The Radical Christian #4

“Choose Life”

As a radical Christian, the most fundamental of my beliefs, the belief that is wholly foundational to all others, is the distinctive dignity of the human being. We are unique in all of creation. We are all born in deepest humbleness. There is pride in no one’s birth; we played no part in it, didn’t choose our parents or race or country of birth. The lowest among us is worthy and noble, and the highest among us not more. Despite our lowliness, we are born virtuous, moral, and respectable. We are filled from the beginning with honor and grace. Dignity inheres in every person.

The gravitas of dignity flows from its place at Amos’ nexus of justice, humility and compassion; we are made little less than angels. That these are what God requires of us assures us that they are the most aspirational of human values. Nothing in the world surpasses the giving and receiving of dignity and honor.

It is the profound dignity of the human being that leads us to the conviction that moral choices belong invested in the individual person, in heart and mind and soul. The matter of whether or not to bring a child into the world is a vivid case in point. Both sides in this passionate debate ignore the value of human choice. One side presents a two-word Biblical verse as if it were eternal and inviolable law regarding the debate: “Choose life.” The other side speaks of “rights,” as if law ruled absent morality.

“Choose life” is, indeed, a biblical verse, from Deuteronomy 30:19. However, it’s use in the abortion debate is taken out of context and its meaning is totally misrepresented. In fact, reading the entire passage as a unit (Deut. 30:15-20) reveals a meaning exactly the opposite of the way it is commonly used. This is what happens when literalism and dogmatism combine to force upon the unknowing a belief which has no source in scripture. Read the entire passage for yourself and see! It is meant to convey God’s intent that humans should be trusted with moral choices!

The Zapatistas of southern Mexico formed the most important resistance movement in the last twenty years, giving encouragement and fresh language to the fight against global capitalism. Marcos, one of its leaders, speaking at the funeral of a fellow soldier killed in the military’s onslaught, spoke of life and death:

Should we prepare those who come after us for the path of death? Or should we reconstruct the path of life? Should we have adorned with our blood the path that others have charted to Power, or should we have turned our heart and gazed toward who we are? Our dilemma was not between negotiating and fighting, but between dying and living. We chose to construct life. We chose rebellion, that is to say, life.

Marcos and the Zapatistas faced a moral choice between matching the government violence for violence, or whether to take a higher road. For them, it was a choice between “dying and living.” They chose light over darkness. No one knows better the implications for their life than those facing difficult moral choices. No one else, no set of laws, can tell any of us what to do, except to consult our own mind and conscience. The Zapatista story is precisely what the biblical passage is all about. It is NOT about forcing one option, and one only, on a potential mother. That is a denial of dignity.

Parenthetically, it is a travesty that the State of Florida has flaunted the Constitution and placed the religious phrase “choose life” on automobile license plates, clearly favoring one religious viewpoint over another.

The “pro-choice” side in this debate would be more successful in making its point, I think, if it relied on the dignity of the mother (and those closest to her), and her inborn ability to make moral choices, than upon strident terms like “rights” or by negotiating with the right-wing law-givers.

The radical Christian seeks the unadorned roots and values of the faith. She challenges human embellishments, doctrines, dogmas, the “accretions” born of human weakness. The radical Christian has a clear vision, sometimes unseen by most others. The radical Christian is unafraid of speaking prophetically from his vision. May we all listen through our resistance.