Oct 26, 2026 · 41 min · 11 segments
*Russell Moore on the death penalty, sacred life and political belonging* In Texas, Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan is scheduled to be executed by firing squad. Earlier this month, the Pentagon…
Russell MooreGuestAmanda HendersonHostRussell, abortion is often the topic that comes up when these questions become bound to a political identity.
When we think of when someone says, I'm pro-life, there's an automatic assumption that they are Christian and that they are probably conservative.
And how does this dynamic come up when we're talking about abortion opposing abortion and supporting the death penalty.
For a long time, the pro-life movement was a coalition movement of there were pro-life feminists and pro-life Democrats and pro-life Unitarians.
well as Kind of conservative Catholics and evangelicals and others who often, like with a lot of other coalitions, would say we can argue on everything else.
And so I think that the argument that I suppose Democrats and Republicans who care about the abortion issue, what they would argue about is, well, who's to blame for that? So a Republican evangelical might say, well, yes, it's a completely partisan issue now, but that's because the Democratic Party no longer will allow people with pro-life viewpoints to be anything but marginalized.
And a pro-life Democrat will say, you've – You've kind of turned this issue to the Republican.
You've turned this issue into kind of a rhetorical strategy while doing nothing really substantive about the question of actual abortions.
And where does it go? I've heard a lot of people, the conversation goes pro-life at conception and birth.
But how does that sanctity of life play out in both the religious debates and political realities of some of these questions that we're navigating today?
And one of the things that I have said throughout all of that is that there are certain foundational assumptions that have to come with a pro-life ethic in order to keep it long-term actually pro-life
And that means a certain sense of the human person and a respect for human vulnerability.
And a willingness to define people not in terms of strength or usefulness, but intrinsically as neighbors.
Russell, abortion is often the topic that comes up when these questions become bound to a political identity.
When we think of when someone says, I'm pro-life, there's an automatic assumption that they are Christian and that they are probably conservative.
And how does this dynamic come up when we're talking about abortion opposing abortion and supporting the death penalty.
For a long time, the pro-life movement was a coalition movement of there were pro-life feminists and pro-life Democrats and pro-life Unitarians.
well as Kind of conservative Catholics and evangelicals and others who often, like with a lot of other coalitions, would say we can argue on everything else.
And so I think that the argument that I suppose Democrats and Republicans who care about the abortion issue, what they would argue about is, well, who's to blame for that? So a Republican evangelical might say, well, yes, it's a completely partisan issue now, but that's because the Democratic Party no longer will allow people with pro-life viewpoints to be anything but marginalized.
And a pro-life Democrat will say, you've – You've kind of turned this issue to the Republican.
You've turned this issue into kind of a rhetorical strategy while doing nothing really substantive about the question of actual abortions.
And where does it go? I've heard a lot of people, the conversation goes pro-life at conception and birth.
But how does that sanctity of life play out in both the religious debates and political realities of some of these questions that we're navigating today?
And one of the things that I have said throughout all of that is that there are certain foundational assumptions that have to come with a pro-life ethic in order to keep it long-term actually pro-life
And that means a certain sense of the human person and a respect for human vulnerability.
And a willingness to define people not in terms of strength or usefulness, but intrinsically as neighbors.
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