An Ethical Evaluation of Operation Rescue -- By: Charles Wingard
Journal: Reformation and Revival
Volume: RAR 05:4 (Fall 1996)
Article: An Ethical Evaluation of Operation Rescue
Author: Charles Wingard
RAR 5:4 (Fall 1996) p. 97
An Ethical Evaluation of Operation Rescue
No social evil has captured the attention of American Christians more than abortion. Supreme Court rulings declaring abortion a constitutionally protected right have opened the door for the murder of millions of unborn children.
Opposition to abortion itself has not been a contentious issue in churches which look to the Bible as the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The sixth commandment prohibits murder. Murder is the unjust taking of human life; therefore, abortion is murder. The fight for legal protection for the unborn is a logical carrying out of the duties required of God’s people by the sixth commandment.
What has become controversial in orthodox Christian circles is the means Christians have employed to fight abortion and, in particular, the tactics of the antiabortion group Operation Rescue and similar efforts. Few orthodox Christians would oppose exercising all presently available legal means of insuring protection for the unborn child. However, by encouraging the violation of trespass laws, the resisting of arrest, and the giving of false information to civil authorities, Operation Rescue has raised a number of ethical issues which challenge the Christian and his relationship to the fifth commandment’s requirement that honor and submission be given to divinely constituted authority.
The purpose of this article is to explore the ethical issues arising from the conduct of Operation Rescue. At the outset it should be noted that we concur with the two primary goals of Operation Rescue—both the saving of individual babies from destruction and the ending of legalized abortion in the United States. These goals are consistent with and demanded by obedience to Scripture. Nevertheless, the means employed by Operation Rescue in pursuit of
RAR 5:4 (Fall 1996) p. 98
these goals, it will be argued, are themselves sinful. Use of them makes participants in rescues transgressors of God’s law and brings reproach upon the church of Christ.
Not in question is the sincerity and earnestness of rescuers. Their devotion to the protection of the unborn, evidenced by their willingness to suffer the loss of wealth and freedom, is admirable. However, the responsibilities of Christian discipleship demand bringing not only our goals but the means by which we seek to achieve them to the touchstone of Scripture. It is in this second area, the means employed, where the efforts of Operation Rescue cross the boundary of acceptable biblical behavior.
We will now examine the supposed biblical support for rescue operations. It falls into three categories: specific commands to rescue, examples of ...
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