A reader complements the thread:
I'm a graduate student and I'm teaching a course called "Dr. King and Empire: How MLK Jr. Resisted War, Capitalism and Christian Fundamentalism" this fall at my school. I've done a lot of research on how Dr. King interpreted the Christian doctrines and Christianity. You may want to see an article I published in Tikkun Magazine called "King's God: The Unknown Faith of Martin Luther King Jr."
King denied the ontological divinity of Jesus, didn't think heaven/hell were literal places, saw the Bible as myth, rejected the bodily resurrection of Jesus (beginning at the age of 13), rejected original sin, etc.
Another:
You asked us to "imagine a pro-life movement that never sought to make abortion illegal but tried solely to highlight its profound moral implications." I thought immediately of Mother Teresa speaking against abortion, pleading for the unwanted babies of other women, give them to me. In her Nobel Peace Prize speech, she said:
We are fighting abortion by adoption, we have saved thousands of lives, we have sent words to all the clinics, to the hospitals, police stations – please don't destroy the child, we will take the child. So every hour of the day and night it is always somebody, we have quite a number of unwedded mothers – tell them come, we will take care of you, we will take the child from you, and we will get a home for the child. And we have a tremendous demand from families who have no children, that is the blessing of God for us.
I know many Christians do adopt, and see adoption as a certain religious calling, and I commend them for their love for their children, born to other parents but just as much their own. As a Christian myself, I wish more of us would adopt instead of rallying against Roe vs. Wade. What more could we do to be "pro-life" than adopt a child?
But I am challenged my Mother Teresa's words because when I think of other people's unwanted children, I confess that deep down, I do not want their children, either. Mother Teresa, of course, was a better follower of Christ than me.
Jesus said, "let the little children come unto me." I believe the pro-life movement you speak of does exist among the faithful, inspired by Christ, doing as Mother Teresa. That pro-life movement is quieter. They are busy raising their kids.
The Dish 