"Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man."-= Gen 9:4-6
This verse is often used as the origin of the authority of Man to administer Capital Punishment. More importantly, it sets forth to us the core reason for it - by killing another person, we are actually destroying an image of God and thus sinning against Him!
In the US, in 2015, a Republican Majority congress was divided over whether to pass a symbolic Bill that just esnhrines the Hyde Amendment (one that prohibits Federal tax dollars being used for abortions) or to take a more sweeping step that outlaws abortions after 20 weeks. TThe Republicans did not want to estrange the Woman vote bank ahead of the 2016 elections. This has enraged proponents of the bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks, who have worked on it for 2 years or more, which seemed to have the support in the Republican Party, but fell prey to political calculations. More recently, the US Supreme Court voided the landmark decision of Roe v Wade, punting the question of abortion legality back to the States.
Politics is about doing what is popular.
President Barack Obama in 2008 said in a forum at Saddleback Church that the answer to the question about when life begins is a theological and scientific question that was "above his pay grade", neatly ducking the issue. As the father of two daughters, we think he could answer it by a much simpler yardstick.
When do you get out the shotgun on behalf of your teenage daughter? When the baby is born or when she misses her period?
Life begins when we declare someone pregnant. Is that so hard for people to stand up and say?
Yes, because we have made wholesale killing for convenience acceptable, and its hard to go back.
Don't get us wrong - We defend a womans right to choose - we just would like them to make more informed choices! We also understand the exception and small no. of cases involving rape and incest - and think that we need to be sensitive to them. But we can't let those exceptions dictate the majority position.
What do we do?
A. Abandon the licentious lifestyles we are living - educate our daughters not to play the harlot while still living in their fathers house! Educate our sons to respect women as persons and not objects.
B. Enact laws that give women choices OTHER than abortion -Education, Contraception, Adoption, Foster Parenthood, Support for single/teenage mothers etc.
Abortion statistics from About73.com citing figures from the US CDC imply approximately a million abortions a year. Thats approximately 2 a minute. In the last decade, thats more than all the people killed in all major conflicts including 2 world wars! God really judged the nations around Israel for their despicable practices of infant sacrifice - where they sacrificed their children to the God Molech in fire. He said that because of this practice the land is defiled and vomits out its inhabitants. How do you think this nation will escape the consequences? God will surely require it!
The Church in this time needs to have the most compassionate and strong voice, that advocates for the sanctity of Life, AND also takes meaningful steps to PROTECT IT! If we do not do that, we are no better than the Pharisees that Jesus castigated ( and rightly so ) Saying,
The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. - Mat 23:2-4
Let that indictment ring in the ears of Churches all across this land, and may God galvanize us to not be like them, but be the hand of compassion that prevents these women from heaping the sin of murder, and adultery on their heads!
