Politics and Religion: Touchy Subject, I Know

As I mentioned in my last post, there was one thing that bugged me (and the rest of my group) about the SFLA conference.  It was the implicit assumption that everyone in attendance was at least Christian, and probably Catholic.

I’m not saying that this assumption was necessarily wrong.  After all, it’s fairly easy for pro-life student groups at Catholic schools to thrive and get the funding to go to the conference, compared to secular liberal arts colleges like mine.  But I can’t help but wonder how many non-Christians are not in attendence due to pro-life leadership re-enforcing the stereotype of itself as basically synonymous with the “religious right.”  During dinner, my friend Emma summed up the problem succinctly- she had a great time, but if she weren’t Christian, the conference would have really turned her off.

The problem came up in the break-off session on recruitment, when someone asked about bringing in non-Christians.  The presenter gave the example of “one club that’s hosting a gay pro-life group, if you’re comfortable with that.”  (That club is ours.)  So they were open to the idea.  But in the opening and closing ceremonies, the conference took on a decidedly religious tone, with inspiring stories of being called to pray for forty days outside an abortion clinic, and to remember that with God all things are possible.

The late Tom Sena- a Christian, and former president of the gay pro-life group we’re hosting in April- wrote:

But abortion proponents, not to mention the media, have seized on our pervasive Christian religiosity with delight. It hands them, gratis, innumerable chances to assert: “They’re trying to ram their religion down your throats!” Why shouldn’t the undecided believe them, when that is exactly how it appears? We ourselves have made this possible, and we have only ourselves to blame.

To make a long story short, I have been giving thought to starting my own non-profit to address this issue.  It probably won’t get started up until this summer, but I want to share my ideas and see what you think.  It will be called Pro-Life Union for Secularity, or PLUS.

First and foremost, it will exist to promote secular pro-life arguments.  It will not be anti-religion, but it will not allow religious ideas to mesh with medical and legal ones.  It will produce literature, make the secular pro-life voice heard in the media, and perhaps someday open a chain of pregnancy clinics.  It will promote research to create a PASS recovery program that is neither pro-abortion propoganda nor a Bible study, which are the only things really available right now.

My biggest concern is that some Christian ethicists may say that, when faced with a woman or family in crisis, not sharing the power of the Gospel is wrong.  I’m not sure where I personally stand on that.  What I do know is that we need the support of people from every (and no) religious background in order to make abortion unthinkable in the United States and around the world.