Over at the website of the Manhattan Declaration, this is treated as a serious question in honor of Christmas:
If Christ were never born, our history, our surrounding, every culture, and even the earth would be a vastly different place. Think about it, if Christ were never born, there would be no reason to have Christmas and your very birth is questionable (would your parents have met?).
The post goes on to list a number of world events, inventions, and creations that the writer claims never would have happened if Jesus had been aborted, including:
- there would have been no Cathedrals in Europe, no Sistine Chapel, and “further, no Vatican at all;”
- Bach and Mozart wouldn’t have been as awesome as they were;
- Columbus wouldn’t have discovered America;
- “the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and America’s legal and political foundation are dramatically influenced by Jesus birth” and therefore the United States would not have been founded;
- Israel would be “a different place;” what’s more, “America would not be the biggest Alli [sic] and protector of Israel without the conviction of Christian leaders in the US who have historically believed that Christians should support God’s Chosen People;”
- we would not have wine;
- there would be no Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Martin Luther King Day, or Columbus Day (of course)!
I posted this bit of nonsense to my Twitter account, and here are some selected excellent responses:
@sarahposner Wow. I don’t get offended easily, but that’s pretty offensive.
— Ellen Cooper-Davis (@Rev_Mother) December 23, 2011
@sarahposner No wine? Did it suddenly cease to be made after Homer praised it thousands of years before?
— Jared James (@count_01) December 23, 2011
Why you gotta show us this stuff, Sarah? *headdesk* RT @sarahposner:What if Jesus had been aborted? bit.ly/u9O1D8
— scatx (@scatx) December 23, 2011
@sarahposner Wow. Okay. That may be the most theologically problematic argument against abortion I’ve ever seen.
— Kyle Cupp (@kylecupp) December 23, 2011
@scatx @sarahposner That premise shows the most amazing unawares argument against divine power ever. God couldn’t try again?
— Sweet Machine (@sweetmachineSP) December 23, 2011
Real question is: What if Jesus had been a magic Woody Allen Zombie? youtube.com/watch?v=_SFdUJ… MT @SarahPosner What if Jesus had been aborted?
— peter manseau (@petermanseau) December 23, 2011
Wait. Isn’t God powerful enough to find another incubator? #ifJesushadbeenaborted cc: @sarahposner
— Mel. (@melballoons) December 23, 2011
@sarahposner Mary would have been forced into a dangerous, back-manger procedure thanks to thugs like the Manhattan declaration
— Ben Wyskida (@wyskida) December 23, 2011
Tim Tebow wouldn’t be leading his team to the playoffs, for one thing. RT @sarahposner: What if Jesus had been aborted? bit.ly/u9O1D8
— David I. Leavitt (@LeavittDC) December 23, 2011
@sarahposner A counter-piece to that nutty Jesus piece earlier? 🙂 @TheRelLeft thereligiousleft.org/2011/12/trust-…
— Caryn Riswold (@feminismxianity) December 23, 2011
Happy holidays, everyone. I’m taking a little break, and will be back after the new year.