Christianity has always emphasized the importance of responsible decision making, and nothing is more important than the decision of when, or whether, to have children …. one thing I know from the Bible is that Jesus was not against women having a choice in continuing a pregnancy…Jesus was for peace on earth, justice on earth, compassion on earth, mercy on earth, and choice on earth.”
Excerpts from the November 22, 2002 letter by Mark Bigelow, Congregational Church of Huntington, United Church of Christ, Centerport, New York, board member of Planned Parenthood of the Hudson-Peconic and a member of the PPFA Clergy Advisory Board, to Bill O’Reilly of Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor.”
This attitude toward my religion is one of my pet peeves. Sure we’re born with free will; sure there’s Grace for when we screw everything up; but there are also standards and duties and consequences. Christ Himself regularly dispensed ethical imperatives. “Go and sin no more.” “Sell all you have and give to the poor.” And then there’s the whole Sermon on the Mount, which stresses going above and beyond the Law rather than living as though it doesn’t exist…
We were never meant to turn the responsibility of decision-making into a virtue in and of itself.