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In all the writing I have done about the abortion issue at Westmont College since last year, it has occurred to me that I have not yet formally laid out the reasons for why Westmont does not take a position on abortion. While I believe there are many reasons why they have chosen to remain neutral, I will be laying out the reasons according to the college and what they have told me.
On the first day I chose to display abortion imagery on Westmont’s campus (read about that here), two of Westmont’s senior administrators, Stu Cleek [Associate Dean for Residence Life] and Tim Wilson [Associate Dean of Students] came out to inform me that I could not continue my display. My refusal to cease displaying abortion imagery led to a conversation and debate that lasted for the next two hours, in which I asked the question: Why doesn’t Westmont College take a pro-life position on abortion? Their response was:
We don’t take a position on abortion because we want to encourage our students to reach their own opinions on difficult moral issues.
The first problem with this statement is the belief that students should be left alone in deciding their positions on “difficult moral issues”. This does not reflect the heart and vision behind Westmont’s motto: Christus Primatum Tenens, Christ holding first place, comes from Colossians 1:18 — “That in all things He might have the preeminence.” This creed ought to be the foundation and reflection of the faculty’s teaching and the students’ learning. If Christ is to be preeminent in all things, then that necessarily includes the abortion issue. To say “we want to encourage students to reach their own opinions on difficult moral issues” is to ignore and make light of Westmont’s motto; and ultimately to leave Christ out of the picture.
The second problem with this statement is the faulty assumption that if Westmont takes a position on “difficult moral issues”, students won’t be able to formulate their own opinions on those issues. This does not reflect reality. For example, Westmont College does take a formal position on the issue of homosexuality; a position that is consistent with the teaching of scripture and yet I have seen more division amongst the Christians at Westmont over this issue than any other. The variance in opinions on the issue of homosexuality amongst the student body, faculty, and staff is at times overwhelming. The fact that Westmont has a formal stance on homosexuality has done nothing whatsoever in stopping or discouraging students from formulating their own opinions, and yet that is the assumption or worry that underlies the first reason for why Westmont doesn’t take a pro-life stance on abortion.
Hoping to ask more leaders at Westmont why we don’t take a position on abortion, I was grateful when I received the opportunity to ask President Gayle Beebe. His response was equally disheartening and is as follows:
There are a lot of issues and we can’t possibly take a stance on everything.
The question that immediately popped into my head was: Do any of those “other” issues deal with the killing of 1.3 million babies a year? The answer is of course “NO”. We are not just talking about another issue, but about the most atrocious genocide our world has ever seen, with numbers that are unparalleled. Furthermore, this statement reveals how little Westmont really cares about the abortion issue. If part of the reason Westmont doesn’t take a stance on abortion is simply because there are too many issues out there, then what does that say about the things that Westmont does take a stance on? Westmont’s Community Life Statement takes a stance on many things, all of which are important and do deserve the college’s attention, but none of them are dealing with the butchering of human beings by the millions. While they may not say it themselves, it is clear through their choices and silence on this issue that the leadership of Westmont College care more about making sure their students don’t smoke or drink on campus than whether their students are obtaining abortions.
While some have pointed out that neither does Westmont take a formal position on sex trafficking or slavery, I would make the argument that they don’t need to, and that’s not a fair comparison to make to justify Westmont’s silence on the abortion issue because:
1) Sex trafficking and slavery are illegal. Abortion is legal.
2) No one at Westmont is pro-sex trafficking or pro-slavery. There are many people (students & faculty) at Westmont who are pro-abortion.
3) No one at Westmont is confused over the issue of sex-trafficking and slavery. Many people at Westmont are confused over the abortion issue.
4) Westmont regularly address issues like sex-trafficking and slavery through chapel speakers, global focus weeks, 24/7 prayers weeks, etc… Westmont never addresses the issue of abortion with the same vigor. If and when it is addressed, it is done poorly and leaves people more confused then they were before.
While not encouraging reasons to hear from Westmont’s senior leaders as to why the institution doesn’t take a stance on abortion, it is good to know their reasons, bad though they may be. This enables us to address those reasons specifically and show how those reasons are not worth the lives of unborn children who could be saved if we would take a pro-life stance and regularly address the issue within the community.
Based off what we know about the unborn from science (that human life begins at the moment of conception) and what we know scripture says about human life (humans have intrinsic value because they are made in the image of God and therefore the shedding of innocent blood is strictly forbidden [Gen. 1:26, 9:6, Exodus 23:7, Proverbs 6:16-17]), abortion is an issue that cannot be ignored if we claim to take scripture seriously and as the inerrant, infallible word of God.
For the sake of the Gospel and the millions of precious unborn human persons, I implore you, Westmont College to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8), to “rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter” (Proverbs 24:11). Our mission and witness is on the line. Theologian Francis Schaeffer once said:
If those who claim the name of Christ are not going to be willing to stand up against something as evil as killing a baby, then the world has the right to ask whether Christ is real.
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