'A Consistent Ethic of Life'
Nathan Finn
Baptist Press

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP) -- One of the ongoing battlegrounds in America’s culture war is the debate over the intrinsic value of human life. To many conservative evangelicals, “the sanctity of human life” is a buzzword for one or two moral issues, typically abortion and euthanasia. Both practices are terrible, but the sanctity of human life surely encompasses more than simply beginning and end-of-life concerns.

Other conservatives, especially Catholics and those influenced by peace church traditions, prefer to speak of a “consistent ethic of life.” This approach addresses abortion and euthanasia, but also tackles a range of other issues including the death penalty, violent crimes, and issues of war and peace. Many who take this approach oppose the death penalty and have a tendency toward pacifism, two positions that I respect in many ways but ultimately disagree with on theological grounds. the rest