Daniel Darling speaks clearly, consistently, ecumenically with conviction. He’s one of the younger-still laborers who find themselves living at a time of reckoning transformation and has stepped up to the plate to be a solution to immiserating problems in his daily life and work.
He is the director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, an assistant professor at Texas Baptist College, and the author of many books, including The Dignity Revolution and the forthcoming In Defense of Christian Patriotism.
He’s also written the kind of books that can be open doors to those who are not practicing Christians, at the right time of year to be a welcome back or an invitation to take a step in, including The Characters of Christmas: 10 Unlikely People Caught Up in the Story of Jesus, The Characters of Easter: The Villains, Heroes, Cowards, and Crooks Who Witnessed History’s Biggest Miracle, and The Characters of Creation: The Men, Women, Creatures, and Serpent Present at the Beginning of the World.
Dan, author of Agent of Grace: How to Bridge Divides and Love as Jesus Loved, is also ever-gracious when K-Lo e-mails him at a random hour for thoughts on one of the most significant issues of our lives — the human rights issue of our time — on a short deadline!
On this anniversary, Dan Darling writes:
Three years ago, one of the most Constitutionally illiterate and morally vacuous rulings, Roe v. Wade, was cast to the dustbin of history with the Dobbs decision. Fifty years of faithful, persistent, and determined opposition bore fruit as the Roberts court overturned this heinous ruling. Few observers in 1973 could imagine a sustained pro-life movement, but less a victory at the highest Court. But as much as we celebrate what happened three years ago–and we should–we must also understand that Dobbs was not the end of the fight, but the beginning of a new chapter. We must not tire in our quest to champion the most vulnerable members of our society, the precious souls who cannot vote, cannot march, cannot by themselves escape the cruel scalpel or murderous chemical that attempts to snuff out their lives.
Ours is a fight many have questioned. Politicians, even some who take our votes, often tremble at questions about the sanctity of life. Party bosses conspire in back rooms to sideline our voices. And a compliant media still covers the pro-life effort with mostly patronizing cliches or, worse, deep animus. But the fight for the unborn is a long one, like every justice movement, and we must look ahead to the day when every American member of the human race is recognized in law and can find rest under the immortal words, “All men are created equal.”
Those of us who have long been in this movement must not tire, communicating with conviction and compassion, that inside the womb is not a mere cluster of cells, or a problem to be solved, but indeed a person, made in the image of God. What is needed is new education for a new generation, the catechizing of young hearts and minds with this simple message. Alongside the tireless fight for legislative and legal protection must be the campaign for the moral and spiritual framework to help our neighbors see humanity where those who seek to end life only see inconvenience.
And we should remember that ours is a worthy fight, a noble fight, a movement for the ages.