"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."
(Barack Obama from his inaugural address on January 20, 2009)
(Barack Obama from his inaugural address on January 20, 2009)
On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the case that resulted in the landmark decision concerning abortion in this country on January 22, 1973, I found it eerily ironic that our new President could be so audacious as to rally the nation to battle against forces that would seek to "slaughter the innocent." Meanwhile, the quill of his presidential pen is being sharpened to sign the so-called Freedom of Choice Act, which would in one tragic move overturn virtually all pro-life laws nationwide. If such a sweeping pro-abortion agenda were successful, it would greatly increase the number of abortions. Just as our new "glorious leader" was recovering from his pre-inaugural luncheons with Oprah and post-inaugural ball dancing, he signed an executive order to repeal the Mexico City Policy, sometimes referred to as the "global gag rule," that during President Bush's tenure protected Americans from being required to fund groups that promote and pay for abortions around the globe. The plan was originated by President Reagan in 1984. It prohibited non-governmental organizations that receive federal funds from providing or promoting abortions in other nations. For an author who likes to write about the "audacity of hope," I thought this was an audaciously cruel and revealing thing to do just two days after his inauguration and just one day after the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
There is so much to reflect upon when it comes to abortion in our country and worldwide. I was recently reading over a sermon that Fr. Bill Mouser of Waxahatchie, Texas delivered to his congregation, which I will highlight below. I found many of his statistics very disturbing:
- " As John Piper once observed, in the United States today, you can be fined $5,000 and imprisoned for up to a year for breaking an eagle's egg and you can be imprisoned and fined for stealing a sea turtle egg, and yet our babies are being killed daily with little outcry."
- "Today, nationwide twenty-four out of every one hundred conceptions is aborted. In some places, such as New York City, that figure is forty out of every one hundred conceptions. In many parts of the city, there is one abortion for every live birth. The total number of deaths in America alone stands somewhere above 50 million at this time."
- "...we are living in a nation which has reproduced Hitler's holocaust within our own borders over eight times in the past 36 years. Worldwide, the toll today stands at something just over a billion souls since abortion statistics began to be compiled in the middle of the 20th century. Think of it! A billion human beings killed. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse-Tung, Idi Amin--there is not one bloody tyrant you can name whose bloody work holds even a faint candle to the oceans of blood spilt in the slaughter of children in the past 36 years."
Shocking? Indeed! "Facts are stubborn things," John Adams once said. In this case, they are not only stubborn, but disturbing. As a Christian, I am called upon to pray for our leaders, whomever they turn out to be. As William Penn once said, "If a man is not governed by God, he will be governed by tyrants." In this case, my hope and prayer is that our newly elected leaders will see the error of their ways and be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. On the other hand, we are also called to be salt and light in a dark world that needs shepherding from a Good Shepherd. John the Baptist, a man Jesus himself referred to as the greatest prophet who ever lived (Luke 7:28), spoke out vociferously against the hypocritical religious and sinful political leaders of his day. A balance is called for in today's "cyber townhall forums," radio talk shows, and other venues, but the prophetic voice from the Scriptures must be articulated and heard!
In that regard, I will end this blog entry with a video clip I came across recently through a Facebook group I joined. Actress Jennifer O'Neill (an actress many will remember from the film "Summer of '42" and as a spokeswoman for Cover Girl cosmetics) discusses her own experience with abortion and the hope and healing she found through Jesus Christ, the Great Physician.
