James Talarico

And so all those things were important to protect that family structure.

So some of these ancient commandments, which again, I don't claim to know what the original meaning was, may have been put in place for some of those reasons.

But again, if this was something that really was central to Jesus's ministry,

I would think he would have said something about it, right?

We have four gospels with tons of teachings from Jesus, and none of them are about this.

So I get suspicious when anybody, whether it's a televangelist or a politician, tells me that something is central to my faith when Jesus never talks about it.

To me, that should, I think, ring alarm bells as to what is the agenda here.

What is someone trying to get across?

And I think...

If we're looking at the last 40, 50 years, the religious right has made a concerted effort to make homosexuality and abortion the two biggest issues for Christians.

And, you know, the Southern Baptist Convention was pro-choice until the late 1970s.

So this idea that to be a Christian means you have to be anti-gay and anti-abortion, there really is no historical, theological, biblical basis for that opinion.

Well, there were certainly abortions in the ancient world.

And again, I haven't stated this enough to say this definitively, but there are interpretations of certain passages from the Torah where some folks will even say that there is some subtle instructions for how to perform an abortion in the ancient world, certain things to drink, things like that.

The point is that this idea that there is a set Christian orthodoxy on the issue of abortion is just not rooted in Scripture.

We can have an honest debate about it.

If Pope Francis were to come back and sit at this table and tell me, you know, James, I'm pro-life and anti-abortion.

Here's my theological argument.

I'm here to listen and respect that opinion.

I have dear friends who are anti-abortion.