19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
What does it mean to choose life? Well, I believe it means that we are following in the way that has been provided for us, to live in the presence of the Lord under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Our lives can reflect the life of God in us. I also believe it means to cherish and protect life, to not take it for granted - one element is to make sure that we are protecting life inside the womb, as well as all who are living on earth. We have to make sure that we recognize that all life is precious, life has value, and by showing respect toward others, we express that perspective.
In Genesis 1, we can see the high view that God had for His creation of humanity:
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Perhaps by now you have heard the story of a famous, well-regarded lion from Zimbabwe who lost his life at the hands of an American dentist who hunted the creature down in what some are regarding a most inappropriate way. As CNN reports, Minnesota dentist Dr. Walter Palmer has basically gone underground in the aftermath of the death of Cecil the Lion. He has become the target of intense criticism in social media; someone has posted a vile death wish on his clinic door.
The story quotes the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, which said Cecil was lured out of an animal sanctuary in Zimbabwe and shot with a crossbow. He lived another 40 hours until the hunters tracked him down and shot him with a gun. He was then skinned and beheaded.
The hunters also tried to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of research backed by Oxford University, the conservation group said. Palmer said, "I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt," adding, "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt."
Two Zimbabweans were charged in the case and have been released on bail. Officials in the African nation say they want to talk to Palmer. The undercover dentist has indicated that he'll cooperate, although he said in a statement that he had yet to be contacted by anyone about the investigation.
But, where's the outrage over the deaths of pre-born children in general, and specifically now in the light of the Planned Parenthood videos, 4 of which have been released, where we see the callous approach to the death of a human life, a baby, that is reduced to dollars and cents? Dr. Palmer took the death of one lion; where was the collective outrage to the murderous actions of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the noted abortionist who was actually taking the lives of babies in and out of the womb?
Our communicators, who hold an incredible position of influence, are showing where they stand. LifeSiteNews.com reports that "the broadcast news shows spent more time in one day on Cecil the Lion than they did on the Planned Parenthood videos in two weeks."
It says:
Now, I believe that humane, legal treatment of animals is a sign of a civilized society. I eat meat and respect the rights of hunters to participate in and enjoy their practice. If Palmer went outside the bounds of the law, then he should be brought to justice, but not the type of vigilante justice that some, like British journalist Piers Morgan is advocating, according to LifeSiteNews.com.
And, even moreso, human life is to be cherished. In our culture, which is so steeped in the secularistic, evolutionary worldview, we somehow have lost the sense collectively that human lives are to be treated with dignity. This calloused view of life will cause people to not value one another, so therefore they take the lives of others for seemingly insignificant reasons; granted, there is no good reason to take the life of another person.
We are not highly-evolved animals; we are humans created in the image of God. And, that is why these Planned Parenthood videos show practices that are so disturbing - imagine, the horror of a child being dissected in the womb and his or her body parts extracted and sold. Is this what we have come to as a culture? And, should there be any controversy here? Any doubt that public or private money should NOT be funneled to this organization? But, the fact that people are seemingly tolerating and even protecting these practices show how far our culture has declined. We need to advocate for a new respect for human life, and the protection of the defenseless in and out of the womb.
+++++
In Genesis 1, we can see the high view that God had for His creation of humanity:
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Perhaps by now you have heard the story of a famous, well-regarded lion from Zimbabwe who lost his life at the hands of an American dentist who hunted the creature down in what some are regarding a most inappropriate way. As CNN reports, Minnesota dentist Dr. Walter Palmer has basically gone underground in the aftermath of the death of Cecil the Lion. He has become the target of intense criticism in social media; someone has posted a vile death wish on his clinic door.
The story quotes the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, which said Cecil was lured out of an animal sanctuary in Zimbabwe and shot with a crossbow. He lived another 40 hours until the hunters tracked him down and shot him with a gun. He was then skinned and beheaded.
The hunters also tried to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of research backed by Oxford University, the conservation group said. Palmer said, "I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt," adding, "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt."
Two Zimbabweans were charged in the case and have been released on bail. Officials in the African nation say they want to talk to Palmer. The undercover dentist has indicated that he'll cooperate, although he said in a statement that he had yet to be contacted by anyone about the investigation.
A headline in the Los Angeles Times asks this question: "Outraged over Cecil the lion? It may help you understand the rage over Planned Parenthood". That headline fronts a piece by Charles Camosy, who I don't know very much about, but his article has been retweeted by some pro-lifers on Twitter. He calls for common ground between animal rights activists and what he calls "anti-abortion" advocates, saying their motivation is similar. Describing those who are pro-life, he writes:
Anti-abortion activists are driven in similar ways. Prenatal children are also helpless and often subject to terrible violence. They obviously cannot speak for themselves. Their dignity and value are inconvenient for those who want abortion to be broadly legal and who want to use fetal tissue for research. They too are largely invisible, though this is changing because of ultrasound imagery and smartphone applications that can listen to a baby's heartbeat in the womb. Words like “fetus,” “tissue” and “products of conception” help keep the reality of abortion at bay. But as we have now seen with the Planned Parenthood story, anti-abortion activists have also been successful in using undercover videos in bringing terrible reality to light – what in one setting is called the "products of conception" in another is a "baby bump," and the antiseptic "tissue" means functioning organs.Attempting to represent the viewpoint of animal rights activists, he writes:
Consider the views of those who care deeply about animal rights. What drives them? Animals are helpless creatures, often subject to terrible violence, and they cannot speak for themselves. Their dignity and value are quite inconvenient for those who want to exploit them, and their needs are pushed to the margins of our culture.He continues:
This is not to say the two issues are morally equivalent. They aren’t. But the moral dispositions and motivations of animal rights and anti-abortion activists are actually quite similar.Dr. Palmer's methods in taking the life of Cecil seem to be questionable, and if Dr. Palmer broke the law, then he should face the consequences. And, I believe the outrage over Cecil's death is justified, to a certain extent, even though there is no place in a civil culture for some of the vitriol that has been directed at this man.
But, where's the outrage over the deaths of pre-born children in general, and specifically now in the light of the Planned Parenthood videos, 4 of which have been released, where we see the callous approach to the death of a human life, a baby, that is reduced to dollars and cents? Dr. Palmer took the death of one lion; where was the collective outrage to the murderous actions of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the noted abortionist who was actually taking the lives of babies in and out of the womb?
Our communicators, who hold an incredible position of influence, are showing where they stand. LifeSiteNews.com reports that "the broadcast news shows spent more time in one day on Cecil the Lion than they did on the Planned Parenthood videos in two weeks."
It says:
The three broadcast networks, ABC, NBC and CBS censored the third video released Tuesday by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) exposing Planned Parenthood’s practice of harvesting aborted baby parts -- censored it at Planned Parenthood’s urging. But the news shows did find more than 14 minutes for a more important story: the “outrage” over the shooting of Cecil, a famed African lion, by an American dentist.Those who shape American opinion are guilty of selective, agenda-based reporting, and have generated misplaced outrage. We have to be better than that, as believers in Christ.
Now, I believe that humane, legal treatment of animals is a sign of a civilized society. I eat meat and respect the rights of hunters to participate in and enjoy their practice. If Palmer went outside the bounds of the law, then he should be brought to justice, but not the type of vigilante justice that some, like British journalist Piers Morgan is advocating, according to LifeSiteNews.com.
And, even moreso, human life is to be cherished. In our culture, which is so steeped in the secularistic, evolutionary worldview, we somehow have lost the sense collectively that human lives are to be treated with dignity. This calloused view of life will cause people to not value one another, so therefore they take the lives of others for seemingly insignificant reasons; granted, there is no good reason to take the life of another person.
We are not highly-evolved animals; we are humans created in the image of God. And, that is why these Planned Parenthood videos show practices that are so disturbing - imagine, the horror of a child being dissected in the womb and his or her body parts extracted and sold. Is this what we have come to as a culture? And, should there be any controversy here? Any doubt that public or private money should NOT be funneled to this organization? But, the fact that people are seemingly tolerating and even protecting these practices show how far our culture has declined. We need to advocate for a new respect for human life, and the protection of the defenseless in and out of the womb.
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