It is of little surprise to see the U.S. Senate block the recent late-term abortion ban bill brought before them. Since the passing of Roe V. Wade, it can hardly be claimed Americans have a dire sense of justice and mercy. The statistics on abortion are maddening. Given the sheer multitude of infants slaughtered in the ironic name of “choice,” the practice has been aptly compared to the atrocities of the Holocaust and chattel slavery.
Yet the astounding thing is that it is not a small number of quacks who, like the Holocaust, deny it has ever happened. No, our nation celebrates it and calls it mercy. Compassion. Justice. We use colloquial language and frame things in respect to civil liberties of the mother rather than in terms of ethics. The staggering hypocrisy of this stance betrays any sense of reason, as rather, it is an eclectic array of hijacked terminology defying standard definitions in favor of a perceived freedom
It is the cruel twist of semantics to frame abortion in such a positive light. Man did not rally behind the sanitary disposal of Jewish corpses buried with lye; African Americans did no rejoicing when their whip-laden gashes were treated for infection. Likewise, we too shall not go quietly into the good night with flaccid convictions. There is no joy to be had when the blood of the innocent climbs atop the mount of death. There is no olive branch to be returned by the dove. No. The blood-tide of epic proportions has not receded even minimally.
The sober truth is that for Elizabeth Warren, Et al., late-term abortion is giving em’ the mercy kill. It is the literal embodiment of the proverb: the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Surely, they feel we are not knuckle-dragging savages, for goodness’ sake! No longer is the procedure for the termination of an unwanted pregnancy confined to the back-alleys or behind the woodshed. We are a sensible brood; the progeny of the Roe V. Wade generation shall not exercise such freedoms without a genteel demeanor.
As the argument goes – would we not want safe access to affordable [sic] health care? Statistically, far fewer women have died since abortion was made legal – is this not a good thing? The antiquated barbarism of coat-hangers is no more; shall we not celebrate such refinement and elegance with the poise it deserves? Abortion is safer than ever, and because of this fact, it is statistically lower than it has ever been before, all [sic] praise be to Molech.
The Veil is Torn
Let it be known, we have not been debating the reality of the practice of abortion for some time now. The veil has long been torn back; there is no grand wizard; there is no magical Land of Oz where the protagonist wins the day. Everyone is quite aware of the man behind the curtain – there is no subtle illusion wherein ignorance can be claimed. There is pain and agony. Death is very much present. The depression that ensues with killing a child is all-encompassing. Let yourself feel this. Let yourself be disturbed by something that can only be adequately described as demonic. Let yourself weep over the staggering amount of blood shed.
Our nation has long practiced the art of self-deception in favor of gratification. It is far easier to shout platitudes of the 3% variety than it is to embrace the truth that we delight in barbarism. Yet if the flying monkey from Oz can still gallivant about the yellow brick road without being tethered with child, they are regarded to be in a far superior position. Never-you-mind the monkey is just that, an organism hell-bent on slinging its own excrement at their opponents; that monkey is free. At some point that flying monkey slung poop into the brownie mix and rather than simply saying, “There’s poop in the brownies – we probably shouldn’t eat them” someone proffered only 3% of the batter is poop.
Like that creature of instinctive folly, humanity plunders the sacred, content with enshrining a monument to their debauchery. Let the reader understand: it is the vainglory of autonomy which shackles them. The only freedom and safety abortion brings is the freedom of fleeing from an active blessing. It is the restraint of joy in true femininity. Likewise, it is the abandonment of wonder and awe at the magnificence of an image-bearer whose soul is in your hands. It is the exchange of precious gems for dung.
Yet it is fundamentally wicked in every sense of that word. The lifeblood of every human being reflects the glory of one’s Creator. To take such a gift and not only malign it, but rip it limb from limb, is the most heinous of sins. Again, there is no shock value in these words – everyone knows the destruction of an infant in utero is murder. Surely, we know it is even cowardice. The debate is not over the terms, the status, or any of the like – it is not even a question of the practice being inhuman.
The Actual Debate at Hand
The “debate” is if I am free to take the life of the one I please in order to best facilitate and maximize my own worldly pleasure. The ancillary topics brought to the forefront are simply devices meant to obscure that motive. This is made so wonderfully clear when the argument in favor of abortion is examined closely. It is not only poor logic, but devious, in that it seeks to take the exception to the rule in order to prove the rule (i.e. – what about rape? What about the life of the mother?).
As we have well seen with the recent senate vote – the desire is not for limitation of abortions in favor of more [sic] humane practice. It is for the unbridled ability to abort at whatever time one decides it is no longer convenient to be with child. Yes, I am painting a broad-brush because the stroke is accurately based statistically within the amount of elective procedures. Make no mistake about this though; it is not about evidence, it is about an enslaved desire.
Yet make no mistake about this as well: that enslaved desire can be taken when you find true freedom. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse one of even this act. As reprehensible as murder is – it is not beyond the pale of God’s grace to those who trust in Him for the forgiveness of sins. Let this be a healing balm to the mother in regret; let your heart be soothed by the promise that He makes all things new.
Likewise, for the proponent of killing the innocent – be honest about what it is we are talking about. It is shameful, and such shame should be palpably felt in order to benefit from what can be produced out of it. It is shame which leads us to humility, and humility which leads us to truth, and truth, to reconciliation to the Lord. Yet it is pride which leads us to brazenness, and brazenness which leads us to calamity.
The Gospel Brings Hope to Murderers
There is yet time for mercy, if you would have it. It was Paul who maintained that there is no single thing in all of existence that can keep us from the love of Christ Jesus, if we indeed are of Him. The gospel is profoundly simple, in that we must believe Christ is who He claims to be, that He died on the cross in our place to take the punishment for sin that we are due, and on the third day, He rose and defeated death.
Do not misunderstand, there is an incredibly high cost to following Christ; it is not a call to comfort and ease, but a demand for all of your being. C.S. Lewis remarked, “I didn’t go to religion to make me ‘happy.’ I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”
We often think of Christianity as this religion of comfort and ease, yet the call to follow Christ is not quite so simple. To align yourself with Christ demands obedience to the Scriptures, which namely, call you to die to self. Well, what does this look like but the humble admission that we aren’t as great as we like to think we are?
God is the great and kind one – not you, not I.
We sin far more often than we freely admit to our peers (who also think too highly of us). We cling to immaturity rather than embracing our need to grow up in respect to our faith and own it. What’s more than this – we reflect upon the wounds we perceive others have given us rather than those we inflicted upon our Savior.
Yet Christianity demands so much more from us than this. Christ paid the ultimate penalty, not merely for your forgiveness, nor only for your joy to be made complete, but for you to be transformed into His likeness and walk in truth in love. Our salvation and restoration to true gladness is an immense gift, but it is not about us – it is for us.
It is about Christ, hence why the continual onus is placed upon the Christian to take up the means of their execution and follow Him to their own death. Surely, Christianity is not about the slaughter of the innocent, but the sacrificial love that lays one’s own life down in the place of the innocent. To do the contrary is not only a denial of the status of all people bearing the Image of God – it is supreme blasphemy against the God giving that wondrous Imago Dei.
This is hard for the average Christian to hear, let alone the average unbelieving American, for we have seen far more affluence and coddling than hardship, but it nonetheless stands. Reader, earnestly think on what you would do in the crucible, if the most minor of trials now nearly cripples and incapacitates you. If the prospect of caring for a child is so great you would rather shed their blood – I daresay, Lewis is quite right, though I would prefer Scotch to Port.
The point being: Christianity will not make you comfortable with yourself, let alone all of the wickedness being paraded about in front of you. It will continually poke and prod at your deepest convictions and require more – far more than you sense you are even capable of giving. Yet Christ is utterly sufficient and merciful in the midst of this, for it is not by works you are saved, but by the free gift of God’s grace.
This is why there is hope for the murderer, thief, liar, fornicator, or whatever else you have become. The idea simply being that in the Christian worldview, there is actual, substantive hope, even though there is hardship. There is a cost associated with following Christ, yet that cost involves only the forsaking of vain idols and ideologies as you now pursue Christ. God’s grace is so utterly scandalous that even the most heinous of perpetrators can be treated as a new creation.
Surely, God will forgive the mother and father who chose death rather than life, if they will turn from their sins and follow Christ.
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