Have we really fallen this far?

I just got back from spending the day in DC, a minority opinion in a somewhat intimidating crowd of diehard abortion supporters.  Clearly the city became hostile territory, and I was with the enemy.

I stood and watched -- mostly in saddened silence -- as the mass of sign-toting activists oozed by on Pennsylvania Avenue.  They were mindless robots chanting, singing, yelling, and wearing meaningless statements crafted by NARAL, NOW, and company.  Not an original or rational thought to be heard.  Angry and hate-filled remarks were spouted toward the pro-life community, and obscene comments were blared in reference to President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Dutifully toddling alongside their parents, children -- and infants -- roamed the streets with their clothes littered with stickers demanding the right to terminate a "fetus."  Pregnant teenage girls showed off their bellies and cited mantras about keeping government away from "my" body.

It was, I must say, one of the most heartbreaking experiences in my life.  So many people yelling -- and even cheering -- for the right to forcefully remove a baby from a woman's body.  How did we come to this?  Even if someone believes that abortion is a justifiable act, surely it cannot be one that should be cheered over like a grand trophy.  And it is incredibly deceptive to frame the debate around "choice," to suggest that women's rights are in danger of being violated.  The theme of the whole march was that women's rights and very lives are at stake and must be saved from the wicked Christian conservatives and their ringleader, President Bush.  What absurd (though obviously effective) concepts.

No rights are threatened here -- though young lives certainly are.  If Roe v. Wade were rescinded, women would still be "in control of their bodies" and the government would not be charging "in the bedroom."  But to proclaim that there is some kind of decision-making required in whether or not to carry a baby to full term is insulting and horrific.  No "choice" is needed -- an unborn child deserves to live, and his own mother should never consider an option otherwise.

"But what about rape victims?" they ask.  "To make a woman carry the baby of her rapist proves conservatives don't care about women."  Rape is one of the most evil and wicked crimes, to be sure -- taking a woman's innocence is theft in the highest degree.  But the act of abortion does not lend itself to such justification.  It is a moral wrong regardless of the circumstances of conception, however awful they might be.  To deny this would be admitting that certain circumstances can merit taking the life of a child, and this cannot be.

Thus, using buzzwords like "women's rights" and "choice" is but a ploy to ignore the real fundamental issues in the debate -- a ploy that many conservatives have fallen into.  I am not anti-woman or a "pig," as one woman labeled a pro-life friend of mine, no matter how many hundreds of thousands of protesters want to believe it.  And while I may seek to live a radical walk of faith, I don't believe the government's role is to mandate the moral lives of its citizens (though the rule of law demands that lines be drawn).

In fact, I felt nothing but compassion for the women (and men) who marched in Washington this weekend.  I don't hate them.  I don't wish ill will upon them.  Actually, I care for them greatly and pray that they could feel God's redeeming love, in spite of the fact that many of them mocked, vilified, and misapplied His will.  There is no hatred in my heart toward these people.  But I do hate -- with the deepest passion -- the ideas that were put forth and the horrendous evil for which they were fighting.

So tonight my heart mourns.  I feel a bit helpless; so much spiritual darkness surrounded this event, yet with so many people following along, I wonder if the cause has been lost already.

Now, truly, I believe that my God can transcend even the deepest depths of wickedness, but it remains an excruciating feeling to watch thousands of people angrily spit in the face of His design.  How His heart must ache as well.