{"id":112,"date":"2015-09-15T21:10:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T01:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/?p=112"},"modified":"2021-03-09T12:55:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T16:55:05","slug":"nukes-and-the-pro-life-christian-a-conservative-takes-a-second-look-at-the-morality-of-nuclear-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/index.php\/2015\/09\/15\/nukes-and-the-pro-life-christian-a-conservative-takes-a-second-look-at-the-morality-of-nuclear-weapons\/","title":{"rendered":"Nukes and the Pro-Life Christian: A Conservative Takes a Second Look at the Morality of Nuclear Weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Karen Swallow Prior<\/strong><\/p>\n

from Sojourners,<\/em>\u00a0August 2015<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>I WAS SITTING IN the wrong end of a police wagon the first time I questioned nuclear weapons. Technically, it was a school bus, but it served the same purpose: hauling scores of protesters to the county holding center where we would await booking for our trespasses.<\/p>\n

We had been protesting abortion. I was thinking about nuclear weapons because a couple of those in the bus were peace activists who had long rap sheets from years of anti-war protests. I, on the other hand, was a Republican-voting, independent Baptist church-attending, conservative-leaning, law-abiding (well, until now) kind of Christian. I was awed\u2014and grateful\u2014that these peaceniks would join the likes of me in common cause against another kind of violence.<\/p>\n

My new friends adhered to the \u201cseamless garment\u201d philosophy, also called the consistent life ethic, one committed to the protection of all human life, whether from war, poverty, racism, capital punishment, euthanasia, or abortion. One of them gave me a button that read \u201cPeace begins in the womb,\u201d and I pinned it to the bottom of the black leather motorcycle jacket I used to wear in those days.<\/p>\n

A few years and many more abortion protests later, I was starting a local chapter of Feminists for Life<\/a>, attending an Episcopal church, heading up a small private school in the inner city, teaching at a Jesuit college, and reading the poetry of Father Daniel Berrigan<\/a>, the famous Vietnam-era anti-war activist who was now being arrested for protesting abortion.<\/p>\n

– See more at: https:\/\/sojo.net\/magazine\/august-2015\/nukes-and-pro-life-christian#sthash.URc7MaLr.dpuf<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Karern<\/p>\n

Karen Swallow Prior, a professor of English at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., is the author most recently of <\/em>Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More: Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist and a research fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. She is also a Consistent Life endorser.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Another blog post on a conservative look at issues of violence:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Why Conservatives Should Oppose the Death Penalty<\/a><\/p>\n

For more blog posts on personal journeys, see: <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Supporting the Dignity of Every Life<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(Bill Samuel)<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming to Peace and Living a Consistent Life After Military Service<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Off the Fence and Taking My Stand on Abortion <\/span><\/a>(Mary Liepold)<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon Long: My Personal Pro-life Journey<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

On Being a Consistent Chimera <\/span><\/a>(Rob Arner)<\/p>\n

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By Karen Swallow Prior from Sojourners,\u00a0August 2015 \u00a0I WAS SITTING IN the wrong end of a police wagon the first time I questioned nuclear weapons. Technically, it was a school bus, but it served the same purpose: hauling scores of protesters to the county holding center where we would await booking for our trespasses. We… <\/p>\n