At the risk of stirring up controversy for its own sake or trolling memes that have become more powerful than they should be, I had some thoughts about the picture on this page that I thought were too clear not to share. I thought about omitting the photo to minimize its screen time. I also wondered whether it’s worth the time to take issue with a meme, but I think it includes persuasive misconceptions that are rampant among pro-abortionists, nee pro-choicers.
I’m not writing this because I feel I have to express my opinion to everyone on abortion as a Christian, like the societal pressure I felt to rush to an opinion on racism this summer. These and others are conversations we should constantly be having before it comes to a peak.
1. More Christians foster and adopt than non-Christians. According to 2013 Barna research(1), 5% of Christians have adopted children while 2% of the general American population has. 3% of Christians have been foster parents compared to 2% of all adults. According to a Gallup poll(2), 72% of those surveyed that attend religious services weekly consider themselves pro-life. 58% of those polled who at least monthly attend religious services consider themselves pro-life. Attending religious services does not make someone a Christian, but anyone can anecdotally connect the dots. Not all Christians are pro-life; it is not a salvific point that one needs to agree on to become a Christian (though I think with earnest and honest study of the Bible, a Christian will come to that conclusion). Additionally, not all pro-lifers are Christians. But based on these numbers, to believe that pro-lifers are unconcerned with children in the foster care system is untrue.
2. This meme’s biggest persuasion uses the logical fallacy called an irrelevant thesis. It attempts to call out hypocrisy by bringing up an unrelated topic. I first saw the following epiphanic analogy in a video where a woman explained this argument's illogic at a conference. Unfortunately, I can’t find the video to cite it. A pro-abortionist basically verbalized this meme during the question and answer time after the woman’s speech. “What about the imperfections and needs in the foster care and adoption system? There are thousands of children needing homes and proper care and love, but you are obsessed with saving unborn lives.” The speaker responded, “Would you expect the American Diabetes Association to spend money and time on cancer research? No, its focus is fighting diabetes. Right now, my lecture has been about abortion. If you want to talk about the needs of the foster care system, we can do that at another time where that will be the focus.” This meme connects two unrelated issues that both deserve attention separately.
3. A hypothesis that I have yet to see disproved underlies any subsequent arguments about abortion. A pro-lifer believes the fetus is a human; a pro-choicer does not. I believe all subsequent discussions stem from this usually unaddressed foundation. Neither side will be persuaded unless these basic presuppositions change. I welcome discussion to this point. With the racially motivated murders of black people in recent months, the conversation called on listeners' pathos to recognize the humanity of the victims. One of the tactics in this meme is to eliminate the babies' humanity by calling them unborn fetuses. There is no hint of a genuine desire for the conversation to be taken seriously. This meme gained popularity when it was posted in the ”FunnyandSad” category on Reddit(3). The gravity of the discussions put forth in this meme isn’t “funny and sad”; they’re horrendous crimes against humanity. To dehumanize the unborn cuts past a larger discussion that needs to be had, acting as if it’s a settled fact, when in fact, it’s the heart of the issue and very disputed.
Do you have any other statistics or opinions to contribute to this post? Do you see anything else wrong with this meme? Do you think the meme got anything right, or I got anything wrong? Comment below!
(1)https://www.barna.com/…/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-a…/… (2)https://news.gallup.com/…/pro-choice-pro-life-2018-demograp… (3)https://knowyourmeme.com/…/mother-ignoring-kid-drowning-in-…
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