{"id":247,"date":"2012-09-20T15:51:32","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T20:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/foolsconfidence\/?p=247"},"modified":"2012-09-21T10:00:07","modified_gmt":"2012-09-21T15:00:07","slug":"what-does-pro-life-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/foolsconfidence\/2012\/09\/what-does-pro-life-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Pro-Life Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

by Mitch Hescox<\/p>\n

As Focus on the Family so beautifully depicts in the video below on the Dignity of Life \u201cWhen we talk about being \u201cpro-life,\u201d it\u2019s not just about a political issue. It\u2019s a worldview . . . it\u2019s a life-view.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Pro-life is so much more than being against abortion, it\u2019s also about protecting humanity from poverty, human trafficking, and for us the threats from pollution. Abortion is a nationally tragedy, but so is 1:6 children born with mercury levels that could cause brain damage, or the 78% increase in autism in the past decade, or the fact women now face a 1:8 chance of developing breast cancer \u2014 all linked to increases in toxic pollution. The Christian Church has long supported pro-life as whole life, from conception to natural death. Pro-life has everything to do with quality of life as well as preventing abortions. The long Biblical history promotes pro-life as a true concern for all life. To limit pro-life to only abortion weakens the Church\u2019s witness in caring for all God\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)<\/strong><\/p>\n

For you created my inmost being;
\nyou knit me together in my mother\u2019s womb.
\nI praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
\nyour works are wonderful,
\nI know that full well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God created us in His image and breathed into us the breath of life. We were created special \u2013with special responsibilities to care for each other and to care for all of God\u2019s creation. Hopefully, no one will dispute the Christian call to be faithful stewards of all God has entrusted to us and this especially includes the earth. We live at a critical time as new chemical compounds are developed by the thousands each year, and many have never been tested for their effects on human life, especially in the combinations in which they are marketed in pesticides, herbicides, and even plastics. Lakes, streams, and ground water contamination continues from lead, mercury, organic compounds, and synthetic hormones. All these are threats to human life, especially our unborn children and \u201cthe least of these\u201d that Jesus commands us to care. Moreover, this doesn\u2019t include another serious threat to human life \u2013 the climate disruptions caused by carbon pollution that result in extreme weather leading to drought and severe temperatures that menace human life, both here at home and around the world.<\/p>\n

Recently, a few Roman Catholic and evangelicals developed\u00a0A Joint Declaration on Life<\/a>. Their goal was to call attention to the political partisanship that attempts to disrupt true Christian witness in favor of one party over another. The degree of partisanship of those concerned with our whole life message is troubling. No single political party has the full solution to life issues. The church must carefully speak on the need for action to reduce abortion and to reduce harms to all of life including harms that come from chemical exposure and the world we will leave to generations yet unborn. I signed the declaration as it represents a balanced whole biblical approach to pro-life and rejects a partial Christian understanding of pro-life.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s rebuff any worldview that \u201cwaters down\u201d the Biblical message and witness that calls us to protect all life at all time in all ways. Pro-life as whole-life doesn\u2019t confuse the message but completely and fully describes our biblical witness.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Mitch Hescox is President & CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mitch Hescox As Focus on the Family so beautifully depicts in the video below on the Dignity of Life \u201cWhen we talk about being \u201cpro-life,\u201d it\u2019s not just about a political issue. It\u2019s a worldview . . . it\u2019s a life-view.\u201d Pro-life is so much more than being against abortion, it\u2019s also about protecting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":535,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,48,45],"tags":[3,166,57,169,167,8,9,170,168],"class_list":["post-247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-compassion-for-a-world-in-need","category-the-christian-life","category-worldview","tag-creation-care","tag-dignity-of-life","tag-evangelical-environmental-network","tag-focus-on-the-family","tag-joint-declaration-on-life","tag-mitch-hescox","tag-pro-life","tag-what-does-pro-life-mean","tag-whole-life"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Does Pro-Life Mean?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Mitch Hescox As Focus on the Family so beautifully depicts in the video below on the Dignity of Life "When we talk 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