In yet another example of Barack Obama backtracking on something he’s said during this campaign, the senator is now saying he regrets how he answered a question posed by Pastor Rick Warren during a question and answer session a few weeks ago at Saddleback Church.
“At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?” Warren asked.
“I think that, whether you’re looking at it from the theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade,” Obama said — an answer that offended some people.
“Was that phrase too flip?” Stephanopoulos asked Obama today.
“Probably,” Obama said. “Yes. I mean, what I intended to say is that, as a Christian, I have a lot of humility about understanding when does the soul enter into…”
“It goes back to Augustine,” Stephanopoulos interjected.
“It does,” Obama said. “It’s a pretty tough question. And so, all I meant to communicate was that I don’t presume to be able to answer these kinds of theological questions. What I do know is that abortion is a moral issue, that it’s one that families struggle with all the time, and that in wrestling with those issues, I don’t think that the government criminalizing the choices that families make is the best answer for reducing abortions.”
I have a problem with his latest response. So he’s saying that it’s a theological question about when life starts? He’s punting. So why wouldn’t anyone with any amount of human decency say, “Let’s err on the side of life and assume that life starts as early as conception so that we can prevent the taking of innocent human life”? Instead, he’s saying let’s not worry about when life starts. Let’s err on the side of convenience. By saying that it’s a theological question, he is attempting to take the responsibility off of us “normal” folks and say that since most of us are not theologians, we aren’t qualified to answer it. So anything goes.
So here’s a question that Stephanopoulos should have asked: okay, so if I find a Christian theologian that says that a baby should get human rights at conception, will you change your stance on abortion? I think we all know what his answer would be (although he’d find a slick way of avoiding saying “no”).
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