Yet many Quakers make an exception to the rule against killing human beings, thus going against pacifism, as long as those human beings haven\u2019t gotten around to being born yet.<\/p>\n
My branch of Quakers (FGC, Friends General Conference), is so bad on this that I often face hostility<\/a> (or steadfast ignoring) when I bring the topic up. FGC\u2019s magazine, Friends Journal,<\/em> last August published a piece advocating Quakers take a pro-abortion stand<\/a>. They were pleased with themselves that this kicked off a formal post-Dobbs<\/em> re-examination among Friends. But they haven\u2019t published an article with alternative thoughts, and they turned down the one I submitted for consideration. It\u2019s the evangelical branch, with its strong pro-life tendencies, that primarily sees to it that Friends are \u201cnot in unity\u201d on the abortion issue.<\/p>\n Rachel MacNair at FGC Gathering (national conference)<\/p><\/div>\n Since our national lobbying group, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is formally conducting this re-examination, a process asking Friends whether FCNL should change their neutral position, I\u2019ve therefore been more actively trying to educate Friends. FCNL\u2019s decision is to be made this November.<\/p>\n Fortunately, FCNL\u2019s policy committee did give me a half-hour Zoom meeting to make my case, and I thought that meeting went quite well. But the questions there, along with the questions and arguments throughout the years, suggested three problems to me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many inquire about the strange and extreme cases, for both pacifism and abortion. These are usually isolated and often fictitious cases that don\u2019t happen often. Sometimes there are responses directly to this; I give several on the madman chasing your mother with the knife<\/a>. An excerpt:<\/p>\n In order to work as an example, the situation needs to be stripped down to its simplest components. Such is the nature of violence; it thrives on over-simplified thinking and withers with complicated reality.<\/p>\n Does this madman have a mother who will grieve his passing? Does he have a following that will avenge this death? Is he a police officer so that the weight of the dictatorial government will be coming down on you?<\/p>\n Why is it that a person whose mental illness is so dangerous is out on the streets \u2013 has society done its job in restraining such a person? How was it you were able to ascertain quickly that he\u2019s insane \u2013 is he maybe drunk or high instead? Or simply off his medications and will be fine once he gets back on them? Has he recently suffered a trauma so that one quick distraction and a listening ear would solve the problem? Is he following a habit so that going contrary to his victimizing script would throw him off balance?<\/p>\n In any event, we haven\u2019t identified the actual need. There is no need to kill or severely injure the man; there is a need for emergency restraint.<\/p>\n An example with abortion is the baby that\u2019s going to die soon after birth, having some medical condition incompatible with life once the umbilical cord is cut.\u00a0 Yet isn\u2019t it obvious that having the baby born and dying in mama\u2019s arms, surrounded by love, is better than having someone reach up inside mama and cut the child into pieces? There are studies that show better psychological outcomes for families who go the holding route, but really, do we need studies? Isn\u2019t it obvious as soon as it\u2019s said that way? The problem is that people think of abortion as simply terminating the pregnancy. \u00a0But as with violence in general, being familiar with what actually happens<\/a> is often enough to make the violence seem less appealing.<\/p>\n But then there\u2019s the observation that extreme cases are, by their nature, not common. So the second answer I gave dealt with the opposite – the cases that are more frequent. What about sex-selection abortions, common around the world<\/a>? What about women who choose to give birth being abandoned<\/a> and left impoverished by fathers who think the baby was her choice and not his? There are plenty of things that could be listed here, just as recounting which wars are clearly not justified is an easy exercise.<\/p>\n It just struck me as odd to observe that pacifists who are used to dealing with arguments about extreme cases and therefore using either or both of these two responses about other kinds of violence would then turn around and use the extreme-individual-cases technique on abortion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So some Friends argue that different religions have different ideas of when life begins. Therefore, they think it follows\u00a0 that we allow those who think it\u2019s later than conception to be able to kill those already conceived. That\u2019s my wording rather than theirs, of course. It gives my first idea of what\u2019s wrong with this approach.<\/p>\n But more to the point, if there\u2019s anything that different religious groups\u00a0disagree on, it\u2019s the military. A lot of religions favor defensive \u201cjust\u201d war, and many favor aggressive \u201choly\u201d war. Plenty of soldiers actively engaged in war are very religious indeed, and will use religious justification for what they\u2019re doing. Yet pacifists, by definition, take a stand against war. We don\u2019t make arguments about religious pluralism to keep us from doing so.<\/p>\n And when the life of an individual human being begins isn\u2019t a religious question. It\u2019s a scientific one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We normally apply the idea of conscience rights to objection to war. Many Friends may then be sympathetic also with those with conscientious objection to abortion<\/a>, but I don\u2019t know since I haven\u2019t used that point much.<\/p>\n But there have been those who\u2019ve applied the conscience principle this way: women should have the right to have abortions after consulting their own consciences.<\/p>\n But if a man\u2019s conscience has him picking up a rifle to go to war, I say that there should be no war for him to use his conscience to fight in. And if the war is there all the same, I\u2019ll try to talk him out of participating. I\u2019ve never understood conscience rights to cover actively killing \u2013 only refusing to kill.\u00a0After all, I\u2019m a pacifist.<\/p>\n I also object to leaving a mother dangling as if she\u2019s isolated and on her own. There\u2019s always also a father, there are grandparents, there are employers and social workers and some incredibly callous social policies. People whose consciences allow them to pressure mothers into abortions are people whose consciences need more care.<\/p>\n ===========================================<\/p>\n For more of Rachel’s posts on similar topics, see:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The Civil War Conundrum, 150 Years Later<\/a><\/p>\n Would Nonviolence Work on the Nazis?<\/a><\/p>\n The Darkest Hour<\/em>: \u201cGlorifying\u201d War?<\/a><\/p>\n![\"FGC](\"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Photo-FGC-table.jpg\")
<\/a>Problem 1: Extreme Cases<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Problem 2: Religious Differences<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"consistent](\"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/religious-diversity-260x300.jpg\")
<\/a>My branch of Quakers, unlike the evangelical branch, tends toward an interfaith understanding. I\u2019ve written on the importance of interfaith<\/a> understanding for peace. There is \u201cthat of God\u201d in everyone, and therefore reaching that of God in each person is helped by being respectful of their religious understanding. Also, we have no creed, because a creed tries to put reality in a box and truth doesn\u2019t fit in a box. There\u2019s always \u201cyes, but . . .\u201d and other nuances plus alternative perspectives.<\/p>\nProblem 3: Conscience Rights<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/graphic-killing-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n