Different Forms of Love
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Introduction
The most important measure of America in 2025 is the attitude toward life. Our cultural development is synonymous with our attitude toward life.
A person either reaches out to life in love or rejects life in hatred. Love and hatred exist in the will and precede good and evil.
A country is the same as a person. The country either embraces love and good or hatred and evil.
The embracement of good leads to life. The embracement of evil leads to death.
Life is aligned with success. Death with failure.
Life is a real thing that is not open to negotiation. Life is a proper way of existing in the moment. Life is measurable.
The public policy issue most associated with life is abortion.
Abortion reveals how we treat the most vulnerable life. The unborn are dependent upon love and the embracement of life.
There is a common humanity shared by all and this common good must not be violated.
To violate the natural law is reflective of hatred and the embracement of death.
America must pursue a politics of virtue founded on the principle of life.
There needs to be a strong argument made against abortion and for life. This argument must embrace life and political reality. The argument must be comprised of religious thought, human nature, philosophy, and the common good.
Defining Love and Hatred
Love is a giving of the life possessed to another. Love builds-up. Love inevitably involves hope, patience, allowance, good, and unity.
Love
· is hopeful—it offers a promise for a better future.
· is patient—it affirms human personhood and is open to truth in the face of difficulty.
· makes allowance—it takes into consideration human dignity and wants to make the weak strong.
· is good—it is always in the best interest of the other.
· is unitive—it involves a bond that encompasses the entire society and brings harmony to individuals in that society.
Hatred is the taking of life possessed for the benefit of self. Hatred tears-down. Hatred inevitably involves fear, anger, rejection, evil, and disunity.
Hatred
· is fear-based—it diminishes and demoralizes.
· is anger-based—it denies human personhood and closes to the truth in the face of difficulty.
· is rejection-based—it does not take into consideration human dignity and preys upon weakness.
· is evil—it is always in the perceived best interest of self at the expense of the other.
· is disunitive—it involves alienation and isolation of the individual from society.
Measuring Life in America Through Abortion
Is 2025 America embracing life or death?
I am going to measure America through the selected policy of abortion. A policy is not merely a governmental law or official party position. A policy can be ideas and principles upon which laws and party positions are based.
Abortion
Abortion is the clearest way of measuring if America is embracing life or death.
Abortion is the deliberate killing of human being. It is only justified in cases where the life of the mother is in danger. Innocent life must be respected and allowed to develop.
Roe vs. Wade (1973) was overturned as a result of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022).
While the overturning of Roe vs. Wade was something that needed to be done, it was done sloppily. There was no substantive plan in place for government policy and public relations.
Roe was not viewed as part of the larger fight against abortion and for life, but as an end in itself.
The result of overturning Roe has allowed for abortion to return to the states, which allows for some babies to die based on where they are born.
The abortion numbers after the overturning of Roe make an argument.
“More than 1 million abortions were recorded in the United States in 2023—the highest in a decade, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion access. So far this year, abortion rates have remained about the same as in the last six months of 2023, preliminary data show.” (NBC.)
An additional article giving more context--abortion numbers rise as telehealth access grows--can be found at Axios.
Political action will yield a political result.
Additionally, the pro-life champion in the situation, Donald Trump, was not forceful, consistent, and principled.
The pro-life movement did not provide the necessary leadership in shaping the policy agenda. It deferred to the political process and missed a window for change.
A real lesson should be learned here. Political leadership must be practical, idealistic, and sustained. When all the ducks are in a row is the time to move.
Some public opinion is helpful in determining where we are at.
The following data is provided by Gallup, In Depth: Abortion.
· A May 1-24, 2023, survey asked about the legality of abortion at different stages of pregnancy and found 69% of Americans saying it should be legal in the first trimester, while support drops to 37% for the second trimester and 22% for the third.
· A May 1-23, 2024, survey found 54% of Americans identified as pro-choice and 41% as pro-life. A May 6-10, 2015, survey found 50% of Americans identified as pro-choice and 44% as pro-life.
· A May 1-23, 2024, survey found 36% of Americans thought overturning Roe versus Wade was a good thing and 60% thought it was a bad thing.
From 2015 to 2024, a survey of U.S. adults shows support for abortion being legal in all or most cases has increased to 63% from 51% (“Public Opinion on Abortion”, Pew Research Center).
From 2015 to 2024, a survey of U.S. adults shows support for abortion being illegal in all or most cases has fallen from 43% to 36% (“Public Opinion on Abortion”, Pew Research Center).
Clearly the American political landscape reacted to the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.
Clearly public opinion has trended in the wrong direction.
Clearly action is needed by those who take the abortion issue seriously and are pro-life.
Conclusion
The culture of death and selfishness must end. The culture of life and selflessness must begin. The only way to transition from a culture of death and selfishness to a culture of life and selflessness is love.
America must be a place of love. A place of love is a place where the vulnerable are defended, the hurting are healed, and the poor are given what they need.
We are currently distracted and digging ourselves further into a hole.
Going from Donald Trump to Joe Biden to Donald Trump is not the answer. Going from one side of an executive order to another is not the answer. Playing political ping pong is not a substantive political approach.
America doesn’t have the luxury of wasting time.
We need an America that is focused on promoting life. This means an America that is promoting prosperity, happiness, and peace in our own country and across the world. Life should be more valued in America and globally.
The best way to get people to pay attention to the value of life is through having a complete political strategy that places abortion as the most important policy issue facing America.
Political change must come from a position of love. It is necessary to define what needs to change, how, and why. Real work needs to be done in the public policy process.
It must be made known that life is for every human person and every human person has dignity.
It is not enough to state the previous without living it.
If America fails to embrace life and instead chooses death, there will be serious consequences.
The stakes have already risen to a dangerous point: the political environment is more driven by self-interest than public interest.
Chaos, partisanship, and polarization have become normalized, as has the abuse of authority in the pursuit of power.
It is time to embrace love and life! It is time to reject hatred and death!
Stephen Steiniger is a Catholic who is alive in the love of Christ. He desires all who read his writings to benefit in their relationship with Christ. He enjoys religion, politics, and comedy. Stephen possesses an undergraduate and graduate degree from Bowling Green State University. He lives on planet earth with the rest of the human race. Stephen believes this is a good About the Author profile.
