This is a bit of a rant, bear with me if you will.
Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. The horror of the legalized murder of defenseless human babies disgusts me, and there are other matters of life and death within our society that the evangelical church as a whole turns a blind eye towards and in some cases endorses, much like the slavery issue in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These issues tend to float to the top of my consciousness on SOHLS.
How can a person at once vehemently condemn abortion and anyone who endorses the practice or has participated in the procedure, and almost in the same breath have an enthusiastic opinion on why the death penalty is necessary, good, right, even biblical? It does not work out logically in any way. If God is responsible for life and death, who are we to decide in what cases we will take it upon ourselves to make the decision?
This brings me to another thing: How can I endorse something if I'm not willing to carry it out myself? If I am willing to endorse the death penalty, I must be willing to pull the trigger, make the lethal injection, pull the lever on the gas chamber. I could not do that, therefore I should not endorse the death penalty.
With that in mind, I feel it is imperative for God's people to become more active in providing a way of escape for pregnant women who do not want their baby. Too often we want to condemn abortion without offering alternatives. If we believe that human life is sacred, then why isn't enough done to preserve it? We simply condemn those who want to end life, at least in the cases we choose. Anyone willing to condemn abortion must be willing to adopt the baby of a woman considering having an abortion, or they have no right to condemn the woman who must choose.
Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. The horror of the legalized murder of defenseless human babies disgusts me, and there are other matters of life and death within our society that the evangelical church as a whole turns a blind eye towards and in some cases endorses, much like the slavery issue in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. These issues tend to float to the top of my consciousness on SOHLS.
How can a person at once vehemently condemn abortion and anyone who endorses the practice or has participated in the procedure, and almost in the same breath have an enthusiastic opinion on why the death penalty is necessary, good, right, even biblical? It does not work out logically in any way. If God is responsible for life and death, who are we to decide in what cases we will take it upon ourselves to make the decision?
This brings me to another thing: How can I endorse something if I'm not willing to carry it out myself? If I am willing to endorse the death penalty, I must be willing to pull the trigger, make the lethal injection, pull the lever on the gas chamber. I could not do that, therefore I should not endorse the death penalty.
With that in mind, I feel it is imperative for God's people to become more active in providing a way of escape for pregnant women who do not want their baby. Too often we want to condemn abortion without offering alternatives. If we believe that human life is sacred, then why isn't enough done to preserve it? We simply condemn those who want to end life, at least in the cases we choose. Anyone willing to condemn abortion must be willing to adopt the baby of a woman considering having an abortion, or they have no right to condemn the woman who must choose.
I woke this morning with shards of this floating in my head; I jotted it down and filled in the blanks before breakfast.
It's presence made her laugh and cry
Although she did not try
Inside her it began to stir
Although it clearly was not part of her
She did not want to make the choice
It soon would have a voice
Of all she knew, one thing for sure
Alone, it clearly was not part of her
Needing help, needing some reason
It was just a season
She stumbled up the steps into
A church, it would know what to do
Her presence made them laugh and cry
In scorn and pity sigh
To God's bride it did not occur
She clearly was not part of her
She told them what her choices were
Then they began to stir
The child inside, though still alive,
Inside a shell would always hide
They told her, "It's your lot to bear,
Duty we will not share"
Love of life they all would claim
But greater still their love of shame
She clearly was not part of them
The church was not her friend
It made her cry, she made it die
She had her reasons why
She clearly was not part of them-
Casting stones this sure did show!
She wanted life, they gave her strife
Not help, not love, not soul, not life.
It's presence made her laugh and cry
Although she did not try
Inside her it began to stir
Although it clearly was not part of her
She did not want to make the choice
It soon would have a voice
Of all she knew, one thing for sure
Alone, it clearly was not part of her
Needing help, needing some reason
It was just a season
She stumbled up the steps into
A church, it would know what to do
Her presence made them laugh and cry
In scorn and pity sigh
To God's bride it did not occur
She clearly was not part of her
She told them what her choices were
Then they began to stir
The child inside, though still alive,
Inside a shell would always hide
They told her, "It's your lot to bear,
Duty we will not share"
Love of life they all would claim
But greater still their love of shame
She clearly was not part of them
The church was not her friend
It made her cry, she made it die
She had her reasons why
She clearly was not part of them-
Casting stones this sure did show!
She wanted life, they gave her strife
Not help, not love, not soul, not life.
