Proto-Protestantism: Dobbs v. Jackson: A Pyrrhic Victory at Best

07 June 2022

Dobbs v. Jackson: A Pyrrhic Victory at Best

It's June, and in the United States that's the time when the Supreme Court issues its substantial rulings. If the reports are to be believed it is likely that Roe v. Wade, (the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal in all fifty states) is going to be overturned.

Though the 7-2 decision makes it an unlikely candidate for reversal, there were always some issues with the ruling that made it subject to review. A political issue more than a legal one, the time has come or so it seems. With the Trump appointments and some GOP scheming, the Right has now gained a decided advantage on the court and it would seem they're making their move. The new era of Dobbs v. Jackson will soon be upon us, the case that will overturn Roe.

In response, (or perhaps in coordination by means of deliberate but quiet orchestration) many states stand ready for the ruling and some are already passing laws to outlaw abortion in their jurisdictions. Analysts believe the country will be split almost evenly. Some states will become political battlegrounds over the issue. Others will remain solidly in one or the other camp.

Glorying in their shame, Evangelicals are singing the praises of Trump and there will be a great deal of celebration in their circles even as the leadership attempts to double down. There will be a cultural backlash and they will use the fear of this and all it might entail to stoke their base. And for those living in the twenty or so states that still permit abortion – they will launch new campaign efforts to make sure the funds keep pouring in and the political machine continues to run – working to capture legislatures and governorships.

While New Testament Christians are categorically opposed to abortion and are glad to see that less of them will be performed, we will not celebrate with the Evangelicals and Catholics that have brought about this shift. They will argue this vindicates Christian politicking. For Evangelicals their activities fall under the aegis of Dominionism and for Catholics this is Integralism applied. Both related views are erroneous. Sometimes well meant but nevertheless dangerous, these are errors that spawn theological confusion and undermine both the mission and testimony of the Church.

In addition to these views being erroneous, it must be pointed out that in scoring such a 'victory', a great price has been paid. I don't speak of the sacrifices of those in the movement. Rather I speak of the integrity of these movements and their Christian testimony. These have been utterly compromised in the process of attaining this 'victory'.

Law and the judicial process have been undermined as this movement has manipulated judicial and legislative processes and have employed a host of disingenuous arguments and deceitful tactics in order to score their victory. The guiding ethic has been the end justifies the means and so we must ask (with Paul) can we do evil that good may come? Contrary to the Scripture, the Evangelical movement long ago answered this question in the affirmative.

From fake concerns regarding women's health, to the manipulation of building codes, the health code, and zoning laws, to restrictions placed on funding, medical licensing and the like, to hypocritical medical regulations and endless activist lawsuits, the war has been waged but not with integrity. And now sleight-of-hand draconian legislation that encourages 'snitching' and what is tantamount to vigilante justice, the movement has demonstrated a disregard if not a disdain for the law and the canons of jurisprudence. Again, the end justifies the means.

Don't get me wrong. If lives are saved, then that's a good thing, but do the undermining of ethics, and such examples of blatant manipulation, and trickery serve the cause of the gospel?

'But they do all these things to!' someone in the Evangelical camp will undoubtedly protest. Of course 'they' do. What do you expect of lost people? But does that mean Christians should do the same? Does that mean that Christians are not held to a different and higher standard? We can thinks of many deceitful and treacherous things the world does, many evil things. Just because they do them, does that mean we should too in order to get what we want?

I realize this is in fact the attitude taken by the financial gurus within the Evangelical sphere. And it's certainly the posture taken with regard to the 'law and order' faction, along with the Christian support for the police and America's foreign policy. Once again the notion of 'worldview' is reduced to a mockery – little more than a sanctifying of the world's thinking and values. It's no different when it comes to this issue, the battle over abortion.

And in addition to undermining the law and destroying any claims of integrity, the movement has won its victory by means of evil alliances. By joining forces with figures within the political and corporate world, the Evangelicals who claim to stand for Christ, the Kingdom, and its values, have instead relied on the agents of Egypt and Babylon to enforce its will. Allying with thieves, liars, murderers, and other evil sorts, they pretend to stand for righteousness. Instead they have deceived themselves and repeatedly demonstrated that all they care about is winning and the retention of power. In this case, this 'victory' is a feather in the cap of the movement, and the leaders will appeal to the results they have produced. Never mind the fact that their failed and unbiblical ideology has turned the Church into an entity indistinguishable from the world and has made its claims of moral rectitude and ethical conduct an absolute joke.

In what is effectively a spiritual union with America's Right-wing political party, their testimony has been fatally compromised and the gospel has been brought into disrepute. They have entangled themselves in the affairs of this life, and in the process of making merchandise of God's people and meddling in the affairs of others, the way of truth is evil spoken of. And make no mistake, the leaders of the movement have gotten rich off this fight and after taking a victory lap they're going to start the next campaign – for in the end it's not about abortion, it's about power. That's what motivates them. With this ruling they think they have the wind at their backs.

As the movement has struggled to retain a cohesive membership, abortion has always been the 'trump' card as it were. You might disagree with the GOP on foreign policy, economics, guns, and a host of other issues. And you could even argue the party's defenders and apologists into a corner. But all they had to do was pull out the abortion card – and insist that you must vote, and you must vote for their party. Ironically, that fallacious argument will no longer stand in many states and frankly in many of the ones remaining – states like New York, Massachusetts, and California, vote or not, nothing is going to change. The abortion argument in these jurisdictions carries little practical weight.

The fundamental issues within society that have led to the proliferation of abortion have not been addressed. The Evangelical movement employs a host of self-serving narratives that ignore a myriad of inconvenient realities and ugly facts. The Christian call to help those ailing, to demonstrate love, and then also to call out and expose evil has not been followed. Those in the movement would say they have done so, but the reality is they have allied themselves with political and economic forces that crush the poor – especially those within the minority community. Through their efforts the baby may be born, but more often than not he will grow up in the underclass and the movement which saved his life will subsequently impoverish him and in many cases incarcerate him at a later date. That doesn't mean it's therefore permissible to kill him while in the womb but once again there's a larger context that's being ignored.

Helping expectant mothers is a fine thing but the movement has not helped to eliminate the conditions that lead women to want to abort their children. Promiscuity and lack of morality are societal problems and it can and does play a part. As Christians we would say that if someone is unable to financially support a child then they cannot marry and there are no circumstances when fornication is acceptable. But is it realistic to expect this of the lost world? Paul didn't think so. In 1 Corinthians 5 he admitted that such behaviours and character will typify this age – a present evil age as he calls it elsewhere.

The Early Church showed love and brought a message of repentance and hope to a lost world but they didn't seek to transform society, control it – or manipulate it through tricks and evil partnerships. It was a world every bit as wicked as ours and yet their approach was completely different and at odds with the Evangelical-Dominionist approach. They saved abandoned and exposed children to be sure but the Church didn't seek to manipulate the political and judicial order.

The Dominionists will argue that they couldn't until Constantine and then at that point they did and never looked back. And yet with that shift, the Church fundamentally changed its values and attitude toward everything from money and violence to ethics and ecclesiology. It was a fatal compromise and as such it began a process of negating New Testament norms, assumptions, and imperatives. We live with that legacy today – the counterfeit Zion known as Christendom.

The message of repentance and hope rings hollow when the Church allies with power and the combined force hurts people. I refer not just to the actual killing of abortion doctors and the like but the policies and legal trickery that has generated grief, frustration, and anger – not the world opposing righteousness, but anger rooted in deceitful bureaucratic trickery and petty griefs that cost people money, time, and generate other headaches. Is this proclaiming the gospel or a political fight utilising attrition as a tactic? You cannot preach the gospel while threatening to destroy people, impoverish them, and throw them into a cage. The state exists for a reason as Paul teaches but we're not part of it.

One need not weep for the abortion industry but the gospel is not to inflict pain, or promote righteousness by force. We do not call on the state to squeeze our enemies and use state violence to enforce our will upon them.

In the end Dobbs v. Jackson is a pyrrhic victory at best. The movement has lost everything in order to win what is in the end a hollow victory. The movement will continue to fight its culture wars and yet in order to do so it has already compromised on so many points and frankly no longer resembles the Christianity that defined their movement fifty years ago. Any victory at this point is in hindsight a defeat.

The world looks at winning as the goal. It doesn't matter how you run the race. Not so for Christianity. We don't win in this age, but how we run the race is everything.