UMC Pastors Allege “Handmaid’s Tale” Scenario in Texas

James Diddams on September 17, 2021

United Methodist Pastors Stephanie Arnold and Katie Gilbert recently donned outfits evoking “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel and TV series upon which it is based in which women are enslaved, to protest Texas’ recently passed anti-abortion bill. The two pastors lead First United Methodist Church of Birmingham, Alabama and staged their protest on TikTok.

The Texas’s “heartbeat” abortion bill bans most abortions after 6 weeks, when the baby’s heartbeat can be detected. A recent poll showed slightly more American likely voters favoring than opposing such a pro-life law. 

“Texas is leading us to become more and more like Gilead every day,” says the text in the TikTok video, referencing the fictional dystopian society. “Unjust, patriarchal laws strip women of their agency and rights. As people of faith, we believe in reproductive rights.” The video ultimately ends with the two pastors throwing off their Handmaid’s Tale inspired garb and a call to action for the viewer to sign a petition on the Texas Planned Parenthood website.

In an interview with the Birmingham CBS affiliate, CBS42, Arnold spoke about her views on the anti-abortion law:

“I know teenage girls who got pregnant in high school and felt like they had to choose between their future and their family,” she said. “I know college students who had traumatic events that led to them being pregnant. I know young women who are out exploring the world who were drugged and raped and luckily found their way back to a safe place but needed an option so that they didn’t carry that trauma in that way for the rest of their lives.

“I would hope nobody would ever find themselves in need of an abortion,” she continued. “But that is not the world we live in. And I will listen to the pain and the struggle and the hopes of those women. And I will prioritize that.”

Does the Texas “heartbeat bill” amount to sexual slavery as in Atwood’s novel? Certainly not, yet it’s still garnering significant pushback from many United Methodist women, not only these Birmingham pastors. The New York headquarters of United Methodist Women (UMW), recently came out against the Texas anti-abortion law.

“United Methodist Women, like The United Methodist Church, affirms that women and families need access to the full range of reproductive health care, with the guidance the church provides. United Methodist Women, like the United Methodist Church, believes governmental laws and regulations do not provide all the guidance required for the informed Christian conscience. Therefore, a decision concerning abortion should be made only after thoughtful and prayerful consideration by the parties involved, with medical, family, pastoral, and other appropriate counsel.’”

“We pray that legislators in states across the country will make a different choice and allow women to discuss health care needs with their loved ones and health care providers,” concludes the UMWomen press release.

The United Methodist Church’s position on abortion could be described as muddled, with people such as Arnold interpreting it as generally pro-choice. Others, like the IRD’s John Lomperis, have argued that despite some ambiguity the UMC’s stance is certainly more pro-life than pro-choice. The ambivalence is mostly a result of one vaguely pro-choice sentence in the Book of Discipline: “We recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures by certified medical providers.”

This indicates that abortion is admissible to save the life of the mother, but it’s unclear how far beyond a medically necessary abortion is allowed. Other phrases in the Book of Discipline include “Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion” and “We mourn and are committed to promoting the diminishment of high abortion rates.” While the UMC should be clearer on its position, only selectively reading the Book of Discipline could lead to the belief that the UMC is completely pro-choice.

Whatever the position of the UMC, as the pending split between the remaining United Methodists and the soon-to-be launched Global Methodists grows closer, most Pro-Life Methodists will likely be in the latter organization. It seems likely that the output of socially progressive TikTok videos is only likely to grow as the UMC comes to be defined by beautiful old buildings filled with aging white liberal Christians.

As Arnold said in her CBS interview: there are times — when she’s preaching in robes, standing in a 130-year-old sanctuary, with light pouring through historic stained glass, saying that, for example, maybe we shouldn’t take the Bible literally or that we shouldn’t always follow what it says — that it takes her breath away. “But it’s also life-giving,” she said.

And no matter what happens with the future of the United Methodist Church, with the future of the Supreme Court, or with the future of Texas and laws like the one it’s just passed, Arnold emphasized that one thing is certain. “First Church knows who it is,” she said. “And First Church has decided to be who it is and to practice its theology as it understands it. All are welcome here.”

  1. Comment by Dan W on September 17, 2021 at 4:15 am

    Birth control, adoption, abstinence? Just sayin’.

  2. Comment by Gary on September 17, 2021 at 10:14 am

    And then they wonder why the membership keeps declining.

  3. Comment by Steve S. on September 17, 2021 at 10:24 am

    I wonder why, in every article about churches that oppose the law in Texas (and other abortion laws), they talk about reproductive rights but never talk about God and Life?
    Probably because there is nothing in the Bible that justifies abortion.

  4. Comment by David on September 17, 2021 at 11:20 am

    The Methodist Church and even the Southern Baptists favored abortion rights even before Roe after much prayer and discernment. The fact that this changed after conservative takeovers of the denominations suggests it is all politics and not religion or ethics. In a recent NYT article, “Abortion has never been just about abortion” by Thomas B. Edsall, it is pointed out:

    “Whites who score high on measures of racial resentment and racial grievance are far more likely to support strict limits on abortion than whites who score low on these measures. This is part of a larger picture in which racial attitudes are increasingly linked with opinions on a wide range of disparate issues including social welfare issues, gun control, immigration and even climate change. The fact that opinions on all of these issues are now closely interconnected and connected with racial attitudes is a key factor in the deep polarization within the electorate that contributes to high levels of straight ticket voting and a declining proportion of swing voters.”

  5. Comment by Anthony on September 17, 2021 at 12:23 pm

    Just another example that the UMC is on its death bed as a Christian church. It has already reached institution status and using church in its name is a violation, with the exception of those who wait to form the Global Methodist Church.

  6. Comment by Barry on September 17, 2021 at 12:57 pm

    I will be so glad when the separation happens. I am so sick and tired of being embarrassed to be a United Methodist pastor because of nonsense like these so called pastors.

  7. Comment by David S. on September 17, 2021 at 2:11 pm

    Yes, David, the old, if you oppose the liberal/progressive position, you’re a racist trope. I wouldn’t trust the NYTimes no further than I could through my cat (which wouldn’t be far, since I would gently place my cat on the ground at my feet) to provide an honest, unbiased, assessment of the breakout between supposedly racist attitudes, which means you disagree with the Democrats on name your issue, even if you vote Democrat.

    Seriously, could it possibly be that people didn’t really think through theology surrounding abortion until Roe placed it front and center? I suspect that that is the case. Of course, these people screeching “HANDMAIDENS” and donning cosplay outfits aren’t seriously considering the theology of this issue either. It’s best to tow the party line.

  8. Comment by David on September 17, 2021 at 2:58 pm

    Is it not a shame that some people cannot discuss matters without resorting to ad hominens against myself or the NYT. The churches prayed for guidance and we must assume that God answered, perhaps not in the way you liked.

  9. Comment by David on September 17, 2021 at 3:00 pm

    **hominems

  10. Comment by Steve S on September 17, 2021 at 3:26 pm

    “The churches prayed for guidance and we must assume that God answered, perhaps not in the way you liked.”

    A couple of questions regarding this quote from a comment by David.
    One, how could God have answered when there are churches on both sides of the abortion issue?
    Two, how can a pastor claim that abortion is a woman’s right but never provide God’s support for such a right?
    Three, I wonder if David has thought that God has spoken, clearly and emphatically that all Life is sacred, but David didn’t like the answer?

  11. Comment by the clergy involved need to find something to do on September 17, 2021 at 3:58 pm

    You know, it must be nice to have so little work to do or so much time on your hands you can watch things like the TV version of the “Handmaid’s Tale” and then apply it to your professional life.

    Maybe if they watched less fantasy TV and spent their time doing more constructive things the two clergy involved might find out the image they used and their ideas are wrong. Reading serious literature might be one way they can spend their time educating themselves.

    Good luck to their parishioners, maybe they will get lucky and both of these clergy will be moved to another assignment soon.

  12. Comment by Tom on September 17, 2021 at 5:25 pm

    Please, no one tell them about the Taliban in Afghanistan.

  13. Comment by Tom on September 17, 2021 at 5:25 pm

    Also, one does wonder what part of “Thou shalt not kill” they do not understand.

  14. Comment by David on September 17, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    Well, when we consider that a large percentage, if not the majority, of human conceptions, fail to reach term, it is rather clear that God did give an answer by his own actions. Most of these losses involve genetic defects such as the wrong number of chromosomes very early in the pregnancy. This, of course, gives moral precedence to terminating defective fetuses. The few that humans abort hardly matter in this divine plan.

  15. Comment by Mike on September 17, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    “The few that humans abort hardly matter in this divine plan.” David, they matter in God’s sight. If God Himself chooses that many babies do not survive to birth and beyond, He has the ultimate right of choice. But when we make that choice, to abort (murder) an unborn child, it is murder, plain and simple. We do not have the right, before God, to make that choice.

  16. Comment by Linda on September 18, 2021 at 8:18 am

    David, calling miscarriage the equivalent to abortion is the same as calling murder equivalent to natural death. Yes many pregnancies miscarry. And every human life eventually ends. That doesn’t mean God approves of humans taking human life at any stage of development.

  17. Comment by Search4Truth on September 18, 2021 at 11:38 am

    I can’t remember history showing a time of such a blatant rejection of the “fear of the Lord” since the late Judean kingdoms during the times of Isaiah and Jerimiah. Anyone remember the results of that apostasy?

  18. Comment by JB on September 18, 2021 at 2:33 pm

    Oh, dear, the old “miscarriages happen so abortion is OK” nonsense.

    God must be OK with murdering the already born too since everyone dies at some point.

  19. Comment by Steve on September 18, 2021 at 4:02 pm

    According to American Heritage Dictionary:
    ad hominem
    hŏm′ə-nĕm″, -nəm
    adjective
    1. Attacking a person’s character or motivations rather than a position or argument.
    2. Appealing to the emotions rather than to logic or reason.
    3, Of or relating to ad hominem.
    Seems to me David’s original post meets this definition. But, come to think of it, intersectionalism itself (the quote says “interconnected and connected”) seems in large part premised on ad hominems; assigning worth to people by their identity, not the content of their character.

  20. Comment by John Smith on September 18, 2021 at 4:55 pm

    Nice to know the BOD is still irrelevant to the ordained Elders of the UMC.

  21. Comment by senecagriggs on September 18, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    First Church Birmingham;

    Our Priorities:
    Practicing Hospitality
    Embodying Diversity
    Doing Justice
    Encouraging Authenticity
    Creating an Inclusive Community
    Embracing Tough Questions

    Sounds like the priorities for any secular college/university

  22. Comment by Diane on September 19, 2021 at 2:47 am

    Just FYI, some Texas women of reproductive age have reported in interviews and I’ve observed in online chat rooms to seek sterilization, ie, permanent contraception to avoid state-sponsored forced birth. In some cases, their male partners are voluntarily opting for vasectomies. There’s a trend of “child-free” across the country…Texas is no exception with more than a few social meet-up groups of child-free singles and couples. One group calls itself, “No Kidding”.

    As a child-free woman by choice (my ex had a vasectomy, to which we both agreed), the choice among some in Texas of permanent contraception over forced-birth was entirely predictable. The choice to remain child-free will rise as other states follow Texas’ lead.

    Because this was/is entirely predictable, one can assume encouraging people to be child-free is what conservative religious folk were pushing all along.

  23. Comment by David on September 19, 2021 at 3:07 pm

    Tom In the Hebrew scriptures, personhood began at birth and not before. Punching a pregnant woman so she miscarried (fetal death) was a property crime punished with a fine. Murder was punished with death and only applied if the woman died. Now there are people who do not like this and are pressuring Bible publishers to alter the wording of the verse to fit their positions.

  24. Comment by Tracy on September 19, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    The liberal united methodist women’s group does not represent us traditional methodist women. We can’t wait to leave them behind. We must go forward, now not later. Does anyone not read their bible anymore? God’s judgement on the Canaanites for sexual immorality and child sacrifice. That is exactly what is happening today.

  25. Comment by Diane on September 19, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    Actually, people do study the bible and world religions. In the comments section to a news story last week (I don’t recall it’s subject, but do recall this particular response), a poster argued that religious beliefs that are dividing people today are relics from the Bronze Age – in other words, the belief systems are old, outdated, and antiquated with no useful pirpose. The response to this comment was agreement. The commenters’ consensus was ancient religious shstems should be discarded.

    I’m not agreeing with that, but just putting it out there as an example of what probably many folks believe. There’s a weariness and hostility among those oppose faith-based morality as a weapon.

    Just sayin

  26. Comment by Jeff on September 20, 2021 at 9:49 am

    >> faith-based morality as a weapon

    How about the WORD of GOD, the basis of “faith-based morality”, as a sword? Does that engender in you “weariness and hostility”, Diane?

    “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day… and take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God… For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

    “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He [Jesus, the CHRIST, the WORD from the beginning] will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

  27. Comment by Diane on September 20, 2021 at 1:37 pm

    So, Jeff, I offered what commenters on another site said about religion, They believe the world would be better off without religions formed in ages past, characterizing current adherents to these religions (including the Jude’s/Christian tradition) , as a hostile weapon against those (like them) who refused to submit to antiquated faith-based morality.

    Obviously that hit a nerve. I suggest you calm down, visit such sites, listen and respond through constructive dialogue. I’m just reporting what others have come to understand about religion.

  28. Comment by Jeff on September 20, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    So, Diane, I offered what the apostle Paul, the Hebrew writer, and Jesus the CHRIST have to say on the subject. You might do well to eschew wasting your time on those heretics’ sites and spend the time you save reading the actual Word of GOD. Just sayin.

  29. Comment by Diane on September 21, 2021 at 12:10 am

    Jeff, if you aspire to go and make disciples, it helps to get to know folks who’ve gone astray. Missionaries spend time with people who are non-believers. Might be a strategy to explore.

  30. Comment by Jeff on September 21, 2021 at 7:10 am

    >> … if you aspire to go and make disciples, it helps to get to know folks who’ve gone astray. Missionaries spend time with people who are non-believers. Might be a strategy to explore.

    I am, Diane. Right here. With you and David. 😉

  31. Comment by Diane on September 22, 2021 at 12:28 am

    No, Jeff, you’re not making me a disciple of your sperm-spirit god.

  32. Comment by Jeff on September 22, 2021 at 10:20 am

    Not yet anyway, Diane. All things are possible with God.

  33. Comment by Kepha on September 23, 2021 at 9:17 pm

    People complain about “bronze age morality and religion”? I have a lot of respect for such. It shows that the period from Moses to Kong Zi came up with views that have sticking power (and, in Moses’ and the Prophets’ cases, I believe they were moved by the Holy Spirit of God). Hopefully, the “bronze age ethics” will see the day when the lawyers who made their early careers by fighting for SSM in the courts will sail off into excessively comfortable retirement after taking cases of scores of young men with woeful tales of growing up bu%%ered by “two daddies” turning around and suing the bajayzas out of every institution and agency that ever supported the normalization of perversion.

    As for _The Handmaid’s Tale_, it’s liberal hate-and-fear literature; and would make the damned soul of Julius Streicher smile down in Hell. OOOOOH NOOOOO! The Evangelicals are gonna enslave WOMEN! Sorry, but I spent too much of my life in places where the whole idea of general female literacy was introduced by missionaries whom the modern age would call “fundamentalist”.

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