Evangelical Pro-Lifers Clash Over Criminalizing Abortion

In his radio interview, Tom Ascol also cited politics as a problem. Pro-life elites oppose abolition, he said, because it would hurt their fundraising.

“I have to tell you, at least with some of these organizations, I’m becoming fully convinced that’s precisely what’s going on,” he said.

I find it quite interesting that Ascol borrows language from right-wing media talking-heads to demean his fellow conservative opponents (Calling them “Pro-Life Elites) and then judges them of having a disingenuous motive (it would hurt their fundraising). But it doesn’t surprise me because its his Modus Operandi, whether he is attacking fellow conservative SBCers for being “Woke” or embracing CRT, or attacking fellow conservative Complementarians for not being Complementarian enough.

Here’s an article from Scott Klusendorf on incrementalism vs. abolitionist, which does a good job defending an incrementalist view and pointing out the flaws with the abolitionist view. Klusendorf is working through a Framework of Christian Ethics where these issues have been debated and honed by Christian Ethics Scholars for several decades. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/defense-prolife-incrementali… Hope this helps the discussion.

By the way, whenever I read Ascol attempting to apply the Bible to social issues, I’ve often wondered if he’s ever taken an ethics class.

Developing a theocracy does not accomplish the kingdom of God. Transforming hearts through the gospel does. Changing a law, especially one in which the population is hostile toward, doesn’t transform the heart. If it was, the Great Commission would have focused on that. We are still caught up with having to pass a law that criminalizes abortion, because we are still stuck with the idea that America is a “special nation” with God and thus, we need to avoid the wrath of God. I am not aware of anywhere in Scripture where Christians are punished as a result of living in a sinful world that chooses to be antagonist toward God.

And if you look at the OT and NT, you realize that there was only one special nation to God, and it is Israel. A significant portion of the Bible is written for Christians who are living under evil, pagan governments (Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Rome) and who had little to no say into how they were ruled.

THAT’S the model we live in. We have some say, and we are free to work for a better government (and we should), but the Kingdom is not established here on Earth yet, it won’t be established through our own works, and it won’t have the power to end abortion no matter how many Biblical arguments and laws are passed. Unbelievers are gonna unbelieve, and they’re going to do evil activity if/when sufficiently motivated. So will Christian men and women as well, since it’s fairly well documented that a significant portion of Evangelical women will seek abortions rather than live with the stigma of having had sex out of marriage, and that they will be encouraged or supported by Christian men to do so because those men don’t want to be parents of a child with a woman they aren’t married to if they do even stick around, which is yet another roll of the dice. The government can restrain evil but it will never be able to abolish it.