OK, so many, if not most of you, have not heard much about the Women’s Reproductive Rights bill. But it’s real and it will be on the ballot on November 7 this year. And this ballot proposal is just as bad, if not worse, than people say. The devil truly is in the details on this bill.
And the tragedy is that as it is written, unless there is a major work of God or work of common sense among Ohioans, current polling suggests that it will pass. Now, Pro-Life Republican politicians who are fighting this bill have a plan. And that plan is their own bill that will be voted on on August 8.
The Pro-Life bill will change the standards for Amendments to the Ohio Constitution.
As it stands the constitution can be emended with a simple majority. 50% plus one is enough to change the constitution. 50% plus one is enough to add anything, change anything, determine anything. This means that one deceptively written bill can override any number of laws, court decisions, precedents, norms, standards, and traditions. As it stands with 50% plus one you could legalize slavery in Ohio. You could outlaw cattle farming. You could make the Church of Satan the state religion. You could legalize crack. You could, golly, I don’t know, eradicate parental rights and legalize abortion.
And all this is done with deceptive language, with no debate, outside of our legistature. And, despite the lies or ignorance of people like Marylou Johanik, constitutional amendments coming directly from the people and only requiring a bare majority is not a 175-year tradition. It was added into Ohio’s second constitution in 1912. And since then Ohio’s new Constitution has been amended 160 times. This means that Ohio’s constitution has slowly become a policy document instead of a definition of the form of government.
But Ohio Issue 1, that will be voted on on August 8 of this year would raise the percentage of the vote needed to pass a constitutional amendment from 50% plus one vote to 60%. This would mean that rather than the barest of bare majorities being able to undo literally any law on the Ohio books or any article of the Ohio Constitution, now it would take 10% more than that! Which, frankly, I still think is too low for my personal political philosophy, but hey, higher might not be ideal, but it is better.
And the reason that it’s better is not simply because having a high threshold for constitutional amendments is part of what I believe to be a reliable and rigorous political philosophy, rather, it’s better because the higher the percentage of votes needed to amend the Ohio Constitution, the more likely it is that this baby-murder-and-child-genital-mutilation bill will fail.
According to Ohio government officials whom I’ve spoken to, at 50% the baby-murder-and-child-genital-mutilation bill passes. But at 60% it fails.
Now, let’s consider some of the objections that Christians have concerning Ohio Issue 1. Because there are objections. And the objections that are most likely to affect and have an impact on Christians are objections that have to do with philosophical integrity and a sense of fair play.
So, let’s deal with the least thorny issue first and then move on to the tricky stuff.
First, some Christians may want to vote down Issue 1 because they believe in democracy. Well, first of all, democracy isn’t exactly a very Biblical notion. Representative government is. And there are places where one can argue for democratic means of selecting representatives. Sure. But to say that the Bible promotes democracy plain and simple, no. No, the Bible does not teach this. Of course, I am aware that for decades Leftists have been trying to get us to stop talking about our Republic and talk about our Democracy. But I don’t want to live in a Democracy—I’m very happy living in a Republic. I want checks and balances; I want representative government. But more than any kind of political philosophy you might have. If you have an opportunity to stop baby-murder-and-child-genital-mutilation isn’t surrendering a tiny bit of your political philosophy worth it?
If you’re a pure democracy person. And I don’t know why you would be, but let’s say you are. And you literally think that majority rules. And that if the majority want to gas the Jews that it’s OK because the majority says so—and by the way explain to me how abortion is meaningfully morally different than genocide—if that’s what you believe then I guess I have no counter-argument. But if you don’t believe that the majority should be allowed to gas the Jews then why should the majority be allowed to commit baby-murder-and-child-genital-mutilation? And if you agree that the majority shouldn’t then you have no reason to oppose Ohio Issue 1.
Second, people may be opposed to losing the ability for the people of Ohio to put forward ballot initiatives. There are a lot of lies going around about what actually is in this Issue and what it actually does. But what it doesn’t do is eliminate the ability for the people to bring forth ballot initiatives. What it does do is prevent a ballot initiative from changing the Ohio Constitution by a bare majority.
Third, and this is the point that I’ve seen come up often from pro-abortion news-agencies and journalists, they point out that conservatives are being cynical with their use of political power. That conservatives have used the bare majority to get their way in the past and now they want to prevent others from using a bare majority.
To which I answer, “so?”
So what?
That’s called politics. That’s called hardball. Politics is, as much as anything else, the art of the possible.
But on a more fundamental level, let me tell you why I have no interest in entertaining this complaint. You see, I have no interest in the moral arguments of people who advocate the murder of babies and child genital mutilation. I am just no interested in your arguments. I don’t care about your protestations. When you are pro-baby-murder and/ or pro-child-genital-mutilation you have forfeited your right for me to take your moral arguments seriously. I don’t care what you say. The moral protestations of the depraved and wicked have no weight or value with me!
And they should have no value with you.
But let’s just say, for sake of argument that you might be willing to concede the point. Perhaps you’re willing to say that Pro-lifers in Ohio are being hypocrites because if we could get a bare-majority law passed that would illegalize abortion we would. And that we aren’t taking action on political-philosophical principal but only on our moral preferences. Let’s accept that this is hypocrisy.
Ok.
So?
Who cares?
So for the price of being seen as politically philosophically inconsistent I can save the lives of babies and prevent the mutilation of children?
Yeah, I will make that trade EVERY SINGLE TIME.
I will, without fail, accept that I’m a political cynic in the eyes of baby-murderers if it means I can save babies’ lives.
Mark 3:1–6: Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
So I pose the question to you: what is cynical? To be philosophically inconsistent and save life or to be philosophically consistent and destroy? Again, I’m not even accepting the point that I AM being inconsistent. I’m simply saying, that for sake of argument, if we accept the premise that conservatives are being inconsistent, and even cynical—I don’t care. I couldn’t care less.
If the choices are between murdering babies and being a cynic, I will take being a cynic every single time.
Moreover, let’s not pretend that those who oppose Issue 1 aren’t being hypocrites. They claim to love the Ohio Constitution and human rights—but the very first line of the Ohio Constitution, Article I § 1 says this:
All men are, by nature, free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and seeking and obtaining happiness and safety.
So, I would say that if you claim to love the Ohio Constitution then you oughtn’t to seek to violate Article I § 1 by violating the most fundamental right of all which is the right to life.
Christians should not be shamed or cowed or bothered in the slightest by the arguments from the baby-murder and child-mutilation crowd. And we shouldn’t give a fig for the arguments of pseudo conservatives and Christians who don’t know the times.
Because, there are many well-meaning but foolish Christians who think that playing political hardball is a sin. They think that being hard-nosed means hard-hearted. They would never dirty their hands. They would never mar their precious (though not very valuable principles).
Because here’s the thing. If your principles prevent you from using political power to stop baby-murder and child-mutilation, then you probably need to get some new principles. If your principles would have you look on in impotent frustration as babies by the million are slaughtered and children are mutilated, they you’re principles aren’t worth very much.
I would rather be called a cynic by a baby-murderer than to not fight unjust laws because I’ll be called a cynic.
I’d rather be called names by the godless than to surrender to their godlessness.
Friends, I hope I’m speaking plainly enough. I hope that I’m not unclear. If I am then I’m not sure how to make myself clearer.
The long and short of it is this. Christians need to get out and vote on August 8. We need to make sure that godly people get absentee ballots and they are encouraged to vote. We need to ensure that our godly friends, family, and fellow church members are getting to the polls. We need to give this bill a resounding defeat by showing up in droves. We need to use the political tools at our disposal to fight for what is right and good. We need to ignore the arguments of the godless and fight for what is right. We need to ensure that righteousness prevails by getting the word out, by voting, by encouraging others to vote, by donating to groups like Protect Women Ohio and others.
This is a fight we can win. And a win on this fight gets us one step closer to abolishing the most heinous crime in America’s history. We’re not going to win all at once, and we’re not going to win without a lot of battles along the way. We must grow weary; we need to keep up the fight. Because by God’s grace, I believe we’re winning. And perhaps we will win entirely. But only if we keep in the fight. Run the race, fight the fight, keep the faith.