There is Good and Evil...
The philosophers Plato and Augustine both agreed on the existence of good and evil, and both thought it ultimately best that good prevail. Yet they fundamentally disagreed on the origin and nature of good and evil. Simply put, Plato argued that evil was caused by ignorance of good and resulted in men ignoring the wise and good direction of the state. Augustine asserted that evil was caused when men turned from God's good ill. Plato thus represented more the worldly view and Augustine the spiritual. However, even with this apparent agreement there remained an important question. Who defines what is good and what is evil?
My Theodicy...
Philosophers and theologians alike have struggled with the origin and nature of evil, perhaps even more than good. There are those who using their own experience argue that cataclysmic evil events such as the holocaust prove to them that God does not care. There are others who will attempt to use logic to argue that if God is omnipotent and the creator of everything, then God created evil, and if God created evil or allows it to exist in spite of his omnipotence he cannot be good, therefore there can be no God. Yet and this is critical, I do not come now to debate the existence of GOD; good; or evil. That battle has been joined and won, in my heart. GOD is.
I believe that in order for moral evil to exist, logically there must also exist a moral agent that defines it as evil. The pre-existence and post-existence of moral evil relative to my own existence thus dictates that I cannot be that moral agent. There have been and continue to be failures of the law and government to define evil; the Holocaust was lawful in Germany, yet few would argue that it was anything other than evil; Slavery was lawful in the United States, yet few would say that it was not evil. (And note here that I am not making a case of moral relativism between the holocaust and slavery!) These failures challenge any attempt to make the society, law or the government the moral agent that defines evil. It also is apparent to me that the moral agent must not only rightly define evil, it must be eternally and absolutely true.
To my agnostic friend who states that absolute truth does not exist, I ask, "Are you absolutely sure, that is absolutely true?"
To my agnostic friend who states that absolute truth does not exist, I ask, "Are you absolutely sure, that is absolutely true?"
In human history and in all of recorded time, there is only one entity that has the arguably provable attribute of being both eternal and absolute. There is therefore only one entity that can logically be the moral agent defining what is good and what is evil and that is GOD.
In Job 9:9, He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; In Job 9:10, He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Psalms 19 declares "The Heavens are telling of the glory of God." I believe that God is good and true without reservation or doubt. I believe that he expresses his personal will in the Bible and in interactions in my life through the agency of the Holy Spirit.
On Free Will...
A loved one reminded me that God does indeed give us free will, but he does not help us to make wrong choices. In fact, he stands by to aid us to escape the snares of wrong choices that end in sin.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Surely then we as Christians in a secular society, ought not to further the selection of immoral choices, but ought to seek to provide 'a way to escape' when the temptation is to kill the outcome (a baby) to avoid a perceived problem, whether that is illegitimacy or other issue.
The moral imperative defined by the Bible and generally endorsed by every legal system in the world is, Thou shall not commit murder. There is no need for separation of church and state here simply because the moral direction of the church and the self interest of the state are in coincidental agreement. The church ought not support the state attempt to sponsor the evil that is the murder of infants. Also note: Murder is defined as unjustly killing a person, especially with malice aforethought. This definition of murder then excludes the taking of a life through capital punishment and the taking of a life in war or self defense. This will trouble some who desire to morally equate abortion with war and/or capital punishment for the sake of argument.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: And God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13
Surely then we as Christians in a secular society, ought not to further the selection of immoral choices, but ought to seek to provide 'a way to escape' when the temptation is to kill the outcome (a baby) to avoid a perceived problem, whether that is illegitimacy or other issue.
The moral imperative defined by the Bible and generally endorsed by every legal system in the world is, Thou shall not commit murder. There is no need for separation of church and state here simply because the moral direction of the church and the self interest of the state are in coincidental agreement. The church ought not support the state attempt to sponsor the evil that is the murder of infants. Also note: Murder is defined as unjustly killing a person, especially with malice aforethought. This definition of murder then excludes the taking of a life through capital punishment and the taking of a life in war or self defense. This will trouble some who desire to morally equate abortion with war and/or capital punishment for the sake of argument.
On pro-choice...
There are those who assert, that as God has given us free will, we must not seek to impose our will or beliefs on others. They state, "I am pro-choice. I personally oppose abortion, but I will not seek to force my beliefs on others". Friends, this is a sophist's trick, used to lull a struggling conscience into acquiescence with the unconscionable. It is full of piety of expression, yet as ineffective at hiding blame as Pontius Pilate's hand washing.
Imagine asserting "I am personally against rape,but I will not seek to force my beliefs on any rapist!" Our country and our society exist largely based upon forced beliefs; we call them laws. We believe that stealing is wrong and we force that belief on everyone through law. We believe that child and spousal abuse is wrong and we force that on everyone through law. We believed that slavery was wrong and over 500,000 Americans were killed in the civil war to stop its spread and end the practice while maintaining our Union. We believe that murder is wrong and no one has a right to commit murder. And yet, even though our society has laws, individuals still make choices. For example, there is no mechanism for prior constraint, therefore, every human alive, daily has the choice to commit a murder or not. That choice however is not free of penalty. Since society believes it is wrong, a capital murder may result in capital punishment up to the loss of the perpetrator's life. Every choice, even though freely made, has a cost.
The founding document of our country also may be seen to argue against abortion. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that ...they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among them LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet though we assent that people including babies, are granted those rights by their creator; some assert a right to prevent babies from being born. It should be obvious to the most casual observer that when a person is denied the right to be born, all other rights are unavailable to them. Therefore, birth is the ultimate civil right! To then support abortion puts one in the position of a penitent before a judge who confesses guilt and then pleads ignorance of the law. Since knowledge of the law is what produces guilt, the plea of ignorance must ever fail. This choice is not free.
I believe that every soul is known to God eternally, that life begins at conception and that the abortion of an infant is murder. GOD, the only true moral agent, has declared murder to be a sin. It does not matter that for the short term, the state says abortion is lawful. Lest we forget, the holocaust was lawful in Nazi Germany, yet on the day of the Nuremberg judgments, those that attempted to defend themselves by claiming that they were only following the law (obeying orders) were hanged. How much more terrible might be the judgment day of God.
I am also pro-choice, that is in favor of making a choice, but my choice is to fight against murder. That choice is declared as morally good by God the author of the universe and the definer of good and evil. It is an eternal judgment, not subject to the vicissitudes of societal mores. Those that believe that God is; must not wash their hands of his judgments. Those that support civil rights would do well to acknowledge that all other rights flow from being born. Those who argue for a woman's right to choose should be aware that approximately half of the 1.5 million babies aborted each year are females forever deprived of the right to choose anything.
Imagine asserting "I am personally against rape,but I will not seek to force my beliefs on any rapist!" Our country and our society exist largely based upon forced beliefs; we call them laws. We believe that stealing is wrong and we force that belief on everyone through law. We believe that child and spousal abuse is wrong and we force that on everyone through law. We believed that slavery was wrong and over 500,000 Americans were killed in the civil war to stop its spread and end the practice while maintaining our Union. We believe that murder is wrong and no one has a right to commit murder. And yet, even though our society has laws, individuals still make choices. For example, there is no mechanism for prior constraint, therefore, every human alive, daily has the choice to commit a murder or not. That choice however is not free of penalty. Since society believes it is wrong, a capital murder may result in capital punishment up to the loss of the perpetrator's life. Every choice, even though freely made, has a cost.
The founding document of our country also may be seen to argue against abortion. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that ...they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among them LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet though we assent that people including babies, are granted those rights by their creator; some assert a right to prevent babies from being born. It should be obvious to the most casual observer that when a person is denied the right to be born, all other rights are unavailable to them. Therefore, birth is the ultimate civil right! To then support abortion puts one in the position of a penitent before a judge who confesses guilt and then pleads ignorance of the law. Since knowledge of the law is what produces guilt, the plea of ignorance must ever fail. This choice is not free.
I believe that every soul is known to God eternally, that life begins at conception and that the abortion of an infant is murder. GOD, the only true moral agent, has declared murder to be a sin. It does not matter that for the short term, the state says abortion is lawful. Lest we forget, the holocaust was lawful in Nazi Germany, yet on the day of the Nuremberg judgments, those that attempted to defend themselves by claiming that they were only following the law (obeying orders) were hanged. How much more terrible might be the judgment day of God.
I am also pro-choice, that is in favor of making a choice, but my choice is to fight against murder. That choice is declared as morally good by God the author of the universe and the definer of good and evil. It is an eternal judgment, not subject to the vicissitudes of societal mores. Those that believe that God is; must not wash their hands of his judgments. Those that support civil rights would do well to acknowledge that all other rights flow from being born. Those who argue for a woman's right to choose should be aware that approximately half of the 1.5 million babies aborted each year are females forever deprived of the right to choose anything.
The choice...
I have and I hope convincingly argued that the force of moral law as well as civil liberties are against the murder of infants for the sake of convenience. I have argued that the definitions of good and evil are made and displayed by God. I have argued that the Law of God is superior to temporal law; eternally justified, absolutely right and infinite in scope of application.
If however, you believe that there is no higher power in the universe to whom we must eventually answer; if you believe that there is no GOD, then I can reason with you no further. The Bible declares that one that says that there is no GOD cannot be more than a fool and wisdom may not be imputed to such a one. (Psalm 14:1, Proverbs 1:7). I will however leave those with a cautionary anecdote. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, spoke of finding this epitaph on the gravestone of a notorious gambler.
If however, you believe that there is no higher power in the universe to whom we must eventually answer; if you believe that there is no GOD, then I can reason with you no further. The Bible declares that one that says that there is no GOD cannot be more than a fool and wisdom may not be imputed to such a one. (Psalm 14:1, Proverbs 1:7). I will however leave those with a cautionary anecdote. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, spoke of finding this epitaph on the gravestone of a notorious gambler.
Here lies a dicer; long in doubt
If death could kill the soul, or not:
Here ends his doubtfulness; at last
Convinced; -- but, ah! the die is cast!
If death could kill the soul, or not:
Here ends his doubtfulness; at last
Convinced; -- but, ah! the die is cast!
So you see I am indeed pro-choice, I just have another choice in mind. The choice to fight for what we know is right or to wash our hands of the matter. If you believe abortion is wrong, support a candidate that also believes abortion is wrong.
Fence sitting hurts your backbone!
Fence sitting hurts your backbone!
So, with apologies to the Pizza Ad on TV...
Before the die is cast, What do you want on Your Tombstone?
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