#629 - Peace & Life: 5 Reasons Why / Child Poverty Down! - September 16, 2022
Progressive and Pro-Life
Daniel K. Williams, professor of history at the University of West Georgia and the author of Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement Before Roe v. Wade (see our blog review), has written a September 8 piece in Christianity Today:
Our historic, global faith tradition connects sanctity of life with social justice.
He expands on these five reasons:
1. Concern for the unborn unites us with a 2,000-year Christian tradition of viewing human life as a unique creation of God.
2. Concern for the unborn is a countercultural witness against a contemporary Western society that devalues children.
3. Pro-life advocacy is a countercultural affirmation that women deserve better options than abortion.
4. Pro-life advocacy unites us with a global movement of people in lower-income, non-Western nations who are resisting the individualistic message of the secular West.
5. Pro-life activism is a way to defend the value of those with severe disabilities, who are the most likely to be victims of abortion in an age of widespread prenatal screening tests.
We at CLN are of course interested in reaching people of all faiths and political persuasions as well as those who are unaffiliated.
Good News – Child Poverty in the U.S. is Way Down!
As reported in this New York Times article, fears that the welfare reform of the 1990s would increase childhood poverty were unfounded, because the opposite occurred. This wasn’t because of the reform itself, but because of an expanded safety net, including refundable tax credits, the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food stamps, raises in the minimum wage, and Medicaid expansion.
Say it with a Billboard
This was sent to us by the Greensburg, Pennsylvania chapter of our member group, Pax Christi USA. In addition to putting up the billboard, they faxed this to various churches.
The Latest Blog Post
Lois Kerschen offers a Book Review - Rehumanize: A Vision to Secure Human Rights for All. This book on the consistent life ethic was recently released, and author Aimee Murphy is currently on a book tour promoting it.
Quotation of the Week
Peter Finney, Jr., columnist
The Clarion Harold, July 19, 2022
What if the “signs of the times” are interpreted to mean that the pro-life movement should abandon its fight for “equal justice under law for prenatal children” and instead throw its weight behind fixing the social injustices that lead to abortion?
[Charles] Camosy says answering that question is simple.
“We can walk and chew gum at the same time here,” he says.
Take, for example, the issue of segregation. What if those opposed to segregation in the 1960s said rather than make segregation illegal, they should go all in on addressing the underlying social causes of racism? . . .
“It is now genuinely possible to work for both prenatal justice and for paid family leave, robust child allowances, workplace protections and supports based on family status, shelters and other protections for women at risk for intimate-partner violence and so much more.”
The bottom line for Camosy’s consistent life ethic is this: “As wonderful and important as initiatives geared toward making abortion unthinkable are, they will ring profoundly hollow without also insisting on equal justice under law for prenatal children.”