Joe Rigney recently tweeted a thread concerning abortion that is well worth your time to read and contemplate.

Below is the full text, complete with pictures and links.

A Twitter Thread on Abortion

Watching some Christians react to election news is a sober reminder of how easy it is to forget the unborn and the horrific evil and injustice that is legally done to them every day in this country. Take this sentiment expressed by a Christian journalist, which is simultaneously ignorant, tacky, and completely callous to the horror of the murder of innocents.

It’s ignorant, because (1) correlation does not equal causation, and (2) a far more plausible reason that abortion rates declined in those years is owing to pro-life legislation at the state level.

It’s tacky, because the primary aim of the comment is to antagonize pro-life Christians who voted for Trump on the ground that he has followed through on many of his campaign promises regarding pro-life policies & judges. Make light of baby murder to own the Trumpsters.

It’s callous, because Biden/Harris plan to aggressively rollback policies that limit abortions. They want to end of the Mexico City policy (which will result in exporting America’s abortion radicalism to the world) and they plan to end of Hyde Amendment (which limits federal funding for abortions), forcing Christian organizations (like Little Sisters of the Poor) to fund abortions under the ACA.

A significant challenge for the pro-life movement is that abortion is out of sight, out of mind. No nightly news updates televising the latest dismembering. A media committed to covering for a billion dollar industry that enriches itself on killing children & selling their parts.

The evil of abortion is evident to natural reason. The humanity of the unborn is established by embryology. The dignity & worth of the unborn is accessible to the consciences of all by virtue of the moral law written on our hearts. But human beings are naturally truth-suppressors. And therefore, it is incumbent on Christians–of all people–to remember the unborn, to refuse to ignore the silent screams, and to resist the impulse to rationalize, minimize, & make light of our country’s gravest moral evil. Because the womb is not dark to God. He sees the violence done in the secret place by our so-called “healers.” He hears the silent screams. And his justice does not sleep. He stores up wrath for a day of reckoning. What’s more, he sees the way that civility and social “decency” becomes a cover for evil. He knows that “the appearance of godliness” can mask heinous injustice.

When I consider our nation’s great evil, I always think of this quotation from the preface to The Screwtape Letters:

“I like bats much better than bureaucrats. I live in the Managerial Age, in a world of ‘Admin.’ The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps & labour camps [or abortion clinics]… In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars & cut fingernails & smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.”

And right now I see far too many Christians who are willing to celebrate those quiet, smooth-shaven men [and women]. And what’s more sobering, God sees, and God knows. We would be wise to repent of our apathy in the day of his kindness. Some day the iniquity of the Americans will be complete. Until then, have mercy, Lord Jesus.

A Good Example of Winsome Engagement on Social Media

After this tweet thread, Joe Rigney engaged in a back and forth conversation with a commentator. Pay attention to Dr. Rigney’s civil tone, concise answers, and dedication to not allow the conversation to get off topic. Also, pay attention to the content of Dr. Rigney’s answers in that they are concise answers to common objections.