“Generally speaking, I like the people in favor of abortion better than I like the ones against it, but I`m on the side of the people against it.”
—Andy Rooney, Chicago Tribune, 1985

In his thought-provoking book, Vanishing Grace; Whatever Happened to the Good News? Philip Yancey further quotes Rooney: “I’ve decided I’m against abortion . . . But I have a dilemma in that I much prefer the pro-choice to the pro-life people. I’d much rather eat dinner with a group of the former.”

Why did Rooney find so much to dislike among card carrying Christians? In the case of abortion, at least, it didn’t spring from being on the wrong side of an issue that passionately stirs them.

Maybe it’s because Christians sometimes act like spoiled children upset at being replaced by younger siblings. Christian culture is no longer the favored child.

Christians now are asked to explain themselves: How did the South become the Bible Belt even though its pre-Civil War white Christian citizens accepted slavery as God’s will? Why, when slavery was abolished, did they create segregation? Why do some Christians become ballistic over climate change instead of allowing reasonable debate? Spew hatred of gays? Identify so closely with politics that they draw harsh lines against those with different political opinions?

Quoting Yancey again: “The issue is not whether I agree with someone but rather how I treat someone with whom I profoundly disagree.”