Two stories in The Columbian’s Aug. 5 edition dovetail remarkably: “Democrats differ on anti-abortion candidates” and “Ideas on poverty shaped by religion.”
The former discusses Democrats contemplating abandonment of their pro-choice platform; the latter explains how Evangelicals, believing in an imminent apocalypse, see soul-saving as the ultimate act of generous charity.
This validates a suspicion I’ve had since Election Day: it always comes down to abortion. Our national fate is being dictated by a large group of Bible thumpers who really believe they are saving souls by preventing abortions. What’s so sad is that I don’t even believe they worry about the souls of the women whose abortions they stop, or about babies’ lives (certainly not their well-being!); I think they’re, at heart, only concerned with their own soul’s survival. They act as though blocking abortion clinics reserves them a place in heaven.
What a horrible mess in which to be caught! We’re in thrall to an ancient myth, at a time when each new arrival’s carbon footprint and welfare expense should be carefully computed, weighed and assessed.
I feel like an unwilling participant in a horror movie, galloping toward a predictable, nasty ending.
