Life is a Musical

 

[Inspired by Gary, Marc, and Chris]

Great art can reveal truths at a cellular level. These truths can be carried beautifully on the wings of a song. Songs. They play continuously in the backgrounds of our lives. I would argue, sometimes what we learned on the radio carried value similar to that learned in Kindergarten as the book claims. Heavy Metal drove the car through my teens, inspiring my deep dive into history. Then Grunge hit and I was smitten all over again. 

But what sent me into the arms of a cult? Was it watching a cousin die a gruesome death from Leukemia? She was only 7. I was only 9 and I remember how the adults in the room kept telling me how brave I was to hold her hand as she vomited globs of blood into a bed pan. This process was put on repeat for months.

Was it the release of a movie? I can think of a handful of movies I saw due to no restrictions from HBO a child should have never watched. Like "The Day After" depicting the aftermath of a nuclear war. I remember shaking uncontrollably in bed every night for months believing this was my inevitable fate. Or "The Exorcist" which I was told made my dad physically ill at the drive inn while on a date with my mom. That kind of fear induced in a child made for some hallucinations of demons in my room.

Was it the earliest memories being huddled under the kitchen table with my baby brother screaming our hearts out in terror as my parents fought viciously? Or the memory of being in the middle of the street downtown with my mom pulling one arm and dad pulling the other that -I guess- was a kidnapping?

Was it the daily uncertainty of life growing up in the hood, never knowing what danger was lurking for children with no dads around to protect them? I can't explain it, but even as a child, you sense...no...you know, the whole society around you places no value in you. You could disappear in that current zeitgeist of "stranger danger"  frenzy and the universe, hell, maybe even your mom, would not notice.

All of the above?

I became an avid student of history at a young age (because of Heavy Metal). If there's one thing I learned from history is that there is no solace to be found in the record of man. Life appeared violently cold and helpless, full of pain and misery for the masses and then you get to die. In examining religion, the disappointment was the same. Especially, Christianity. There was simply no logic in a supposed all powerful, all loving god, that utterly fails in defeating his enemy, but instead, allows his nemesis to influence the majority of his creation made in his image, into an eternal existence in a lake of fire. 

But how would I overcome all this childhood trauma? Drugs and alcohol would not work for me. After dad bounced at age 5, mom went on a "trip" of her own to deal with her own trauma. My weekends were spent with the apartment full of strangers smoking weed and drinking cheap beer till dawn. They served as perfect role models of what I absolutely did not want to become.

I remember panic attacks all through middle school. Weeping in the lunchroom as the sounds of a million children screaming amplified in my head. Regular trips to the nursing station, not allowed to go home so just napping on a hard bench, sometimes till the final bell. I missed a lot of school and I was told if I missed a certain number, I would have to repeat the grade. I don't remember what that magic number was now but I did the math at the time and made sure I skipped school for the allowable limit.

There is probably no worse a time to be uprooted and moved far away than the summer between 8th and 9th grade. Starting high school as an outsider with strangers who all knew and grew up with each other is a certain fate of solitude for an already introvert with trauma. I suffered alone, making only a handful of friends and none of which are in my life today.

By 10th grade, my grades were swirling into the toilet. I quit. I just wanted to listen to metal and fuck around on a white Fender I bought with my first couple paychecks working as a busboy at a greasy spoon. After 2 weeks of in-school suspension for smoking in the boys room, my World History teacher took me aside and expressed his disappointment in me. He was a fantastic teacher and the only class I was doing well in. For the first time, I felt bad for letting someone else down. I don't know why he cared. I mean, why should he care about some sewer rat with long hair walking around in Iron Maiden shirts?

His wife was an English teacher at the same school. They both took a real shine to me. I took every class I could in my last 2 years with them. Two Advanced Placement classes with him and two College Prep classes with her along with a Creative Writing and a Poetry class. I managed to salvage my GPA to a respectable 3.2 by graduation and went on to college.

I went on to college right away (which was a big mistake) and after 2 years, I was burned out trying to maintain  a GPA above 3.0 and working 55 hours a week to pay rent and feed not just me but my mom as well. PTSD started rearing it's ugly head again but this time bringing with it, a new friend...depression. I felt trapped, overwhelmed, doomed.

That is when cults come along to save the day. I dropped out of college to figure out what it was I wanted to do. It was then, my mom introduced me to literature she received for free after watching  a program on TV. At first, I brushed it off. I had no need for god. He had done nothing for me and as far as I could tell, no one else through history. 

Eventually, an article about hell caught my attention. It made sense. After learning  this "plan of salvation" for the first time, I warmed up to the idea of a god that could save, not just me, but everyone. This god was a winner and had a reason (excuse) for everything messed up, including his own behavior. And the best part, I was chosen to know this and become god too. Hook. Line. and Sinker.

It is embarrassing, so many years later, to realize you were duped. It makes you feel really stupid. But I have learned since that cults are typical magnets for smart people too. I wasn't dumb, I was naive and seeking relief from childhood trauma. I wasn't self-destructive so I didn't turn to substances. Solace, for me, had to be found in something that appeared reasonable...logical. That is where the naive part came in. I was 19. Now, at 49, I can see how it all happened and I can forgive myself. It was an emotional decision that provided a pseudo-logical excuse to buy into it.

But I can honestly say this: Time in the cult eventually seemed to "cure" me of my PTSD, depression, anxiety and fear of relationships. This may have happened with or without the cult but I can honestly say my time in it (in those present moments) seemed good overall. I have a wonderful wife, amazing children, and fun and caring friends who are a joy to be around. This includes many of the ministers we've had over the decades. I have come to realize that, they too, are victims of a cult. 

But I am not excusing the minister's role in it. Especially not Dave Pack who was my first Pastor the first 5 years in the cult. Pack is very slick. He was very likeable the first 2 years. Then cracks began to show. By the 4th and 5th year, I knew he was a "wolf in sheep's clothing" but I decided to wait on god to deal with him. I could inject a few examples over those 5 years showing how messed up Pack is but I don't feel comfortable doing that. In 1998, Global split. I asked where Pack was going. He said Global so I promptly joined Living and chalked that up to god dealing with my Pack problem.

After baptism, I didn't partake in a common ritual of burning, trashing or selling my "devil" music. I did, however, put most of it away and lost track of the CD's over the years. I did keep a few of my favorites around. When 9/11 hit, I practically shifted away from music overnight and became a conservative talk show junkie. This kept me unthinking into the new Millenium although the calls for Christ's return in 3-5 years were beginning to accumulate and did not go unnoticed. Mainly because I had decided to forgo returning to college since Jesus was returning and seeing my three tithes putting braces on minister's kids while mine went without.

Eight years of President Obama came and went and all the Tea Bagger claims that he would make America a Muslim/Communist nation never came to fruition. Not even close. Then "christian" America elected the biggest buffoon in U.S. history. I was beside myself and began a process of questioning everything.

I'm going to be cheesy here and say I had an epiphany. Sorry, but it's true.  It was May 18th, 2017. My "spiritual father" of 24 years, Roderick C Meredith, died. I shed many tears throughout that day (or maybe it was the 19th--not sure which day I heard) but not one was for Rod. Maybe it was because he was a really old man like my grandfather and it was expected. He always seemed a likeable old man from a distance but not a pragmatic powerhouse you would expect Christ to use in ushering in  his return. (Watching Gerald Weston take the helm was also strong evidence that this so-called "Work" was over and Jesus was not showing up anytime soon)

But on the same day, I learned Chris Cornell, the dynamic voice of Soundgarden and Audioslave, was dead. A very different kind of "spiritual father" and musical genius of 3 decades was gone. For me, his music touched my heart, soul and mind in a way that no preacher ever did. My heart was broken and tears flowed not just for him, but for the years I wasted in ignorance. That day served as a rebirth. That metal-head teen was born again...like Nebuchadnezzar regaining his senses after 7 years of grazing in a field of grass like a dumb sheep.

As I reflect back on years of music that have touched my soul, I realize great musicians, like great comedians and artists of all types, are often the world's harbingers of life's truths. There are many songs that have been written by musicians who grew up in religion, only to leave as adults and express the harm done to them because of religious ideologies. 

One that clearly comes to mind is "The God That Failed" written by James Hetfield of Metallica. It was in response to him losing his mother to cancer. She relied on God's healing instead of seeking medical treatment which James believed would have saved her. Here are the lyrics:

THE GOD THAT FAILED

Pride you took, pride you feel

Pride that you felt when you kneel

Not the word, not the love

Not what you thought from above

It feeds, it grows

It clouds all that you will know

Deceit, deceive

Decide just what you believe

I see faith in your eyes

Never you hear the discouraging lies

I hear faith in your cries

Broken is the promise, betrayal

The healing hand held back by the deepened nail

Follow the god that failed

Find your peace, find you say

Find the smooth road on your way

Trust you gave a child to save

Left you cold and him in grave

Follow the god that failed

Broken is the promise

Betrayal, betrayal

James later wrote another song also thought to have been influenced by his mother's death called "Leper Messiah." This song was geared toward televangelists. I dedicate this song to all the people who have suffered financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and even physically under the leadership of monsters like Herb Armstrong, Dave Pack and many others...too many to list.

LEPER MESSIAH

Spineless from the start

Sucked into the part

Circus comes to town

You play the lead clown

Please, please, spreading his disease

Living by his glory

Knees, knees, falling to your knees

Suffer for his glory

You will

Time for lust, time for lie

Time to kiss your life goodbye

Send me money, send me green, heaven you will meet

Make a contribution and you'll get a better seat

Bow to your leper messiah

Marvel at his tricks

Need your Sunday fix

Blind devotion came

Rotting your brain

Chain, chain, join the endless chain

Taken by his glamour

Fame, fame, infection is the game

Stinking drunk with power

We see, we see, we see

Witchery, weakening

Sees the sheep are gathering

Set the trap, hypnotize

Now you follow

Time for lust, time for lie

Time to kiss your life goodbye

Send me money, send me green, Heaven you will meet

Make a contribution and you'll get a better seat

Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie, lie

Deconstructing from lies you believed for decades is absolutely devastating. I took a violent swing from being a hard-core Armstrongite to an Anti-theist for a short while. But once I muddled through the anger, sadness and depression, I came out the other side...okay. I had to unlearn the "us vs. them" poison of religion because I realized I simply began applying it to an Anti-theist stance, equally as belligerent as my Armstrongism. That doesn't mean I had to respect religion and its process of faith to determine what is true. What I had to come to grips with is the fact that we are all in different places in life experiencing different things with different songs playing in our backgrounds and it's okay. It's really nobody's business and I mean business. No one should be fleecing other people of their livelihoods in the name of a god.

Am I an atheist? I don't know. Some days, I will say, yes. Agnostic is more like it. I think there may be a Creator but I am convinced Yahweh/Jesus is not. 

I think many human beings wrestle with the big questions of life and want to know the truth. "The Truth" always at the forefront of COG discussions, is elusive and not likely attainable. But I am okay with true things that come from many sources, many people. Musicians are masters at articulating these struggles of truth and putting them to sound waves that forever affect us. For myself, I don't know of a song that better reflects this human condition of searching for but not knowing answers to big questions better than "Like A Stone" by Chris Cornell. I will close with the lyrics but I strongly urge you to listen to the song because his voice is what truly breathes life into the words. 

What songs play in the background of your musical?

LIKE A STONE

On a cobweb afternoon

In a room full of emptiness

By a freeway, I confess

I was lost in the pages

of a book full of death

Reading how we'll die alone

And if we're good, we'll lay to rest

Anywhere we want to go

In your house, I long to be

Room by room, patiently

I'll wait for you there

Alone

And on my deathbed, I will pray

To the gods and the angels

Like a pagan to anyone

Who will take me to heaven

To a place I recall

I was there so long ago

The sky was bruised

The wine was bled

And there you lead me on

In your house, I long to be

Room by room, patiently

I'll wait for you there

Like a stone

I'll wait for you there

Alone, alone

And on I read

Until the day was gone

And I sat in regret

Of all the things I've done

For all that I've blessed

And all that I've wronged

In dreams until my death

I will wander on

In your house, I long to be

Room by room, patiently

I'll wait for you there

Like a stone

I'll wait for you there

Alone

Alone

V

Christian Nationalism in an Age of Reason

Labeled, "Americas Stonehenge" by Georgia officials in order to draw tourism, instead, drew in the nutty imagination of Christian Nationalists ever quick to connect any and everything to Globalists, the Illuminati or insert what have you, that will inevitably lead to the rise of a Beast just before the return of Jesus. I know because I was one of them, exercising my internet sleuthing abilities-even going as far as visiting the site on my way to the Feast of Tabernacles one year.

Designed and paid for anonymously, the stones were put into place in 1980. Since then, the site has been vandalized many times but never to the point of bombing it successfully until now. At first glance, one could easily see why people would be concerned by the "suggestions" established on the stones to guide a new society, a sort of 10 commandments for a "great reset." After all, how could we possibly maintain the human population under 500 million when we are already 8 billion strong? Why, this could only mean one thing: the Beast of Revelation is planning on murdering over 7 billion people!

It is embarrassing when I think about how long I shut down my ability to reason when it came to my adherence to Armstrongism. It is little comfort that many cult experts assure us that people who get sucked into cults are not stupid. On the contrary, cults specifically set out to lure the wealthy, healthy and educated and often succeed in filling their ranks with the nicest, most successful people in society. 

While Armstrong actually lured the "weakest and basest things" throughout the 40's, 50's and 60's by way of radio, appealing largely to uneducated, poor, marginalized and racist whites in the Appalachians, by the time of it's epic prophecy failure of 1975, the cult had reached it's peak. Scandals, followed by Herb's death, and an admission that his doctrines were wrong by a new administration, was the beginning of the end. 

Now, attend any COG service and you will find 3rd and 4th generation cult members driving new cars, pursuing college degrees, holding successful careers, bragging on their investments and propping up their ministerial fathers, grandfathers and uncles paychecks all to maintain the pleasant social club they grew up in and adore. They seem oblivious to their own church history and probably sense that it is better that way in order to maintain the fantasy. This is particularly true of COGWA state side and they know it: the whitest, most affluent, AC alumni, country club COG that does everything in their power to stay under the radar and out of the crosshairs of Banned. (COGWA thanks God every night for Dave, Bob, Gerald and his other brother Gerald)

But you will find very very few new members in any of the COGs across the board; proof their stale, outdated concept of "the Work" is an old and forgotten cheap trick unable to withstand the modern tree of knowledge called the internet. If the flailing churches of God were honest, they would admit that their new work has become siding with Evangelical Christian Nationalists. You can see hints of it in all of their publications. 

On a positive note, Millenials and Gen Z don't seem interested in checking out of society like their pre-internet, cold war, Boomer parents and grandparents that prayed for the death of billions of humans in their lifetime. Instead, they want a place at the table to change it. Gen X ministers wringing their hands in anticipation of taking the reigns of COG corporations, know the writing is on the wall and they will need to change with the times or look for real jobs.

While it could be a good thing to see the churches of God bridge out of Armstrongism, it is not at all if they choose to jump in bed with QAnon Trump Republicans and the American Jesus. It was bad enough when Armstrongism sat on it's hands and waited for a day that will never come BUT they are now on the precipice of deciding to link arms with religious terrorists hell-bent on enforcing (Modern American) Christianity down the throat of a Democracy that has no roots in Christianity. [Read, "The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American" by Andrew L. Seidel. Also read, "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted A Faith and Fractured a Nation" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez.]

Armstrong rests on two pillars and is still what upholds the splinters to this day: Annual Holy Days and British Israelism. The annual holy days are the very framework on which the seductive social structure rests upon, keeping the brainwashed locked in to a perpetual annual cycle. British Israelism (Racism) is what easily marries them to the Christian Nationalist movement. Take these pillars away and they no longer have any reason to exist.

That being said, I am personally confident that the young people in the churches of God will largely exit over time, not wanting to be part of any group or church that tells them that their non-white friends are inferior foreign invaders and their lgbtq friends are vile human waste. They are too connected and can see by their own experiences that the us-vs-them of religion in general is a toxic delusion.

It is my hope that all would find their way out of religion and into this grand age of reason depicted on the Georgia Guidestones. But if not, there is a Biblical Jesus socially acceptable to our times; one that focuses on the inherent value of all humans and are deserving of love. A Jesus that focuses people on serving the poor, the needy, the sick, the alien, the outcast.

As for the first suggestion on the Guidestones to maintain a population under 500 million, it must be understood that the stones were put in place for people to rebuild civilization after the United States and the Soviet Union blew everyone up in a nuclear holocaust. Yes, people were really expecting that to be a soon reality in 1979. The Guidestones are not signaling a New World Order to destroy 90% of earth's population. No, actually you will find that New World Order in the book of Revelation where Jesus kills billions of people and establishes a thousand years of peace. Just a side note, killing your enemies does usher in peace. Mao killed millions of Chinese and they have been enjoying peace ever since. 

Christian Nationalism is the most dangerous ideology in America. Their willingness to participate in ushering in the book of Revelation was on display on January 6, 2021. I'm speaking to all you children and young adults in the churches of God (including my own children): Please, whatever you do, use the internet to learn the history of the cult you are in and use critical thinking as your guide. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions: Who was HWA? Was HWA really an apostle? Is the Bible inerrant? Why are there thousands of opposing interpretations? Does the Bible present a coherent, unified narrative or are the writers themselves competing for prospective members? Are Yahweh and Jesus gods? Does God exist? Trust your human reasoning. It's safer than the "holy spirit" running your churches.

V

Breathe In (Yah) Breathe Out (Weh)

 

A friend posted this image on Facebook in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. There are many Christians celebrating this historic decision but there are many Christians and Jews who are not. This is largely due to the fact that there are two kinds of Christians in America: those that know the Bible and those that do not.

This may surprise many on the dim-witted maga side of the Christian aisle to learn that an anti-abortion stance is not championed in the Old or New Testament. Neither can a "principle" from Scripture be applied to show abortion is wrong. So how did it come to be such a political dog whistle among Christian Nationalist Evangelicals? (Well, that is a question for another article.)

What I'm interested in is how the Worldwide Church of God and it's cult daughters found themselves on the wrong side of this issue. When I say "wrong" what I mean is "against" Scripture. I may or may not find abortion as a practice, repugnant. Many religious and non-religious folks do. But what I find infuriating is when Christians make moral claims and insist that Yahweh/Jesus is on their side when in fact, they have no such backing from on high.

HWA spent so much of his air time and in writing, attacking all Christian churches for not blowing the dust off their Bibles and seeking the mind of God on all things. He convinced a generation of "weak and base" Americans raised on the radio that he and his believers in his message were smarter than the "scholars" and the educated (in this world) in all things from science, medicine and law to theology, doctrine, morality and ethics. For 18 and a half centuries, not a single person on earth had been given the right understanding of all things Bible until the blessed Herb took his first breath in 1893.

And the blessed Herb knew he would be proven right when the Christ returned in his lifetime to vindicate him. Yep, 1975. Mark your calendar. And then Herb died in 1986 and here we are in 2022 dealing with what surely the Churches of God are considering a significant setback in prophesy. How will Bob, Dave, brother Gerald, and his other brother Gerald prognosticate this one?

So why do the Churches of God oppose abortion? Is it clearly in the Bible? In the May, 1973 issue of The Plain Truth, HWA weighed in on the Roe v Wade ruling made just 4 months earlier in January. The title of the article is, "Abortions Now Legal But is Abortion Murder?" True to form, Herb spends the first third of the article running down science, technology, modern medicine, education and human reasoning. Then, he insists (his private interpretations of) the Bible is the only source of knowledge, understanding and truth. And he certainly doesn't let the "professing" Christian world off the hook:

"The one supreme and sure authority is the world's best seller- the same book so many religious denominations claim as the source of their beliefs. Yet, incredibly though it seems, most of their teachings and customs today are diametrically contrary to those of the book they profess to follow! They could find the true and right answers to questions, problems and evils if they would read it like it is. But they interpret away the one tenth of it they use, while ignoring utterly the other nine tenths."

OK. So, just read it like it is and don't ignore any parts. Got it. Herb is going to show plainly from the Bible, the mind of God pertaining to abortion. Except he doesn't.

Instead, Herb begins with a medical science explanation of conception, gestation and birth. He then goes to John 3 where Jesus explains to Nicodemus that he must be born again of spirit. A few other verses from Paul and abracadabra! Herb's "Biblical" proof is an imaginative analogy comparing human conception and gestation with spirit. I remember describing this analogy to a friend, explaining how the Holy Spirit is God's sperm implanted into the ovum of the human mind. My friend's incredulous response was, "We get f*cked by God!?" 

 Here is HWA's flawed syllogism from the article:

"The spirit-begotten Christian is now in the spiritual state comparable to the embryo-fetal physical state. We are now, already, the sons of our heavenly Father. Therefore, the unborn human is, from the moment of conception, the child- the son or daughter- of the parents!"

Herb then states his baseless claim (it's just an imaginative analogy) is from the Creator. And then, to follow his analogy given directly from the Creator ,bypassing the Bible, to it's conclusion, he insists that to purposely end the growing process of a potentially born human after conception is murder.

Hey, I give him an "A" for imagination but a definite "F" in exegesis. 

So, what does the Bible say about life and what inferences can we draw from certain verses?

Genesis 2:7

It is clear from the very beginning that life began when Adam took his first breath. Life is shown to begin with the act of inhaling and exhaling. The Jews say that the very name of God is an expression of Him being the life-giver: Inhale (YAH) Exhale (WEH). 

Exodus 21:22-25

This also makes it clear that someone guilty of causing a miscarriage is not guilty of murder. If the woman dies, it is a murder. If the fetus dies, there is a payment to be made. This certainly makes sense since even slaves and daughters are considered property. Losing a fetus would have been a loss of property and the determination on price was probably based on whether the fetus was male or female because as we all know, males were more "valuable" than females in Canaanite societies.

Numbers 5:11-31

If "abortion" is described in the Bible, it is here and what we find is Yahweh is very much a pro-abortionist. If a man suspects his wife is pregnant from another man, he can have her brought before a priest, completely humiliated in a ritual, whether she is innocent or not, and made to drink a magic potion that may chemically induce an abortion and is nothing short of an ancient version of the morning after pill. 

This whole magic ritual with spells and potions is shocking in multiple ways. There are two ways this played out in reality. If it was magic, then nothing ever happened because "all magic is real and real magic is fake." But if it was a chemical concoction, then this certainly was a viable way to destroy a fetus. And we have no way of knowing it's success rate. The other thing is how this seems to be no different from the superstitious nonsense of the centuries of abuse of women by men making accusations of witchcraft in Europe and early America. The man can falsely accuse her and not be held accountable (so much for the 9th commandment) but she must still endure the humiliation of the ritual whether she is innocent or not. 

Another aspect to consider is that Yahweh thought it was a fit punishment to kill the innocent fetus for the sin of adultery. If Christians were to be consistent with their God, it should be Christians that should be having many of the abortions today. Ironically, they are highest in the Bible belt but I doubt they are doing it to comply with their God. Christians are no more chaste than non-Christians and the stats show spirit cannot override the natural urge to "fornicate." Now, Christian girls are at greater risk of harm and death as abortion will not be stopped by hypocrites  bellowing from lecterns, only hidden once again.

II Samuel 12:13-17

This example seems to take this issue to its absurd limits. Not only does Yahweh forgive David for murder and adultery, but then kills his innocent born (not unborn) son. And this, after fasting and pleading with God for a full week. Where is the sanctity of life for the innocent from God? 

In light of these verses, it brings out the absurdity of Christians posting memes like the one above quoting from poetry in the Bible.

If you think all religious people in America are "pro-life" then you would be mistaken. It is just that the ignorant Nationalist Evangelical Christians have the biggest mouths and the smallest comprehension of Scripture. If you want to advocate for the unborn, there is nothing wrong with that. But trying to validate it with a theistic stamp of approval from on high is ignorant at best and dishonest at worst. Life is complicated. Attempting to navigate life with black and white thinking and prescribed by a cult is childish and dangerous to the well being of society. Ignoring all the science from medical to mental to social and embracing a Biblical claim that is not even there is absolute insanity!

The biggest problem with Armstrongism has been it's focus on spreading the gospel of a Christ returning in 3-7 years instead of extending grace, love and goodwill to all people. It is a death cult that checks out of life and waits unproductively for an afterlife they have no evidence even exists. It is the ultimate expression of turning inward in a collective narcissism so it should be no surprise that the Churches of God would jump on the anti-abortion bandwagon while simultaneously despising those who are breathing all around them.

This quote from a Pastor Dave Barnhart I saw on Facebook is a message perfectly suited for the Churches of God:

"The unborn are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don't resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don't ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don't need money, education or childcare; unlike aliens, they don't bring all that racial, cultural and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. It's almost as if, by being born, they have died to you. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus but actually dislike people who breathe. Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn."

V