Adam Hamilton, pastor of United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas, says that it is time says he is pro-choice “with a heavy heart” and that the abortion debate has been too polarized for too long.
Newsweek writes:
Adam Hamilton does not call himself “pro-choice.” He prefers “pro-life with a heavy heart.” What that means, as he explains in his new book Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White, is that he believes abortion should be available and legal, that there are instances in which it might be necessary and that those instances should be very rare. Further, he says, the abortion debate has been too hot for too long, and that, as a Christian minister, his job is to try “to support people no matter what decision they make.” As an evangelical megachurch pastor in Kansas, a man educated at Oral Roberts University, Hamilton speaks carefully, aware that he’s staking out a controversial position.
Or maybe not. About a third of white evangelicals say that abortion should sometimes or always be legal, according to the Pew Research Center—a number that hasn’t changed in a decade. In recent election seasons, however, these moderate voices have been drowned out by hard-line shouting on both sides. In the past, an evangelical who might condone abortion in the case of his ailing wife or 14-year-old daughter would never say so in public. Now, the abortion rhetoric has faded somewhat as evangelicals turn their attention to other things: AIDS, the environment, Darfur. In 2004, megapastor Rick Warren announced that abortion was a “nonnegotiable” for evangelical voters. This year, he’s been silent. What’s new, then, is not that a pastor like Hamilton would take a softer approach to abortion, but that he would feel comfortable enough to say so from the pulpit and in print.
Hamilton new book, released on April 2nd by Abingdon Press, is called Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality and Politics. The book includes 24 essays including, “Where Is God When Bad Things Happen?” “In Praise of Honest Doubt,” “Is Your Jesus Too Small?” “The Messy Truth About Spirituality,” “Will There Be Hindus in Heaven,” “How to be Pentecostal Without Losing Your Mind,” “Homosexuality at the Center,” “Questions of War,” and 16 others.
He hope the book will…
…be helpful to all who have struggled with the black and white, either/or approach to faith, morality and politics – an approach that tends to polarize our churches and our nation. I also hope each chapter will encourage meaningful discussion (there are discussion questions for each chapter included in the book). Abingdon will be releasing video clips as small group discussion starters based upon some of my sermons by September.
Adam Hamilton keeps the blog “Seeing Gray”
Newsweek: How would Jesus choose?