Moral Standing: Who Has It?

As is typical, I have left a comment on something and have had people try to pull the rug out from under me because the Truth is – as usual – unpopular. The debate raging this time, and in which I have decided to withdraw from given the hostile response I have (once again) received, is over that hot-button issue: abortion. I’m not sure if you will be able to see the thread, it would help if you had a Facebook account, but in case you don’t have one, I will post a cut-tag and post the screen-shots of the discussion (with identifying information obscured aside from what is helpful in following the conversation).

On to the subject itself. It seems there are many misconceptions about when life begins, much less about abortion itself. I’ll focus solely on medical/scientific views on life for now. We’ll explore the Biblical view of life here shortly.
Myths About Abortion:

1. Doctor’s do not know when life begins.
   Well, that’s not exactly true. According to this CNN article, the point at which life begins (fertilization) is not debated but a law to protect the life of the newly formed human being. I won’t get into that particular debate, but I do support personhood initiatives. Another article, found here, seeks to explore the issue as well, with the first argument coming from doctors and scientists (doctors and biologists). The conclusion is foregone and should not be subject to debate. It would seem neither come to any conclusions, but in fact they do. The CNN article ends on the quote: After fertilization, “it’s a complete human being in the process of development. It deserves protection of the law.” Certainly the author of the article could have gone further and – given CNN’s liberal bias – sought a quote from a pro-choice advocate. In not doing so, I feel the conclusion that Dr. Harrison came to – devoid of any rebuttal by the other debate participant on the subject – is the correct one, scientifically life begins at fertilization.
2. We’re not human until we’re born
   This one is just as silly as the first one and is rebutted with the same articles. For the embryo to develop inside a human female, it must be human. Just as dogs cannot give birth to anything but dogs (and I hate using such a turpid comparison, but its the only one some people will understand), humans cannot give birth to anything but humans, and if a human female is giving birth to a human, it had to be human from the start. This is a self-proving statement folks. Basic Biology 101 will confirm this, regardless of any personally held beliefs.
3. Abortion is not murder because abortion is not illegal.
   This is really a fallacious argument. Regardless of its legal status, the fact remains – as shown above – that abortion requires at least two people (the consent of the mother and the act of the doctor or clinician) to end another person’s life. It’s legality aside, if anyone else but the mother and her doctor killed that baby, it would be murder and the person responsible would be charged with such. This happens quite often. My question is this: Why is it illegal for someone to come up and punch a pregnant woman in her belly resulting in the termination of her pregnancy, but it’s quite all right for her and her doctor to not only make arrangements to do so but to carry them out as well? Why is it a baby in the one sense and not a baby in the second sense? The thought process alone is debilitatingly outrageous. It is the clearest example of a double-standard, one which needs to end. Either make it legal for someone to come up and punch pregnant women in the belly (resulting in the termination of the pregnancy) or make abortion illegal. We cannot have it both ways.

Myths debunked, unfortunately these same, tired arguments keep getting tossed back in the face of anyone who dares to question them, with no evidence for the opposite viewpoints aside from strongly held beliefs. Why do people, then, continue to support abortion, say it’s not murder, and that the developing baby isn’t human or a baby or even a child? Scripture gives us the answer to this question.

Isaiah 44:24
Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

Isaiah 49:5
And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Psalm 127:3
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Psalm 139:13-16
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

God seems pretty clear on the subject. Life begins in the womb, and spiritual life before then (how else could He know us before then aside from having foreknowledge of us).

This debate isn’t about so-called reproductive rights. If it were, people would be telling you that you can’t have sex. This is about the legal murder of over 50 million children since Roe v. Wade, the deaths of every woman whom has ever died from having an abortion (from before Roe v. Wade and after), and the moral turpitude that goes along with such disgusting upholding of the ‘legal’ killing of children. Often you hear the cry, especially when liberals want gun-control or some other right taken away from otherwise law-abiding citizens, but in this issue the cry is no-where to be found, instead you hear their true battle cry: “What about me?”

They like to claim Christians are somehow selfish because we seek to hold ourselves and our nation to a higher, absolute moral standard. That somehow we’re all hypocrites because of the actions of others. We’re told in abortion every case is really different but that same standard is lost when they look at us. Yes, there are Christians-in-name-only who are hypocritical, hateful, self-serving slime. There are Christians-in-name-only who have no love for their fellow man and only seek to hate others and be as loud as they can with it. There are Christians-in-name-only who are only interested in draining your wallet while enlarging theirs. Scripture even foretells of this (boy, I like how God seems to get it right each and every time He says something is going to happen in a certain way, not even Nostradamus gets it 100% of the time, fancy that) being the case, especially in the end times. People call us bigots, judgemental, condemning, and every other sort of vile name when sin is pointed out. Sure we aren’t perfect, but those of us who really are Christians also have a measure of discernment over what is going on. We can see sin for what it is and we don’t point it out in condemnation or judgement, God has already said those who reject Him have judged and condemned themselves, but in an effort to get you to see that your house is on fire. That what you are doing or have done or continue to do has set you on a path to destruction. You may not believe us, which is fine. I for one know when I’m barking up the wrong tree. It’s why I ended my discussion on Facebook. The people who chimed in for abortion have already decided to stop listening to God. They’ve made up their minds, hardened their hearts (perhaps irrevocably), and are now committed to whatever cause that fancies them. If you won’t listen, then at least stop being a hypocrite yourself and quit trying to force your moral turpitude on those of us who desire to live our lives to a higher, absolute standard.

Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

What follows after the cut is, in order, the screen-shot’s from the discussion on Facebook that prompted this post.

Do You Really Think That?

Sometimes I really wonder – especially when people complain about how hard their elders preach – if people really think being a Christian is all fun, games, and love? Sure, love is a part of it, but not the conditional love you may be used to receiving or giving. You know, the “I’ll love you forever, but only if you met my arbitrary conditions.” The high rate of divorce in this country (and elsewhere) just shows how imperfect that love is (and we won’t even discuss the sky-rocketing domestic violence numbers in Massachusetts with homosexual partnerships). The love Christ and God speaks of can only flow from Him, an unconditional love that wants all to turn away from that which He has decreed as a crime (or, in common parlance, sin) against Him and His creation. Lust isn’t love. Sex isn’t love. Hate isn’t love. Pride isn’t love. Greed isn’t love. Slothfulness isn’t love.

And you think your preacher telling you the truth is hard? Try being that preacher. That man of God who stands unwaveringly for God and His Word alone. Try being unpopular. Hated. Despised. Ridiculed. Ignored. Think you have a tough job? Try telling the truth sometime before a group of people you know and love. Try it again from the street corner.

People who tell the truth in this world have the uncanny ability to be labelled as whack-jobs, nutters, hate-mongers, and every vile name imaginable. Why? Because they not only stand for something, they stand for the one thing which shines a light on the very things people today want to engage in. Every vile sin, every time you’ve hated someone, every time you’ve lusted after someone, every time you’ve lied (little white lies count here, too) to someone. Having such a spot-light shone on one’s self isn’t pleasant. It isn’t easy. As a matter of fact it’s entirely unbearable, yet people continue to reject the one who took upon Himself the punishment for all of those sins, thinking that if they can just get deeper in the shadows they’ll be okay.

Do you really think it’s easy proclaiming truth when you’re hated for it? Persecuted for it? Killed for it? Do you think Bible-preaching, God-fearing men and women enjoy being tortured for the truth? It certainly doesn’t win us popularity contests, doesn’t help us get work to support our families, doesn’t win us any friends (and believe me, we do cherish those we have, so much so we continue to preach the truth).

Why do we do it? Consider this:

When you see your neighbour doing something, say building a fire pit, and you know it’s too close to the house to be safe, do you just go across the street and tell him that all he has to do is love his home-builder and all will be fine? Do you not realize that just because he loves his home-builder doesn’t mean that when he lights a fire in that fire pit not only will he lose his home, and possessions, and possibly family in the process? I imagine though you are, however, the sort of neighbour who will tell his neighbour he needs to stop what he is doing and reconsider his actions, that if he continues down that path he will lose everything. As men and women of God, proclaimers of the Truth – not the Joel Osteen or T. D. Jakes or Rick Warren (boy, I have a lot of names I could name here) watered down false gospel – but the actual truth of the Bible. You cannot live in sin and still call yourself Christian. Period. How do I know? Scripture says so.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Do you think Jesus Himself enjoyed the persecution? The ridicule? The torture? The false condemnation? The agony of the painful death he endured? No, but He preached the Truth anyway. Even if He could reach one soul, that he or she might be saved for God’s glory, it was worth it. Every stone they wanted to throw, every vile word and accusation against Him, the temptations of Satan himself, the agony, the pain, the humiliation. Every last bit of it was worth it if only one person was reached. If God could only reach and save one person from burning down their own house.

Next time you think some preacher or man or woman of God is being too hard, or too judgemental, look at Scripture. You’ve already been judged and condemned by your own words and actions. If someone says to you, “Look out! You’re heading on a path to destruction! Stop! For the love of God, please stop,” don’t look at them and hate them for pointing it out. As disciples of Christ we are tasked with proclaiming truth, and yes we need to be doing it with a supernatural, unconditional love that only God can provide. Those who think they are doing Christ’s work but spew nothing but vitriolic hate will have no part in Heaven. God has already said that, too.

I promise you one thing and one thing only: If I am up in front of my church, or sitting behind my computer screen, or driving down the road, I am doing my best to show the love of Christ. That means though that often what I have to say will be hard to hear, and even harder to understand. I do it because I love God so much that I cannot do anything else. I cannot sit by while people burn their homes down. I just love you all too much to sit by and do nothing.