Ethic of Love--Ethic of Life

Due to the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut, there is a renewed call for a ban on assault weapons. Since this is certainly a life issue, it provides Christians with the opportunity to proclaim the sacredness of life. The phrase “Pro-Life” has for too long been limited to only the issue of abortion. As disciples of Jesus of Nazareth, Christians are called to proclaim the sacredness of life against any way it is threatened or oppressed. Our public policy on the availability of guns, the proliferation of war, the continued use of capital punishment, the unjust distribution of health care, and the ethical implications of end-of-life decisions are all “life issues”. Each of these has a direct impact on life. Too many Christian disciples have become fixated on one of these issues to the exclusion of the others. Jesus proclaimed a consistent ethic of life which links all these issues together. On many occasions he displayed his loving approach to life issues. He once stopped the stoning of a woman who was assumed to have committed adultery. Another time he demanded that his followers put their swords away saying: “whoever lives by the sword will die by the sword”. He proclaimed in words and in deeds his vision of a kingdom where all people live an abundant life. As we live in a society with religious freedom, we have the privilege to support whatever policies fulfill the ethic of Jesus. In attempting to ask “What would Jesus do?” it will soon become evident that his ways are not the ways of our world; and, in no time at all, we will become aware of what “being in the world but not being of the world” is all about.