Time to unite on a critical issue

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303

By John Hatcher
Contributing Writer

Recently I had breakfast with a monsignor in the Catholic Church. Presently he is charged by the Pope to raise funds for the construction of a new cathedral in Guadalajara, Mexico. As envisioned, the cathedral will feature never-before aspects. It promises to be a city within a city: a hospital, a university, and much more.

Upon the direction of Pope John Paul, the Guadalajara cathedral will also include a Protestant chapel, a place where someone like me could go, pray, and worship. When I heard that bit of news from the Monsignor, I was floored. He explained that Pope John Paul was very serious about his ecumenical emphasis and the inclusion of the Protestant Chapel was concrete evidence of his intentionality.

Catholics and evangelicals are waking up to the realization that we have more in common than not. The most pressing issue, according to our two groups, is the fate of the unborn, not necessarily the war in Iraq.

Although it is of concern that nearly 1000 lives have been killed so far in the war in Iraq (a war of more than a year long), we hear nothing on nightly news that about 3,700 lives were killed that day through abortions.

You tell me. You go figure. You do the math. What’s the difference in 3,700 lives lost in one day compared to the five to upwards to 15 U.S. deaths in Iraq on one day. In one day more lives are snuffed out through abortions than all the lives lost in the tragedies of September 11, 2001.

Abortion should be a primary campaign issue in this year’s election for president and Congress. For me the litmus test whether I vote for anyone is his or her stand on life. Yet, abortion will not be a primary campaign issue in this year’s election because both sides realize it’s too volatile. Heaven yes, it’s volatile. It’s wrong. It’s immoral. It’s un-Biblical. It’s un-Christian. It’s the world’s easy way out of unwanted consequences of sex, whether or not that sex was immoral or not.

Catholics and Protestants believe that every single life is important. We believe that life begins with conception. In fact, we believe that our individual lives were begun in the heart of God before the foundation of the world. When abortion happens, the heart of God is deeply grieved because that life was in his heart for a long, long time.

My personal genealogy makes a good case against abortion. I should not be here if my grandfather and grandmother took the world’s advice. My grandfather married a way, way younger woman than he was. In fact, my grandmother was his second wife and the children she gave him were his second set. At 79 years of age, he was still sexually virile and desirous.

His wife was in her late twenties. She got pregnant by this old man when he was 79 years old. Now, conventional logic would tell that he was too old to be a responsible father to the child and would not be able to afford, nor probably live long enough, to support the child. They should have aborted the child, many would say. Things were just not right.

However, in the early part of the 20th century, abortion was not on the public buffet of moral choices. So the young bride gave birth to my mother and you know the rest of the story.

My daughter would not be here enjoying life and all its challenges if granddad and grandma had done the worldly wise thing. No, they just hung on for the ride and had two more children after my mother was born. As far as I know, two of their grandchildren are in the ministry.

To my disappointment, I think the Catholic Church has its act together better on this issue than we in the evangelical tradition. They are making issues of coming to the Eucharist based on politicians’ stand on life.

To my disappointment also, the presidential campaign has thus far focused on Iraq, the economy, jobs oversees, and the like. Perhaps someone will wake up to the idea that perhaps God is withholding his blessings on America because we are killing his children left and right and it’s all legal and socially acceptable. “What did you do this afternoon?” The answer, “Oh, I went to women’s clinic and had an abortion.” Not, “I committed murder.”

I suggest that Catholics and Protestants unite as never before to present a powerful front for the cause of life. We should begin praying together and worshipping together since we have the two most important things in common: Jesus as Lord and life is sacred.