',T,'-, . ..>.,, ( I I,.. _ .. ->-,, . ; > .. - > .. :I< .- , .. . . .,. ..-.,.<, ,- ,, " .*.;.-. .... $, .. . ,.. . , ,;-... .; . ..J'-;.. ; ' , -' . .. ;<..-.. ,,* ' - I$ ., ,.:-a ', , ,- ~ Abortion: A Moment For Conscientious Reflection One of the rl~ost embarrassing episocles for thc church in our ccl~tiiry was the almost near silence of thc state related Protestant Church in Germany in the nlattcr of the atroci~ics conncctcd with t21c I-Iitler regime. \Vhether or llor the cll~lrcfi call be held accountable is an in\:ol~retl question. Only the ilib r~ud ~~tiil;i.'ormcd would imnle- tlintelp sit ir~ judgmcr.lt. It is not rcally ;~ccu.t-atc to say that the church sat 011 its hands while IClitIcr sct aside basic htunan rights, i.e., the right to onrn l~roperty and the right to livc. 'T'he Protestant Church in Gerlllany is nctuallv onl!. an ccclcsiastical ~td~;linistration which xcceiircs the support of thc go\:ctr-nnlcnt and ~vllicl~ supcri~ises the congrcg;ttions. The Protestallt Cliurch ~II Germany ~vould be comparable to a national system of libraries in our coi~ntry ;vilere regulnr religious services are conducted. Put it like this, be.longing to a church in Gern~any is like belonging to n librar!: in our countr5i. Since you arc a citizen in either case, yo11 arc entitled to use church or library. Of course yo11 pay for t~oth. C11risrians (herc the ILR~ snlzctu ecclesin is mcant) did not senc-l Jcws to the ovens ancl ncither clid t1.y wish it in any SCIISC. T~iioiigIl C1iristi;ins, Protestant anc1 Catholic, went to their martyrctom with 1-he Jews because they tlcfended and asso- ciated with t21c111. I-Iitlcr recei~rcd thc hlessing of thc church admin- istration, men who wore thc robes of God bttt rvho cultivated the favor of the state. This was hardly the l,ody of Christ. In spite of the allcgetl deficiencies of the concept of the visible and invisible church, what a relief to have such a doctrine when faccd wit11 thesc tragedies. The church, the bocly of Christ, does not conquer (the crusades), does not ivatre war (the popes of the hifiddle Ages), does not collect O, taxes (Pctcrs pence), does not vote (the Lrnited States),-the cht~rch belicves in Jesus and shonls this faith in gootf works. Eiegard- less of OLIL. particular ecclesiology, the church administration's be- havior in t-hc Hitler era is e~nbarrassing. Occasioniilly it can be used as a good sermon illustration. It is much easier to conciemn the sins of the past than to recognize our own situation and to act with as much honesty. h'Iy own conscicnce is troubled with thc question of what should a Chrjstian, yes, a Christian pastor, do in this mattes of abortion today. Is there any parallcl bet~rrcen the .rvholesale abortion in our country and the near extincition of Jews in the 1940's in Germany? Of course, your answer could he that you are not performing any abortions and that you have adopted a 'hands-off' policy. That's very nice; hovve-cler, you know this is the same attitude that n~any church people adopted in Germany when the Jellis were cluietly trucked off to the camps at night. And today ~vc condemn those church people. It could bc said that en~bryos who (1i7hich should be used if they are only things) are aborted arc sub-11urna1.1. This is of course thc snmc al.gument that was used for the sul~pression 2nd even murder of r11c 1:lncli population in our country fcr so nlany years and tl?c Jeivisl~ i~opulaiion in Gerniany. Rfacli~ and Jews lvcre sub-h~lnlan. Therc arc: 111any good theological rc,;lsons for considering llunlan embryos hun~an beings. 'l'i~e tern1 un1)oxn ch.ildrcn is inorc appro- priate. They are children but unborn. In the hrc\v 'Test;l.mcnt, same Greelc ~,vorcl, I7rel)hos, is used for an un1)orn and a born child. 'I'i7it2l the case of folin the Baptist, he leaps for joy (I,ul