Pro-life advocate Anthony Horvath is trying to stir up a hornet’s nest with remarks aimed to shake up the status quo in America’s abortion debate. Insisting that it is time for people to keep their religious views about abortion out of politics, Horvath asserts that unless Christians meet secularists ‘on their own terms,’ ultimately there will be little movement on the issue in the United States.
Horvath, executive director of Athanatos Christian Ministries, says, “In our country, there is a general feeling that only positions backed by actual fact should drive public policy. ‘Religion’ is perceived to be the realm of personal opinion. Even Christians tend to accept the view that people are allowed to have their opinion, but they aren’t allowed to impose that opinion on others. The result is that many Christians refrain from acting ‘politically’ because they see their own beliefs as nothing more than ‘mere opinion.'”
But are the terms “religion” and “fact” actually opposites? Horvath argues that if Christianity is actually true, then many of its claims are, in actuality, facts, and Christians should be as confident acting on them as any other person who believes the facts on their side.
Horvath concedes that Christians who believe their faith is mere opinion should stay out of politics, but only if secular humanists will do the same. He accuses them of having views about society and the value of humans that are essentially religious in nature and dares them to prove otherwise.
Do you agree? Is it possible to remove religious views from the abortion debate?
