Of Rights and Respect for Life

Job, in the midst of his suffering and self-examination, recognized that the right to life is determined by God:
14 What then could I do when God arises? And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him? 15 "Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb ? 16 "If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, 17 Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it.

I think that this passage of Scripture, and others that are similar, support the fact that God creates and ordains life - period.   And, who are we to attempt to take the position of God and determine which pre-born child lives or dies, no matter what the circumstances of his or her conception?   So, as we submit to the giver of life, we promote a culture of life - where unborn children are allowed to live, and where the hearts of men and women are not disrespectful to the rights of others to live.  We see violence in our homes and our streets and lack of civility toward others - these are symptoms of heart issues surrounding the lack of respect for life, given by God.   We can be challenged to be people of influence, to be used by the Holy Spirit to help turn hearts toward Him.

In Psalm 139, we find the Biblical foundation for the right to life that God has given to each of us:
13 For You formed my inward parts ; You wove me in my mother's womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.

The Inauguration festivities have now concluded, having extended well into the early morning hours.   The cleanup has begun, and now Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, is strapping himself in for what promises to be a challenging second term.

I think that the Inaugural Address offered no real surprises or really very many meaningful lines, but it was, in a sense, an unveiling of the progressive agenda that many have suspected for a long time and a clear enunciation of the driving political philosophy.   There are those that expected a policy-driven speech, but that wasn't the setting yesterday - this was a time to enunciate the personal agenda behind the policy.   Obama described the American experience as a "journey", and indeed he believes that we have evolved to another stop on that trip - without reservation embracing a breathtaking assortment of rights for many - all driven by his view of what is called, "equality", which in the progressive mind involves a degree of manipulation - of resources, in attempting to level the playing field of income, as he perceives it, of redefinition, changing the laws to embrace gay marriage, apparently, as well as to secure, and in a sense, remaking government based on some sort of new paradigm.   Most would call that progressive, others would say liberal - and in the speech, he attempted to place a God-stamp on his agenda.

Missing, of course, was any declaration of rights for the unborn, which we celebrate today as we decry the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973, which has opened the floodgates to the taking of some 55 million lives.    Frequent Meeting House guest and former Congressman Bob Beauprez says this:
Abortion -- and those children who were never born – exist in a place that is primarily out-of-sight and out-of-mind.  Although legally protected, abortion is among the few unspeakables in American society.  Thus, comprehending the impact on American society is even more difficult.  In a sense, it is hard to understand that which you never see. 

Consider for a moment, however, that the consequences of Roe are deeply into the second generation.  About 30 million of those aborted children would by now be of child bearing age themselves.  New families would have been created resulting in an additional 20 million or more children based on normal demographic statistics.  

So, in just a macro-population sense, the forty years since Roe v. Wade has eliminated a population roughly the size of California, New York, and Florida combined from American society.   If those lost to abortion, including the lost second generation, were a nation, they would be about the size of Germany – the 16th largest country in the world by population and the fourth largest economically.       

America appropriately agonized after the loss of innocent life in Newtown, Connecticut and Aurora, Colorado.  Mothers, fathers, citizens and leaders are still struggling to reconcile those and other tragedies. As a society, we also need to reconcile the tragedies involving the people we never meet, with the faces we cannot see, that happen every day.

But, we can't expect this Administration to really address that, for the rights of pre-born children have been trumped by the mythical "reproductive rights", which is one of the sacred tenets of the so-called progressive agenda.  And, Biblically, you can't put a God-stamp on that, even if you try...If you're talking about equality in the eyes of God, you can't ignore life that is the gift of God.  

Those who recognize the truth about the sanctity of life have a great responsibility and opportunity to embrace life and to be a force for good, consistent with His truth.   Thousands will be flooding the nation's capital later this week to celebrate human life and to repudiate the erroneous notion that somehow the pre-born are less than human - it's a dangerous path to try to assume the place of God and determine who lives or dies.   We can be challenged to be in prayer for our leaders and for those who are directly involved in pro-life ministry, that they would continue to be a strong and compulsive voice for life.