The informational poster above comes from the website of the American Legion. We are fortunate in Alabama that none of our facilities have been found wanting at this point. I am proud of that and I hope that our record keeps up. I know that we have had OIG (Office of the Inspector General) personnel at our facility because they have spoken with me. What is sad is that large swaths of the Southeast and the Southwest are involved, at this point. We shall eventually see whether the Northeast and the Midwest become as heavily troubled. Sixteen out of the fifty states are listed in the informational chart above. Inevitably there are more simply because the investigation is still ongoing.
Here, however, is what troubles me as an Orthodox priest. The Bible Belt is heavily involved in the false record keeping. Depending on how one counts the Bible Belt states, a little over half of the states involved, so far, are Bible Belt states. One would expect the level of morality to be higher in the employees hired in those states, given the high percentage of people who claim to be “born again” in those areas. The classically liberal states are strongly under-represented in the debacle. Yet, supposedly those are the states in which the people are least involved in true morality. Thus, should it not have been employees in those states who would have been expected to be more susceptible to the siren call of money? What it does point to is that some of the presuppositions that we hold may not be as true as we think.
The citizens of Bible Belt states are the most politically conservative, are very supportive of a very free market capitalism, are very religious, and are strongly pro-life. The citizens of the classically liberal states are supposedly borderline socialists (particularly because many are not against centralized government programs to help people), secretly hate religion, and are pro-choice, which supposedly shows a disdain for human life. But, if we look at the VA crisis, it is the employees from the Bible Belt states who show that they are not pro-life, as they have been willing to ignore the veterans, while the employees from the classically liberal states have not been shown to be involved in the crisis yet.
Would this not tend to lead you to the conclusion that, in practice, the employees from the classically liberal states have demonstrated a more pro-life attitude than the employees from the Bible Belt states? It might even lead me to say that there are anti-abortion and pro-abortion people in this country, but that the term pro-life cannot truly readily be claimed by either side. Insofar as abortion is concerned, there is no doubt that those who fight against abortion are expressing a true and honorable pro-life sentiment. In that sense, those who are pro-choice are expressing a terrible anti-life sentiment. But, insofar as helping the needy, which includes our veterans, there is little doubt that many in the classically liberal states express and practice a true and honorable pro-life sentiment with regard to those issues, while those in the Bible Belt states show a consistent and inexcusable anti-life attitude to the world.
What we need are people who are pro-life across the entire spectrum of our involvement with humanity, and not simply those who pick and choose to be “part time” pro-lifers.
Agreed – pro life is the full range of the spectrum from conception till death. O course that includes those on death row. As you say, you can’t be half-way…
Agreed
(Ah, arriving to this thread a year after its post date. Chances are my comment won’t be seen, but worth a shot!)
I agree that being pro-life should mean to work at improving the lives and securing the rights of families and children from birth till death (especially in regards to education, fair wages, etc.) I’ve yet to read more posts about your personal stance on abortion, so I might find an answer if I peruse further, but allow me to pose a question: is it possible to be pro-abortion (not personally, but on a legal level) and pro-“quality of life” at the same time?
I acknowledge that making something illegal will not prevent it from happening–thus, making abortion illegal would drive women to unsafe, underground practices, which would doubtlessly also cause a lot of deaths. I’ve seen personal, beloved friends choose abortion over bringing a child into the world that they know they cannot support, and while I would not have chosen the same in their position, I have respect for their decision and am glad they underwent the procedure in a safe and protected environment. In that light, isn’t it best to fight for the quality of life of both the women and children that exist already in this world? Fight for fair wages, paid maternity leave, better sex education in schools, more contraception options, and improved care for mothers and families? It seems to me that fighting for those factors would actually prevent more abortions than making the practice downright illegal (which would only give rise to dangerous abortion tactics, thereby endangering the lives and bodies of people forced into unsafe procedures). Although as an Orthodox Christian I believe in life at contraception, according to my research, that concept is scientifically disputed as of yet, and I don’t agree with forcing my faith in life at conception on a person for whom science trumps religion.
Forgive the long-winded post; it’s just something I’ve been thinking about for a long time in my quest to reconcile my passionately liberal, left-leaning feminist ideals with my Orthodox faith.
The stance of the Greek Orthodox Church is that only therapeutic abortion is allowed. So that puts us in the pro-life camp, but with a position slightly different than the absolute prohibition of the Roman Catholic Church.
Many, if not most, pro-choice people would consider themselves to be in what you call the pro-“quality of life” camp. I have noticed that many pro-choice people are also environmentalists, anti-death penalty, in favor of a higher minimum wage, etc. The irony is that many pro-life people seem to stop caring for life after birth, while many pro-choice people only care for life after birth. The ideal position would seem be to be pro-life from beginning to end.
The Orthodox in this country are not yet very good at writing and documenting their overall positions. We tend to issue position statements rather than explaining our overall stance. The Roman Catholic Church is much better at that. The website of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops actually expresses the ideal position that I outlined above. Sadly, many conservative Catholics in the USA simply ignore that and are staunchly anti-abortion, but otherwise Republican. To tell you the truth, I do not consider that a truly pro-life stance, only an anti-abortion stance. As a result, people are indeed left alone when they need help, and end up choosing abortion. Nevertheless, the problem is that abortion is still the taking of a life. There are many laws and practices that the Orthodox have chosen not to fight simply because we live in pluralistic societies. But, since the Early Church Fathers, one can find strong statements against abortion. Thus a secondary problem is not the fight against abortion, but the reality that the world only sees us as fighting against something and not fighting for other pro-life issues.
While there may not be many left-leaning people in your parish, be assured that there are many left-leaning Orthodox in the world and in the USA.