The Unborn
“Defend
the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted
and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them
from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4)
The “Nazis” (the political
power in Germany during World War II) killed a lot
of people. They did it by simply enacting new laws
and then defending the idea in the courts that
“Aryans” (Germans) were somehow “superior,” and
others had less right to live than they did. Some,
they said, had no right to live at all. Their
edicts were directed against people who included:
those of Jewish descent, those who were
darker-skinned than Germans, the Slavic people and
the disabled. They killed and experimented on human
beings without mercy, feeling justified because the
law told them they could.
150 or so years ago, in the
part of the United States of America called the
“South,” it was considered reasonable from an
economic perspective, for one group of humans to own
another. There were “free men” and there were
slaves, and the law dictated which group was which.
The “owner” of men, women and children could force
“their” blacks to work unreasonable hours, never
giving them rest if they so desired. They could
hurt them, even kill them if they wanted, and they
felt justified because the law said they could.
Several decades ago, the idea
of killing an unborn child was shocking, but for
over 60% of the world’s population it is now “legal”
to do so. Laws have been passed saying that an
unborn child is a “fetus,” not a person; a lump of
“tissue” that can be removed like a cyst. The
unborn child is legally not human and can be killed
because the law says it’s OK.
The Nazis said Jews were not
truly “human.” White Southerners said black people
were not fully “human.” Today’s laws say that if you
have not left the womb, you are not yet “human.”
One of our greatest failures is that we do not learn
from the past. Slavery is still common in the world
– it always has been. The practice enslaves the
hearts of all concerned and yet it is still done.
In many parts of the world, women are virtually the
slaves of their husbands. There are always groups
that think they are more special than others, and
they show their pride by enslaving or killing the
innocent.
It’s important to note that the
laws we pass often grow into monsters that destroy
us. There were many in the United States “South”
who did not keep slaves and did not care about
slavery. But they did not act, and the resulting
Civil War destroyed them, killing thousands of young
men. Many Germans were concerned about the Nazis,
but did not vote against them when they could.
Germany was ruined and their young men were killed.
You can read about Martin
Niemöller (1892-1984) on a number of websites. He
was a pastor in a comfortable Berlin Suburb.
Initially supporting Hitler, he became disillusioned
and was arrested by the Gestapo in 1937 for opposing
Hitler and the Nazis. Incarcerated in concentration
camps, he later berated himself for not truly making
a difference. He said this: “In
Germany they came first for the Communists and I
didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then
they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because
I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade
unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and
I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then
they came for me – and by that time no one was left
to speak up.”
It’s important to learn from
the experience of Martin Niemöller. He didn’t
object at first because he wasn’t initially a target
and “his kind of people” weren’t either. By the
time he objected, it was too little, too late. You
should note that the killing of innocent children,
an act we call “abortion,” opens the door. We have
been killing the young for quite a while, and the
next logical step is to kill the elderly, on the
ground that “they’re suffering anyway.” And note
that all of us are getting older by the minute. You
could be next.
We have been told that abortion
is done for “humanitarian” reasons, and we ARE
touched by the vulnerability of women. Someone who
is pregnant because of a rape, now faces the further
horror of having the rapist’s child. Having
deformed children is hard for anyone, and it is true
that such children will have a difficult life. We
are informed that abortion is a deterrent to
over-population, but God is left out of the
equation. We are “fearfully
and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) for
God’s purposes, which are higher than ours.
God has a way of bringing
wonderful people into the world through
circumstances that we find “difficult.” Some years
ago, a professor in a medical school posed this
ethical problem to his students: “Here's
the family history,” he said. “The
father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already
have had four children. The first is blind. The
second died. The third is deaf. The fourth has TB.
Now the mother is pregnant again. The parents come
to you for advice. They are willing to have an
abortion, if you decide they should. What do you
say?” The professor asked them to break into
small groups for “consultation.” All the groups came
back to report that they would recommend abortion. “Congratulations,”
the professor said, “You
just took the life of Beethoven!”
Depending on which website you
believe, there are 50 million or so abortions in the
world each year. 1% of the mothers are victims of
incest or rape, 1% had fetal abnormalities, and 4%
represented a danger to the mother; 50% aborted the
child to avoid being a single mother, 66% aborted
for economic reasons and an astonishing 75% simply
felt the child “would
interfere with their lives” (“Sanctity
of Life” by Swindoll). It’s greater than
100% because many had more than one reason for
terminating the life of their unborn child.
What should we do? First and
foremost, we should pray. We’re all sinners and
only the Lord can remove sin from a person, a land.
God not only loves the child, He loves the parents,
the doctors; you and me. Jesus Christ died for us
ALL. In addition to prayer, whenever possible,
legally, ethically and as gently as possible, do
what you can to remove this sin from our midst. God
will love you for it. Remember these words: “Defend
the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted
and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them
from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).
Help a child and God will help – you.
Father, we pray for the
innocent, the children of this world. Protect them
from harm and deliver them safely to those who will
love them. Let abortion be removed from our
country, our world. Help our little ones and show
us what to do. In Jesus Name. Amen.
