Consider the abortion issue.

For my entire life, I have been opposed to the idea that a woman can decide to “terminate her pregnancy” and end the life of the unborn child within her womb, simply because she wants to. I have always thought that unjust, murderous, selfish, callous, etc., and many other words which could be used to describe the attitude. However, I have just read something which resonates and throws a different light on the subject, something which has opened my understanding to a deeper level, not just on the abortion topic, but anything which is wrong and imposed by force on those weaker members of society.

In his introduction to Karl Ludwig von Haller’s book, Restoration of Political Science, Jack Vien makes an astounding argument, as seen here.

“One is ordinarily, even by nature, ruthless with a defeated rival or challenger, someone who is “weak” only in that he could conceivably have won the fight but wasn’t quite up to the challenge or shouldn’t have issued it in the first place. But it is an altogether different story where the disparity between weak and strong is great enough for the overwhelming superiority of the strong to be incontrovertibly evident to all, and uncontested, or incapable of being contested, by the weak. Here the natural human want is to abstain from harming the weak, and to help them if they need help, to the exact extent that they are weak, and acknowledge it.” — Introduction, page xxxiii.

When I first read this, my immediate thought was that the only problem here is that an unborn child cannot acknowledge that they are weak and need help. Being unable to speak for themselves, they literally have no one to speak for them and, as a consequence, are considered unworthy of attention, support, or protection. They are, therefore, prime targets of those who are more powerful and who do not hesitate to exercise that power, especially as it serves their needs. Who gives a damn about a four-month old child anyway? And, since we live in a world in which no one can say or do anything which someone else might find “offensive”, it is not possible to call things as they really are–a love fest with murderous depravity.

Vien isn’t done. Just a few paragraphs later, he has this to add.

“Conversely, cruelty towards the weak is personally disgraceful, not because of any slave morality that exalts weakness over strength, but precisely because it is a sign of weakness. Cruelty suggests that one has sunk beneath one’s own proper rank in a hierarchy of strength to that of one’s inferiors.” – ibid, xxxiii

Cruelty. Cruelty toward another human being. Cruelty toward other human beings who are less powerful than you are. Vien says that this is not a mark of power, but one of weakness. You are cruel because you are weak. You want to be seen as strong (even though you are weak) and so you lash out at those whom you have power over. Power to hurt, to harm, to destroy. This is as true in the abortion realm as it is anywhere else. Many women are persuaded to get abortions because they have been told (and believed) that it would validate their own personal power. In reality, though, the only power these women have is to kill their unborn child who is powerless to resist the cruel onslaught.

Contrast this with the message of the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

“Those who would be greatest (have the most power) among you, must be the servant (most loving, most giving, most humble) of all.” — Matthew 23:11

It is easy to walk into a Planned Parenthood facility (I do not call it a clinic), get on a table, spread your legs, allow the “professional” to do his dirty work, and walk out two hours later thinking quite highly of yourself. Yet, all you have proven is that you are willing to take advantage of someone who is weaker than yourself and who had no chance of even putting up a miniscule argument in her own defense.

Yet, Christ commands us to be compassionate towards others, even those who practice evil. If we can understand that women choose to abort out of a misplaced desire for power, then we can recognize that they are weak, mistaken, deluded, and therefore, are worthy of our compassion. This does not mean that we approve or endorse their action, but that we realize they have been driven to it by a deep lack within their souls, something which compels them to perform an abhorrent act in order to make them feel good about themselves. This is the place where Christians who profess the love of Christ should reach out and say, “I understand, let me walk through this dark time with you.”

Cruelty happens because a person is weak, not because he is cruel. Cruelty is the symptom. The cause which creates the symptom is something entirely different. We need to understand that difference and figure out a way to expose it to the Light of Truth, which is love shown in the deepest pockets of darkness.