After Democrats Vote to Let the Babies Die

How to Respond to the Party of Babykilling?

First, I apologize ahead of time that this post may be somewhat stream of consciousness.  For over a week, I have wrestled with how to address this, and I am still unsure of exactly how.    But this matter is so grave I think it’s past time to get something out there.  I cannot just remain silent.  At the same time, do not take this post as my final word.  I may revisit this topic, perhaps over at Stand Firm.

Second, I do not and will not apologize for the titles above.  That all but one House Democrat (a hat tip to Henry Cuellar of Texas) voted against requiring medical care for babies that survive abortion is a profound evil even if the bill passed.  Late-term abortion isn’t evil enough for House Democrats.  Now they are on the record for infanticide as well.

And I will not argue about that.  If you really think what House Democrats did is okay or if you make excuses for it, you have the moral discernment of a rat, and I will not waste my time on you except to seek to have you disciplined if you dare be a leader in my church. (Please see an apology and clarification at the end.)

What I am mainly wrestling with is how should churches respond.  Generally I think churches should tread lightly on political matters even when the church is right.  There are far more important matters to address that transcend this world and people need to hear about those.  Getting much into politics is a sure way to drive people away.  And delving too deeply into politics has long been a temptation of the institutional church from First Baptist Dallas to Riverside Church to Ebenezer Baptist Atlanta.

At the same time, scripture and history have some things to say about religious leaders that remain silent in the face of profound evil.  Silence and acquiescence can harm witness as well, not to mention offend a just God.

Then there is the problem of how to deal with church leaders and even members that remain in the Democrat Party.  Decades ago, churches could very reasonably leave that alone.  Both parties were right on some things and wrong on others.  Both parties were mixed bags that contained some good people and policies and some evil people and policies.

But now we are at least very close to the point where the Republican Party remains that way but the Democrat Party has not.  Again only one Democrat Congressman voted for the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.  Most decent people have long fled or been driven away from the Democrat Party.  I’m old enough to remember when there were a lot of pro-lifers and cultural conservatives in the Democrat Party.  Not now.  Not for years.

With this and any number of other issues (This would become a long post indeed if I dealt with those here.), the Democrat Party is at least getting close to Nazi Party or Communist Party territory, where it is simply not tolerable for a professing Christian to remain in it.  And there have been cases where churches have proscribed membership in a political party. The Church of England banning clergy from the British National Party comes to mind.

But before you stop reading, I do not agree with those who advocate blanket excommunication for Democrats. (Sorry, A. D. Robles. I love ya, but . . . ) There has to be more discernment than that.  For one thing, we all have areas where we need to repent and improve.  We are all learning, or should be.  For a time after I came to faith, I remained pro-abortion, but I learned and changed my mind, even becoming a pro-life student leader.  And not everyone can be well informed about everything.  Nay, no one can be well informed about everything.  Thus many Christians continue to support Democrats out of ignorance. (Those who have voted for pro-abortion Sen. Warnock thinking that surely a Baptist pastor opposes abortion come to mind.)  We have to remain patient with these as we all need God and the church to be patient with us.

Also there remain a few, very few now but still a few, who exercise decent moral discernment on most issues but remain in the Democrat Party, perhaps in hopes of reform, perhaps because in their region it provides more opportunity to make a difference.  And I know if Henry Cuellar came to my church, I would heartily welcome him.  (I cannot say that about the other Democrat congressmen.)

And parties do reform, especially after severe political defeats.  The Labour Party today is more sane and less evil now than before its historic landslide defeat in 2019, thank God.  Yes, I think the best thing we can do for the Democrat Party is to defeat it, hard and repeatedly.

But when a major political party becomes as profoundly evil as the Democrats, I don’t think churches and Christian leaders can pretend it remains okay to support such a party.  At the very least, church leaders who support evil Democrats should be called on the carpet, told to repent, and deposed if they refuse.

For example, those leaders and churches who supported “pro-choice” Raphael Warnock for Senate in Georgia should not be tolerated.  I do not and will not even consider such to be Christian leaders and Christian churches; I refuse to give them that dignity. There may be Christians in those churches.  They should get out now.  And we should warn people away from such fake churches.  Likewise for “mainline” denominations that support abortion.

That may seem radical.  But Christian tolerance does not cover tolerating using the institutional church for such profound evil.  Bonhoeffer left his church when it became supportive of Nazi anti-Jewish policies.  Here, churches split over slavery.  We should be prepared to do no less if a church descends into such evil as supporting or even tolerating abortion and infanticide and/or supporting babykilling politicians and parties.

At the same time I contend that the way to deal with those outside of church leadership and public office, i. e. with those in the pews, is through patient persistent teaching and instruction in the Faith and in Biblical principles as a whole, not through excommunication or through constantly teaching on politics.

Those who are very public in supporting profound evil may be another matter.  Let’s say if any Democrat Congressman other than Cuellar visited my church I would alert my Rector of his/her evil in hopes that he would refused communion.

Anyway, I could ramble on and on but you get the picture.  What House Democrats have done and what the Democrat Party is doing puts both the country and the church is a very difficult position.  And it is not at all simple in how to respond. You can see I am wrestling with this myself.  And, as long you agree the Democrat Party has descended into profound evil, I understand and respect you if you disagree with some of what I’ve written above.  I’m not even sure how much I agree with it.  Again, I’ve been thinking out loud.

But we cannot pretend that the Democrat Party has not become profoundly evil.  Church leaders and others in positions of responsibility in society must not so pretend or look the other way.  We fail both church and country if we do so.

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Afterword: After posting this and having a good breakfast, I thought my third paragraph was unnecessarily abrasive and uncharitable to say the least.  For that I apologize.

But I’ve decided to leave it up.  After all, this was a stream of thought as I said.  And I am so weary of those making excuses for or even supporting the evil of today’s Democrat Party, I think it best to let that expression of frustration remain even if it may have been sinful on my part.