Gillibrand: Georgia's Heartbeat Abortion Law Is 'Against Christian Faith'
"If you are a person of the Christian faith, one of the tenants of our faith is free will. One of the tenants of our democracy is that we have a separation of church and state, and under no circumstances are we supposed to be imposing our faith on other people. And I think this is an example of that effort,"
the 2020 candidate said.
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There were many philosophical and religious problems with Gillibrand's statement, as Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler noted on his podcast "
The Briefing."
https://pjmedia.com/faith/gillibrand-georgias-heartbeat-abortion-law-is-against-christian-faith/
Ah Yes Free Will ... Also comes with these ...
The Ten Commandments
- You shall have no other Gods but me.
- You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.
- You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
- You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
- Respect your father and mother.
- You must not commit murder.
- You must not commit adultery.
- You must not steal.
- You must not give false evidence against your neighbour.
- You must not be envious of your neighbour's goods. You shall not be envious of his house nor his wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbour.
https://albertmohler.com/2019/05/20/briefing-5-20-19
PART I Introducing Kirsten Gillibrand the Theologian
Speaking at a round table there in Georgia at the end of last week, Senator Gillibrand said that laws that would restrict abortion or much less ban them are, again her words were, against Christian faith. Now, what does she mean by that? The use of Christian language or the attempt to co-opt Christianity or Christian theology for political lens isn't new. But we're looking here at the particularly reprehensible pattern of doing so on behalf of abortion. She said that opposing abortion is against the Christian faith. But she went on to speak further, she said, "If you are a person of the Christian faith, one of the tenets of our faith is free will. One of the tenets of our democracy is that we have a separation of church and state, and under no circumstances are we supposed to be imposing our faith on other people." And she said, "I think this is an example of that effort." She made those statements at a press conference following the round table.
So we need to note that Senator Gillibrand didn't merely say that laws restricting abortion are against Christian faith. She went on to make, in her own way, an explicitly theological argument. We often look at the fact that theology is always there just beneath the headlines, but in this case, we don't have to go looking for it. It's right there before our eyes.
Now, what would be the theological argument that Senator Gillibrand would make? Well, what she cited here was what she identifies as a major tenet or doctrine of the faith, which is free will. Now, is that true or is that false? Let's just back up for a moment and recognize that debates even controversies over the nature and operation of the human will aren't new to Christian history. As a matter of fact, they are some of the most long-standing and sometimes heated theological debates within the Christian tradition. But we also have to note that that debate is not really what's at stake here. That theological debate associated with some of the biggest theological names in church history, Augustine, the Early Church father, Thomas Aquinas in the Middle Ages, and then the Protestant reformers, including Luther and Calvin. And then, of course, the developments within the Protestant tradition after the reformation, the development of a more reformed stream that would also include Lutherans in the sense of the magisterial reformation, and then the more Arminian tradition.
There were good arguments, continuing arguments, over the nature and operation of the human will. But what's important to note is to see that that's not really what's at stake here. When Senator Gillibrand refers to a major tenet of our faith being free will, she wasn't intending to get into a debate between Calvinist and Arminians. No, she was trying to say that the affirmation of human responsibility and the operation of the human will in decision-making means that we should be hands off when it comes to legislation about abortion. We should honor free will, in this sense, that is human decision making and moral responsibility above all else. That's what's really at stake here.
