Pro-life Atheists

Can atheists be pro-life? There are a few. Nathan Hentoff is the classic example. But the fact that there is one classic example means it is pretty rare. I wonder about that. Atheists are very rational, counter-cultural thinkers. Why would they not be pro-life? Thinking about what Paula Kirby wrote about original sin made it more clear. Being pro-life means having to face the reality of grave evil. When innocent children are being killed by the millions and it is being defended by people who are otherwise find upstanding citizens that is big time evil. You can't contemplate that much evil sanctioned by that many people without believing in sin. I mean really believing in sin. Not just saying "nobody's perfect" but accepting that there is something deeply wrong with the human person. That we have a great capacity for denying evil or pretending we just don't see it.

Atheism just does not have an answer to that kind of evil. The kind of evil that can take the mind of an intelligent person and twist it so he can't see what is right. Atheism is essentially salvation by human reason. So it cannot deal with facts that show evil winning out over human reason. Intelligent people who do stupid things because they were overcome by pride or anger or lust or greed. They are all over the place. Atheists need to see that as the exception and not the rule. They must believe that the power of human reason can remain intact. That society won't just come off the rails and embrace evil. That is why they can't contemplate the Nazi holocaust. For the same reason they can't process the modern holocaust of abortion.

You hear this from people who are doing crisis pregnancy ministry. The women involved are not typically atheists but they are often very secular in their thinking. The ministry does not try and evangelize. They try and make the mother see her child is already human and deserves to live. But the two are tied together. When a mother chooses life she often also chooses faith. They typically go back to church and make many positive changes. If you accept sin then you have to accept grace. Otherwise you end up in despair.

Some will make a choice for life and still deny that it was a moral choice. They will just say they personally could not do it but they don't think it is wrong for anyone else. They almost treat their inability to have an abortion as a mental defect. Sort of like an irrational fear of flying in an airplane except this is a phobia about killing your child. In truth it is an irrational fear of transcendent moral principles. That happens but it is not the argument crisis pregnancy people make. They say it is wrong for everyone despite the fact that millions have done it. You can't really process that if you don't believe in grace. Grace for those who have had abortions or pushed other to have them and must account for their actions some day. Also grace for those who choose life and have to face all the challenges that come down that road.

The cross of Jesus is really the only answer to sin that makes sense. But if you don't really, seriously believe in sin it will never make sense. Then taking up your cross and following Jesus won't make sense either.