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When Did It Become Cool For Christians To Lie?

By Emily Chambers | Last Week Tonight | April 9, 2018 |



I know we’ve covered Liars and the Lies They Tell About Abortion Crisis Pregnancy Centers before, but John Oliver decided to take a stab at it, so why can’t we? First the segment, and then a few generalized thoughts after.

— I’m just thrilled that Barbara Beavers starts her discussion of abortion by ridiculing women who feel no remorse or guilt about their perfectly legal, perfectly healthy abortions for lying to themselves. Right before talking about how often she lies to women seeking abortions. See, most people don’t know this about me, but as a young, curious teen, I experimented a bit, and dabbled in Christianity. Nothing too heavy; just your standard youth group/bible camp stuff. I had no understanding at the time if the church my friend’s family attended was nuts or not, but in retrospect, I think they were mostly normal, borderline conservative Protestants. What I do remember a lot of is people talking about and emphasizing honesty. Something about Jesus being the way, the truth, the light. About living openly and honestly as a child of Christ, and expressing your truth. So when did Christians decide they just get to lie about shit?

— And don’t give me that “it’s not a lie, it’s just an advertising practice.” Bullshit. There are lies of commission, lies of omission, and lies of pretending you’re something you’re definitely not in order to manipulate people who are in need of support. People who turn to you for help because you told them you’re the person who can assist them in their time of need. And then abandon them after you’ve lied to them in order to force them to follow through on a pregnancy they aren’t equipped to handle. You know, like Jesus would do.

— For the record, “woman” =/= “mother.” Maybe there are mothers who would die for their children, but as a woman who has no interest in ever becoming a mother, I, in no way, would be willing to die for a small group of cells.

— We’ve also already discussed how the Christian right has forfeited any form of moral high ground, but these groups know that there are ways to help women and prevent abortion without lying to them, right? If their moral beliefs teach them to be anti-sex (and let’s get real, that’s the interpretation that Conservative Christians are running with), you could still do things to reduce abortion that don’t involve giving out birth control (and again let’s get real, that’s the best way to reduce abortion). You could offer job counseling, low-cost housing, free childcare, universal health care, stronger social service programs. You could tend to the poor and needy (who the hell was it that said we should do that?). Or you could tell women that abortion leads to baby parts showing up in their lungs, and then “cut them loose” after they’ve had their babies. I just need to make sure, these are the groups who claim to be doing “good Christian work,” and tell me I’m going to hell. For real.

— In maybe a small concession, I will acknowledge that having a facility to discuss all options during pregnancy is important. There’s a lot of grey area between actively trying to get pregnant and actively trying to avoid it. Not every unplanned pregnancy is unwanted, and maybe with the right resources, a woman will decide she does want to continue with the pregnancy. Luckily we have a reputable organization that is willing to provide those services, and it’s called fucking Planned Parenthood.

— Yeah, man, that place that you keep attacking as the Devil’s Doctor’s Office? They’re trying to actually help people by offering comprehensive sex education, birth control, and giving women all of their options in a way that’s truthful and supportive. And roughly eighty-percent of the country seems to agree with the way they’re doing shit.

— All that said, Planned Parenthood and reputable abortion providers are still targeted for the good work they do. Donate if you can, and, more importantly, vote.

— And for real, Crisis Pregnancy Centers can get fucked.


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