I’d like (well like is probably the wrong word) to introduce you to a real scum bag, and ask for a little action from you. From the Radical Republican Party in Virginia; meet Robert “Bob” G. Marshall, Virginia State Delegate and now candidate for the U.S. Senate.
What makes this fellow the particular target of my ire this morning? Well it is this little tidbit that he threw out last year (I know, late but better late than never) during an attempt to defund Planned Parenthood in the Old Dominion:
“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.
“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”
You will probably here more like this as he pushes his Personhood bill as the first bill in this years Virginia Assembly, HB1.
Now, I know your blood pressure is probably up pretty high but lets unpack this a little, shall we? Delegate (and asshole) Marshall says that if a woman chooses to terminate a pregnancy, then it increases the chances of birth defects.
Does he cite any scientific evidence? No, he just asserts it and then goes on to give a cause as punishment from the Christian god.
This is a case of where having a little knowledge makes someone dangerous. Most birth defects are genetic in nature. They are passed down through the parents and are as likely in a first child as a third or even fifth. There are some birth defects that are linked to nutritional deficiencies in the mother, but we’ve done a moderately good job of preventing those.
Unless there is some kind of serious damage from the abortion (rare but it does happen) there is no effect on consequent pregnancies.
Then there is the fact that 1/3 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Those are pretty much spontaneous abortions and we really don’t know what the cause for most of them is, sometimes a fetus just doesn’t develop correctly and the pregnancy ends. But even this does not affect the chance that the next child will have birth defects. As with dice every throw is unique and a hot or cold streak is a perceptual artifact.
So much for the science. Now let’s look at where this callus schmuck goes wrong with the theology.
My serious and seriously religious cousin pointed out that this nit-wit is a more than a little weak on his Bible study. The assertion about the first born is from the Old Testament, which while a big part of the Bible is not really as important to Christians as the New Testament (you know the part where Jesus their Messiah came along and taught them everything they need to know about being good people the way God would want them to?).
He pointed out that in the book of John there is a story about a blind man that Jesus and his disciples come across. The disciples asked Jesus who had sinned that this man was made blind by God?
Jesus, said that it was no ones sin that the man was blind. Then he said that he’d show them God’s work and healed the blind man.
Now, anyone that knows me knows that I am neither a believer nor a particular fan of religion, but the story of the blind man shows the kind of compassion that I’ve been told over and over is the basis of the Christian faith.
Jesus didn’t trot out blame; he acted to make the situation better. He could have whipped up a propaganda frenzy against anyone he wanted, using the man’s misfortune, but he didn’t.
Too bad Bob Marshall could be more like the deity he professes to believe in and know so much about.
I have several devote believers of various Christian faiths in my family. I disagree with them about their religion, but I do respect the fact that they live it as they were taught it. They generally are kind, they have a set of rules they adhere to (and would like the rest of us to adhere to as well), and universally observe the rule of loving the sinner while hating the sin.
It is folks like Delegate Marshall that give them a bad name. Now, I could contact Sideshow Bob and give him a piece of my mind, but as an atheist, why would he care what I think? However, Christians care what other Christians think, and that is where the action comes in.
If you are a believer, and you find this use of misunderstood Christianity, as offensive as I do, then please take the time to contact Bob Marshall. You may or may not like the idea of a woman being able to control her reproduction through abortion, but I am pretty damned sure that no one is down with the idea of making the parents of children with birth defects feel like they have been singled out by God for punishment.
Here is his contact information:
E-mail: Delegate Bob
Office phone and fax number: 703 – 361 – 5416
Or you can call him on his cell phone (it actually says that this is preferred way to contact him on his contact page) at 703 – 853 – 4213
Please be polite but firm in when you do contact him. Make him aware that for someone who aspires to be one of 100 Senators that his using religion to slut-shame woman and gin up support from like minded folks is not something that is Christian in the least nor acceptable from a politician.
You are probably going to get push back if you actually talk to him; my experience is that folks who use this kind of bull-shit rhetoric are pretty thin skinned when challenged on it. But think about the pain that he has caused many women by blithely asserting that they and a vengeful and uncompassionate god are the reason their child labors under the challenge of a birth defect.
One of the reasons that people like Sideshow Bob Marshall keep saying things like this is that they don’t pay any cost when they do. It is time to make it as socially painful for him as he has made it for the parents of children with disabilities.
Please take action today.
The floor is yours.