics (although at times they tried); they came here mainly to exercise their own religious freedom.
When modern-day conservatives talk about religious freedom, however, they tend to emphasize their own freedoms and downplay or even oppose other people’s.
When modern-day conservatives talk about religious freedom, however, they tend to emphasize their own freedoms and downplay or even oppose other people’s. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can impose your own beliefs on other people any more than they can impose their religious beliefs on you. That’s the reason for the separation of church and state in the Constitution. If a single religious group has control of the state and can pass laws based on their doctrine, the rest of the country clearly isn’t free.
Such is the case with abortion. Because many Christians believe that abortion is morally wrong, they feel compelled to make abortion a crime. When asked why their beliefs about abortion give them the right to control other people’s behavior, they respond by saying that abortion is murder – an action that is universally wrong regardless of one’s beliefs.
Is there any merit to this argument? Is abortion really murder? Let’s take an objective look at this statement and see how it stands.
When does life begin?
Most Christians believe that life “begins at conception.” At the moment when egg and sperm unite, a living human being is imbued with a soul. If that belief is right, the state has a clear obligation to intervene and protect that life when it is threatened.
But how do we know when life really begins? Can we ever know the answer? When does a fetus cease to belong to a woman’s body and become a person with all the rights and protections the rest of us enjoy?
If we’re being honest, the idea that “life begins at conception” is an arbitrary one. It can’t be tested or proven, because it’s not a scientific belief – it’s a metaphysical one. It’s a belief about something that lies beyond the realm of human experience.
But if “life begins at conception” is an arbitrary and unscientific belief, then when does life really begin? Does it begin when the fetus develops a heartbeat? A mosquito has a heartbeat, and it’s not a crime to kill a mosquito. Does it begin when the brain is sufficiently developed? Scientists know that a fully grown hog is smarter than the average three-year-old child, and it’s not a crime to butcher a hog. Or does it begin when a child develops self-awareness? That doesn’t help either, because it doesn’t take place until 18 months or later. So where then, do we draw the line?
…the idea that “life begins at conception” is an arbitrary one. It can’t be tested or proven, because it’s not a scientific belief – it’s a metaphysical one. It’s a belief about something that lies beyond the realm of human experience.
Back in the 80s, I visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and saw a display of human fetuses floating in jars. Their age ranged from a few days after conception to a still-born baby at 40 weeks. As you walked through the exhibit, you saw the growing size and complexity of the fetus as it moved toward birth. The effect it had on me was profound. It did seem to me – purely on an emotional basis – that around 10 – 12 weeks, the fetus began to resemble what I would call a human being. Before that time, it had a box-like head, stubby arms, and a tail like a Tyrannosaurus rex. At 10 – 12 weeks, the functions of the fetus had developed sufficiently to give it the outward appearance of a miniature child. You could argue the exact point in time when this occurred, but it was hard to place it anywhere before 10 weeks, when the fetus resembled an alien more than a human being.
It's probably no coincidence that this timeline matches up with many of our laws making abortion legal during the first trimester. That does seem to be around the time when most people are likely to see the fetus as fully human.
Still, it’s an arbitrary point in time. Others view the fetus as being human when it’s viable outside the womb, around 20 weeks. And still others, including most Jews, believe that life only begins with a baby’s first breath. The truth is, we don’t know what’s going on inside the head of the fetus, and we’re making our judgment on assumptions, feelings, and arbitrary points of development – in short, on personal preferences.
The honest answer to the question, “When does life begin?” is we don’t know. It’s a personal and arbitrary choice, because the choice is a metaphysical one – something that can’t be proven by science or reason and, consequently, it will differ widely among individuals.
My beliefs vs. your beliefs
I divide religions into two groups. The first group practices what I would call religious egalitarianism. It entreats us, as Christ did, to love ourselves and our neighbors, but also our enemies. It enjoins us to feed the starving, clothe the poor, and heal the sick. It calls us to help the lowest in our society – the lost, the broken, the outcasts. This kind of religion is summed up by the phrase “What would Jesus do”? Its focus is ethical, and its influence on society is wholly positive – it encourages us to understand and appreciate other people, whether or not they are like us, and that has helped to make the world a more peaceful place.
I call these religions egalitarian because they all tell us to live the same way – be thankful to God, be kind to others, honor your father and mother, help the needy, don’t steal, don’t kill, and so on. If you doubt me, you should read the book, Oneness: Great Principles Shared by All Religions, by Jeffrey Moses. The book quotes all the major world religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism – and demonstrates their shared and universal ethics.
Religions that focus on beliefs instead of ethics have little in common.
The other brand of religion focuses not on behavior but on belief. In Christianity, it is summed up by the Nicean Creed, “I believe in one God, the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth … I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. …” I call this type of religion, religious authoritarianism. There is only one correct belief, and all others are a form of ignorance or even heresy.
Religions that focus on beliefs instead of ethics have little in common. Christianity holds that Christ is God; Islam believes that Christ is merely a prophet; and Judaism, for the most part, ignores Christ completely. Not only does each religion have its own set of unique and incompatible beliefs, within each religion there are other groups who believe something different – hence among Christians, we have Catholics, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Evangelicals, Christian Scientists, and many others who call themselves Christians despite their often-serious disagreements.
Why is this a problem?
The answer should be obvious. If I know God’s will and you don’t, then you’re living in darkness and sin. And since what matters most is not how you treat others but what you believe in, it’s not only my right to convert you, it’s my moral obligation. I’m not only doing God’s work, but I’m saving your soul.
And since no two groups believe in exactly the same thing, authoritarian religions pit us against each other. They call us do battle with and convert the unbelievers. Historically, the battle hasn’t often stopped with conversion. If you can’t convince the heretic to give up his ways, he must be marginalized, silenced, or even purged from society to prevent his poisonous views from spreading.
It's clear to any student of history that religious authoritarianism has been a force of tremendous evil. It launched the brutal Crusades to the Holy Land, killed half the population of Germany in the Thirty Years War, helped justify the Holocaust, and is still responsible for Muslims and Hindus burning each other alive in modern-day India – all in the name of God.
Right now there are 10,000 religions in the world, yet most of us persist in believing that our own is true and the other many thousands are false.
The key point to keep in mind is that all the beliefs we’re discussing here are, by nature, metaphysical. There is no way to prove that one is right or one is wrong. Right now there are 10,000 religions in the world, yet most of us persist in believing that our own is true and the other many thousands are false. If that’s our basis for battling the rest of the world and making them believe as we do, it’s not only pretty weak medicine, but it’s historically doomed to fail.
Now, I’m not saying that you should abandon your beliefs, but I am saying that, like mine or anyone else’s, they are individual and personal. They do not speak for God or the world, and they do not give you the right to control the beliefs of other people.
This is where we come back to abortion. While many Christians believe that abortion is murder, that belief is based on theology and not on facts, science, or reason. Other people believe that a fetus is simply an extension of a woman’s body. There are many different opinions about when life begins, but they are merely that – opinions. If your opinion holds that abortion is murder, then go ahead and to try to convince people not to have abortions, but don’t ask the government to pass laws that codify your beliefs into law and trample the rights and beliefs of others.
Doing so is a form of religious oppression. If we permit one set of beliefs to control the behavior of people who don’t share them, we will have destroyed religious freedom in our country, and the rights and beliefs of any person will no longer be safe.