When I Was in the Womb: We Must Not Retreat in Building a Culture of Life

11/10/2012

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upon how it respects human rights and treats the poor.

Rebuild the Walls, Remember our History

I believe that we will see the end of federally protected legalized abortion, at least the protection that followed the Supreme Court's horrid ruling in Roe and its progeny. However, the end of Roe will not be the end of the Pro-Life Mission. The current cultural situation we face as Christians in America is not an unfamiliar one. We need to see it now in terms of Christian history. I do not care how "scientifically advanced" we think we have become, or how "modern" the issues purport to be, we humans do not really change all that much, at least without grace.

The struggle we are engaged in as Christians in contemporary western culture still concerns a clash of worldviews, personal and corporate, and competing definitions of freedom. Remember, in the circles of cultural and social revolutionaries, Christians (at least orthodox, faithful ones) are often presented as unenlightened, forcing "our view" on others. In reality, our positions on the dignity of every life, marriage, family, authentic freedom and the nature of truth as objective.. is what actually frees people from the bondage of disordered appetites. These truths are objectively true for all men and women. We were made for relationship. We were structured for authentic love and human flourishing within family and a society founded upon family.

The early Church, just like you and me, was sent into cultures filled with people who thought they were extremely "advanced" in light of the arts and sciences of their day. Yet, these cultures practiced primitive forms of abortion and even "exposure", a practice of leaving unwanted children on rocks to be eaten by birds of prey or picked up by slave traders. To them, freedom was rooted in a notion of power over others and the right to do as they chose.

One has only to read the ancient Christian manuscripts such as the Didache (the Teaching of the Twelve), the ancient Letter to Diognetus, the accounts of Justin Martyr or many other early Christian sources to read of cultures not unlike the one in which we live today. These were also cultures of "use" where people were treated as property - cultures of excess where "freedom" was perceived as a power over others and unrestrained license masqueraded as liberty, leading many to what the Apostle Paul called the slavery of sin.

Our contemporary age is increasingly pagan. Many of the "gods" and goddesses" of the old pagan regimes promoted lives of selfish excess, homosexual practices, and hedonism masquerading as freedom. The myths they told concerning them had these "gods" acting in much the same way. The arguments have been reintroduced today, only the myths, tributes and statues are different.

The early Christians did not point the finger and rail against the "pagans" of their age when they sought to effect the conversion of those cultures. They did not present a "negative" message. They proclaimed the freedom found in Jesus Christ to all who would listen and demonstrated it in their compelling witness of life. They lived in monogamous marriages, raised their children to be faithful Christians and good citizens, and went into the world of their age, offering a new way to live. This "way" (which is what they first called the early Church) presented a very different worldview than the one that the pagans embraced.

The early Christians, with joy and integrity, spoke and lived a different way in the midst of that pagan culture. As a result, they sometimes stirred up hostility. Some of them were martyred in the red martyrdom of shed blood. Countless more joined the train of what use to be called "white martyrdom", by living lives of sacrificial witness and service in the culture, working hard and staying faithful to the end of a long life spent in missionary toil.

Slowly, not only were small numbers of "pagans" converted and baptized, but eventually their leaders and entire Nations followed suit. Resultantly, the Christian worldview began to influence the social order. The "clash of freedoms" continued, but the climate changed significantly. It was the Christian faith and the practices of these Christians that began to win the hearts of men and women. The cultures once enshrined to pagan practices, such as plural marriage, homosexuality, exposure and abortion began to change dramatically and this dynamic continued for centuries.

It was Christianity that taught such novel concepts as the dignity of every person and their equality before the One God. The Christians proclaimed the dignity of women, the dignity of chaste marriage and the sanctity of the family. It was Christianity that introduced the understanding of freedom not simply as a freedom from, but as a freedom for living responsibly and with integrity. The Christians insisted that freedom must be exercised with reference to a moral code, a law higher than the emperor or the shifting sands of public opinion.

It was the Christians who understood that choice, rightly exercised, meant always choosing what was right and that the freedom to exercise that choice brought with it an obligation and concern for the other. Their faith presented a coherent and compelling answer to the existential questions that plagued the ancients, such as why we existed and how we got here. What was the purpose of life? Questions like how evil came into the world and why we could not always make right choices? What force seemed to move us toward evil and how we could be set free from its power?

Christian philosophy began to flourish and the arts also flourished under the Christian worldview. Philosophies of government and economic theory began to be influenced by these principles derived from a Christian worldview. Now, we are called to transform our own American and western culture from within once again. The results of one Presidential election must not be allowed to distract us from this missionary task.

We must be faithful citizens, run for office, and never give up our struggles in the courtroom, the classroom, or the marketplace of commerce, all for the true common good. Our social and cultural mission is not an option. We cannot retreat to religious ghettos, figuratively or literally. Our mission to the culture lies at the heart of what it means to be "leaven", "light", "salt" and the "soul of the world" as the early Christians taught. However, we do need to remember that the task we face is first, at root, a spiritual struggle that will first be won in prayer, stepped into a new Christian missionary movement by the compelling witness of a vibrant, orthodox, faithful Christianity that is culturally engaging, relevant and compelling to the new pagans of our age.

True marriage and family have been inscribed by the Divine Architect into the order of the universe. They are God's idea and not our own. Marriage is the first vital cell of society and creates the first society wherein children are to be raised so that they can fully develop and flourish. Children have a right to a mother and a father. Yes, there are broken homes and single parent homes and we must always provide a compassionate social framework for those families. True marriage and family are the social foundation and glue of any truly just society. They are now under an assault.

We need to rededicate ourselves to living like Christians in our families, at our workplaces and in our neighborhoods. We need, as the early Church understood so well, to be a visible, palpable reflection of the truth about marriage and family. True marriage and family is the way of the future not the past.The contemporary re-emergence of ancient paganism is not the path to authentic human freedom and flourishing but to misery. The Christian understanding of the dignity of every human life and the truth about marriage and family is not some outdated notion of a past era but the framework for a future of true freedom. We are living in a new missionary age.

The mission field is our own Nation and Western Culture itself.

In 1996, a professor of Sociology and comparative religion named Rodney Stark wrote a compelling book entitled "The Rise of Christianity." Rich in sociological and empirical data it details the growth of Christianity at the beginning of the first millennium. The book chronicles the rise of the Christian faith from a small Jewish sect in the first century to extraordinary cultural dominance 300 years later. Using historical documents, the author demonstrated how the early Christians lived in faithful, heterosexual, monogamous marriages in the midst of a pagan culture, claiming to be "enlightened" while they decayed from within. The lifestyle of the Christians had an extraordinary affect over time.

During the first millennium, in the pagan culture of ancient Rome, fidelity between a husband and wife was uncommon. Sexual promiscuity, "hetero" and "homo" sexual aberrant behaviors were very common. Women (and some men) were considered to be property and used as sexual objects. Abortion, infanticide, and exposure (placing children on rocks to die by the elements or be picked up by slave traders) were not only commonplace practices but also "lawful". Epidemics began to multiply, apparently related to the lifestyle of sexual excess, causing civic and (Pagan) religious leaders to flee the cities, leaving the sick to die.

In contrast to this old pagan culture, the Christian way of life stood out as an alternative. The emphasis of the Christians was upon marrying once. Husbands and wives remained faithful to one another. Children were welcomed, cherished and seen as both gifts from- and the means of serving - the God whom they proclaimed in both word and lifestyle. Christians did not abandon the sick, but cared for them, even the sick pagans, to the point of sacrificing their own health.

According to Stark, Christianity helped to explain "why bad things happen to good people," through the proclamation of the suffering and Cross of Christ. The Christian faith answered the existential questions that were unanswered in classical paganism. The Christians lived the love they proclaimed and had a strong family system that was increasingly attractive to the pagans. This lifestyle also allowed the Christians to live longer. The author wrote that "Christian values of love and charity, from the beginning, had been translated into norms of social service and community solidarity. When disasters struck, the Christians were better able to cope, and this resulted in substantially higher rates of survival. This meant that in the aftermath of each epidemic, Christians made up a larger and larger percentage of the population even without new converts."

Stark noted that Christianity in the first millennium brought a new culture: "To cities filled with homeless and the impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family.To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services."

The Christian Way of Life transformed Christianity from being a small sect into becoming the major dominating faith of the age. It transformed the world of the First Millennium.and the Second. It can and it will do the same in the Third Millennium. We cannot - we must not - we will not - retreat from the culture.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: abortion, Obama, Culture of Life, Civilization of love, activism, Gospel of Life, activism, Nehemiah Wall, Deacon Keith Fournier

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1 - 10 of 12 Comments

Emma
6 months ago
Since the GOP still has a majority in the house, wouldn't one way to challenge the HHS Mandate be to ensure that the Hyde Amendment is continued to be attached to this year's appropriations bill? This has already been challenged and upheld in the courts and has been part of every budget since 1976. It withholds taxpayer funding for abortion. Since the Supreme Court has defined Obamacare as a tax, couldn't the use of the Hyde Amendment be used to negate the HHS Mandate forcing employers to provide coverage for abortion? I 'm no where near an attorney and I know the way our legal system operates that even lawyers have a hard time keeping up with changes, but it could be one way to persuade those truly waging a war on women AND children (aka pro -choicers) to back off the Church. Just wondering. Anyone more knowledgeable have any input? @ Steve,....once the Hyde Act went into effect the # of abortions decreased, also #of illegal abortions and women's deaths. I don't know if that helps. My suggestion for mothers who illegally abort, would not be jail time for a first offender with no prior criminal record, but perhaps something like the drug courts that we have here in CA, where offenders are provided counseling. Repeat offenders would be dealt with criminally. Medical professionals who break the law, as far as I'm concerned, should be dealt with more harshly as they do have a standard of care that they are to uphold. Nonmedical "providers " who perform such procedures would automatically be charged (at the least) with practicing medicine without a license resulting in death (manslaughter at least) . I would think that although not abortion related, that Jack Keviorkian might set some precedent. However, this is all conjecture on my part because at this time abortion is legal. But no, I would not sugarcoat consequences. How can we define a child in the womb as fully human and yet say there will be no consequences for killing said child?
JoAnn
6 months ago
Steve: Hopefully, it would go back to our more humane laws if Roe v Wade is overturned. Yes, the people involved in the MURDER of the CHILD will be prosecuted. If women "choose," "remember. they have a "choice" regarding their bodies, so women argue" to have an illegal abortion, well, "choices" have consequences. This may sound heartless, but I am thinking of the CHILD. Hardly anyone speaks for the CHILD, but they will speak for eagle's eggs, porpoises and any other animal on the planet that has to be saved. What's wrong with this picture? We have more interest in saving the planet than another human being. To even worry about what will happen to the MOTHER and her doctor is probably a waste of time. The morals, values and principles that used to be so honorable in this country in the past, have disappeared from this country. And, with the re-election of Obama, it will get worse. Remember, he now will have the opportunity to appoint more Supreme Ct. judges. If the court gets any more "Progressive/Socialists, the country will stay in "darkness" for generations. God will give a depraved nation a depraved leader, and that's exactly what God did. Just like He subjected the Hebrews to the tyranny of Egypt for their disobedience and depravity. The Hebrews were in slavery for 400 years. God is going to "chastize" his apostate children. I just hope it's not for 400 yrs. God gave us a 2 minute warning in 2008 when Obama was elected the first time. Now, with his re-election, I believe God has told us TIMES UP. We will never see true freedom again. The "civilly ignorant" have elected a Dictator and I would be very surprised if we even have another election in 2016. I hope this answers your question. It is the 50 million innocent little citizens that I mourn for, not the murderers. We children are going to have to repent and get back to God before there will be any change in this country. We will have to get back to more honorable values and principles that kept this country in God's graces. God has lifted His graces and now we are going to have to pay for our sins. PREPARE, it's going to be a very bumpy, ugly ride. God bless.
Steve
6 months ago
Deacon Fournier,
I know you, or someone on the staff at CatholicOnline, reviews all the comments. I was hoping for some answers to the question I posted, but none of the comments, so far, have really addressed it.
Are you able give an answer? This has bothered me for many years. So, will women be prosecuted or those performing the abortion be prosecuted? Or is there some other legal option to deal with this question.

I hope you don't post this, it is more of a personal question I would like you to think about, before answering.

Thanks for this wonderful article. I really enjoy your website----try to read it daily . Steve
JoAnn
6 months ago
Steve: Are you kidding me? I specifically referred to the CHILD as a CHILD throughout my entire post. I avoided using "it" because the CHI:LD is not an "it." I believe I said CHILD 15 times and I also referred to the woman as a MOTHER. Maybe, I'm not understanding you. I never once referred to the father, only to the rapist amd the rapist could probably care less whether he was a father or not. I'm confused. Politically correct is something I am not. I say what I mean and mean what I say. You are right. A loving caring man can be a father. A rapist is a rapist and pro-choice is pro-abortion. Plain and simple. Tell it like it is. God bless.
Steve
6 months ago
JoAnn,
I appreciated your comments. But in the future, to give more credibility to the pro-life movement, you would be wise not to use "it" when referring to a child. And, personally, I feel a father is not a rapist, but rather the loving, caring man who helps raise a child. Those in the pro-choice movement would love enter a debate over abortion with comments such as those in your post. Thanks for responding/

And to correct my original post, I meant to say "....when this question is asked?"
Steve
6 months ago
Augustine,
To answer the question you posed to me, my answer would be the same as you answer I would hope. The killing of a newborn would be considered murder, unless of course, it was considered a "partial-birth" abortion. In this current environment in our country, no one is prosecuted in these cases. Now, if a two month-old baby were killed in our country, I don't think any one would NOT consider that murder. it would result in the prosecution of someone who was responsible for the murder.
You posed a question without answering my question. As I said originally, I AM NOT TRYING TO BE THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE. I am trying to find out the answer to my question.

This seems to be a problem in the prolife movement. I do not want to debate whether abortion is wrong or right, it is quite clear to me that it is wrong.
So, please try again. In trying to convince people, particularly politicians or judges, We in the prolife movement need to have answers to these kind of questions. Thanks for responding.
Emma
6 months ago
I, for one, am rather surprised at the sense of defeat and the overabundance of doomsday prophesies permeating not only this site, but the majority of Catholic Websites. Have we all forgotten whose children we are? Come on folks, this was one election!! Has everyone forgotten that the battle was already fought and WON on Calvary?? We should be celebrating in the same way as did the early founders of our faith that we have been in a very small way (compared to them), humiliated for Christ the King!!! What a great and noble cause! What an honor!! I will joyfully march on. I will carry the Cross before me and continue to share the Love of God both in word and deed. I will offer my marriage, my family and my all in worship to Him and in so doing lead others to Christ. Lift the Cross high, sisters and brothers and thank God for this opportunity to serve! We're not 6yo's who have just lost their first game, for crying out loud. We are Children of God! Let's not forget to who we owe our loyalty. We belong to the One who conquers giants! the One who calls out kings! He shuts the mouths of lions! walks through fire! gives life to the dead! Have we forgotten? We shouldn't be discouraged, not when we have a Father like that, who also happens to be Father to the poorest of the poor. I will continue in this call to save them, but I will not do so without God! I will not deny my faith and my Lord. No, I will not compromise to placate social demands. To do so is to admit defeat in a battle already won.
JoAnn
6 months ago
Steve: What should these mothers do that don't want to give birth? #1. they could have exercised more self control and not conceive the CHILD in the first place. #2 There are other alternatives if the mothers do conceive a CHILD. The mothers could think about the CHILD instead of themselves and have the CHILD and give it up for adoption. There are many couples that are unable to have the blessing of conceiving a CHILD who would love to have that CHILD. "One mother's nightmare could be another woman's dream." #3 If the CHILD conceived was conceived in rape or incest, see reason #2. Killing the CHILD is a far worse crime than rape or incest. It's like punishing the CHILD for the sin of the father. That CHILD is a CHILD of God. God doesn't think too highly of anyone who kills his CHILDREN, but HE does still love the mother and HE will forgive her if she repents and doesn't commit the sin again. God told Mary Magdelen to go and SIN NO MORE!! God is pro-life!!! If the mother wants to take the religious element out ot it, the mother can think of the moral, natural law element. She is about to become a mother and she is carrying a beautiful blessing, not a disease I'm sorry if I don't sound more sympathetic but I abhor abortion and I cannot fathom any woman killing her own CHILD no matter how that CHILD was conceived. I grew up in a culture when no one even said the word abortion out loud. Now it is a house-hold word. It was a disgrace to humanity to think of killing another human being. That's what that CHILD is, I have a daughter that was raped. She conceived, she didn't even think about abortion as an option, and today, I have a beautiful great granddaughter to love and cherish. If my daughter had aborted my granddaughter, there would have been no great granddaughter and I would have missed the greatest love there is here on earth. Like I said, there are other alternatives. If the mother thinks of the CHILD first, she will always make the right decision. God bless.
Tom McGuire
6 months ago
This is a passionate article that makes clear the Deacon Keith Fournier’s undivided commitment to life. He makes many good points, I especially appreciated his siting the way the early Christians lived as witnesses to their faith. Their willingness to die as martyrs for what they believed.

His historical references were to Western culture and assumptions about the world of the past reflected the influence of the Church in the western world. It did not include reference to Africa and Asia where to this day the majority of people have never met a Christian. We are now living in a world Church and the future requires an understanding of the Good News that is sensitive to the diverse world views.

Pope Benedict XVI in his closing homily at the New Evangelization Synod made the point that “Besides traditional and perennially valid pastoral methods, the Church seeks to adopt new ones, developing new language attuned to the different world cultures, proposing the truth of Christ with an attitude of dialogue and friendship rooted in God who is Love.” That suggests a pastoral methods that are not based so much on adversarial relations but on dialogue. Today for effective evangelization there is need for dialogue among Catholics whose ecclesial communion is broken.

John Allen in the November 9th National Catholic Reporter in an article, "Defending Christians at risk is a transcendent post-election cause", suggests a way that might help build ecclesial communion so needed for effective evangelization.

He suggested a kind of "ecumenism of the martyrs."

“It's no secret that the Catholic church is often a house divided against itself, perhaps especially in the United States -- a point clearly confirmed by the divisive 2012 election. These tribal divisions are a source of pain for many Catholics, not to mention a constant impediment to bringing a unified Catholic witness to bear on anything.

If ever there were a transcendent cause that could bring the various Catholic tribes together, surely it's the defense of innocent Christians in places such as Congo, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, India and so many points beyond, where Christians literally take their lives in the hands every time they go to church, open their business or just walk down the street.

In other words, if so-called "progressives" and "conservatives" in the American church can't set aside their differences to engage this issue, what hope is there that they could ever do so on anything else?

That, at least, seems food for post-election thought.”
Augustine, Obl.S.B.
6 months ago
Steve, you ask "what about those perfectly healthy, growing babies who have mothers that just do not want to give birth to them. Will laws punish these women or will new laws punish the person performing these abortions? How do you respond when this question is ask? "
Let me ask you: What if instead of a couple months before birth, it is a couple months after birth? What about those perfectly healthy, growing babies who have mothers that just do not want them to live anymore? It happens, you know. In fact, based on the concept that there is no moral difference between a baby in the womb and one born, "afterbirth abortions", otherwise known as infanticide, has appeared at least a few times as something that should be considered in some medical "ethics" journals (http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2012/03/01/medethics-2011-100411.full). So...how do you respond to that? If a baby is a baby, is its protection a matter of the wishes of someone else? Or is it that all are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" that do not depend on you, or me, or the government?
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