It is not this simple!


The following question was recently posted on Face Book.

Should people in the military be allowed to smoke and drink?

In that form, the question is impossible to answer. 

It begs so many other questions. 

Here are a few:

  Should members of the Armed Forces be allowed to smoke and drink:

at home;

when on leave;

in the barracks;

when on patrol or military  engagement in Iraq or Afghanistan?

The simplistic question does not deal with these complexities. Nor does it recognise the fact that whatever the military “brass” rules, some members of the Armed Forces will continue to smoke and drink.

I extend this thought to the matter of abortion, a matter which also evokes many simplistic responses.  

It seems clear to me that:

1.      The “Right” is firmly anti-abortion.

2.      The “Left” is determinedly pro-choice.

3.      Whatever folks on the right or left say, there will be abortions, legal or illegal.

4.      Some abortions will be a matter of medical imperative.

5.      Those of us who are Christian Pastors can be at one and the same time pro-choice, and anti-abortion.

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