Abortion is not the pre-eminent issue

Traditional Catholic organisations like Church Militant do well in exposing the corruption of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. I was reminded of their attacks on Bishops who state abortion is not the pre-eminent issue in the US, chiefly Cardinal Blase Cupich and Bishop Robert McElroy (I cannot remember the exact video in which this happened, but their posture towards such Bishops is easily seen in their content, especially here). And these criticisms are more than noble, because countless within the Hierarchy are pumping the Vatican with progressive heresies, even from a Protestant perspective.

But what if I said that, on its own, the statement "abortion is not the pre-eminent issue" is actually correct?



Now this is a bizarre, if not heretical claim from myself, a self-proclaimed Christian and follower of abolitionist doctrine. But if you understand abolitionism, or just know the demands of the holy scriptures, you will know that one priority exists higher than all issues of justice, because it is upon this priority that justice rests. And I think the Westminster Larger Catechism perfectly encapsulates this ultimate aim:

Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?

 A. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever. [1]

 "to glorify God" is most relevant to this topic, and the scripture proofs provided by the Catechism for this clause are [2]:

Romans 11:36:

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

And 1st Corinthians 10:31:

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

I could muster a thousand additional prooftexts for this truth, but that is unnecessary, because every Christian knows this is the primary purpose of humanity under god. But although we "know" this in the abstract, do we know it in actuality?

I think many of us do, but many do not, especially the Pro-Life Movement (PLM). Think how many times you see the otherwise Christian dominated pro-life organisations going head over heels to disassociate pro-life with "religion". Think about how online collections of pro-life arguments focus entirely on "secular" arguments and avoid the ultimate argument - God's will - like the plague. I actually laughed physically when I searched "best pro life arguments" for this point and found "The Best Pro-Life Arguments for Secular Audiences" by the Family Research Council as the top result (try it yourself; its the same for Google and Duckduckgo, my main engine).

And how about the pro-life organisations themselves? What is their mission? Upon what do they base their activism? National Right to Life, the largest pro-life organisation in the USA, says nothing about God or his word in their mission statement. Instead, the Declaration of Independence seems to be their scripture, and the Founding Fathers their gods. I dare not accuse the many truthful Christians in that organisation of idolatry, but in effect, the organisation roots itself in a human philosophy, perhaps "inspired" by the word of God, but not the word of God itself. The exact same can be seen in the other mainstream pro-life groups, including in my home of Australia. Right to Life Australia even declares itself "non-denominational" at the bottom of their website.

"But Paul," retorts the Christian pro-lifer, "we need the support of non-Christians to stop abortion! We can't afford to be sectarian."
First, someone who unironically says this has never heard of the early church, which took control of the most powerful empire and destroyed the power of its state religion, without having to appease masses of unbelievers to achieve their ends (hell, they couldn't). God's victory over Rome saw the end of the gladiators and the proliferation of care for the less fortunate, also without appeasing unbelievers.

But let's make a greater point. If the chief and highest end of man was to end abortion, there would be more sense to this argument (historically illiterate sense, as I show above). But criminalizing abortion (which the PLM seems to oppose) is not the chief and highest end of man; the glorification of God is. Glorifying God absolutely includes the establishment of true justice, including charging those who procure abortions (another thing the PLM opposes). But it also entails one's full submission to his word and will. 

Yet the PLM makes anti-abortion its chief end, allowing it to recruit a melting pot of religious and irreligious persons into its ranks. If they can even achieve this end, which assumes the viability of incremental strategies (laughable, in my opinion), what will they do with these networks? What will become of the legions of religiously diverse pro-lifers? Will they still remain united on anything significant? Clearly not; religious division will resurface, and the PLM will collapse, giving the abortionists a golden platter opportunity to reverse the pro-life victory. No real change in culture except on one moral tenet will have occurred, because the PLM never thought the reformation of man's soul necessary.

Contrast this to the abolitionist movement, which is politically centered on the ending of abortion, but first and foremost for the spread of the Gospel. Unlike mere pro-lifeism, the Gospel is holistic, reforming the entirety of one's life and society's function, not just one moral inclination. If a group pushes for abortion's end without the foundation of the Gospel and the desire to see it spread, then what is their basis? What is the point of being pro-life? Is abortion even evil anymore?

No, abortion is not the pre-eminent issue, mass apostasy is. Criminalizing abortion is not the chief and highest end of man, the Kingdom of God is.
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[1] - The Westminster Larger Catechism, accessed at https://prts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Larger_Catechism.pdf

[2] - Scripture references from the Catechism itself, presumably KJV.