I love going to bookstores, and looking at books on architecture. I just love all the different ideas humanity has come up with for dwelling structures. My favorite architect has always been Frank Lloyd Wright, he is no longer alive, but he left us a legacy of houses, buildings and structures that are still around and I think they are fascinating. I mean he designed temples, churches, museums, and so on. He was great. I actually own a few books that display his work. I sometimes sit down and look at these books, and I start to feel great inside. This idea of building structures reminds me of an old song.
Back in the 70's Annie Herring had a song titled "Mansion Builder" that she would sing with her siblings Nelly and Mathew Ward in the group 2nd Chapter of Acts. I use to love that song, in fact I still do, now days I usually listen to it on my Ipod. If you read out of a King James Version in the book of John it says in John 14:2-3:
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where am, there ye may be also."
In these verses Jesus Christ was letting us know something very literal. I read it and interpret it as is and as it says:
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where am, there ye may be also."
I think that it is great to be a believer in Christ, and to know that we have this hope. I think that if we as humans can design such wonderful dwelling places...I can not even begin to imagine the mansions that the Creator of all things would have envisioned.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
praxis paper on practical theology: abortion
I wrote this simple paper on abortion in a theology class that I took sometime ago, and the beliefs and views expressed in its contents are personal, they are my views thus far. I only wish that these views would be respected by my readers just as I respect your personal views wether they are in opposition or in favor of my stance on this issue. Towards the end of my paper I mention a story that was relevant to Dr. George Tiller. Dr. Tiller was recently murdered by a radical person that did not represent the Christ centered ideal of "loving our neighbor as ourselves." I personally do not condone and I rebuke any actions that would take the life of any fellow human being in protest to a legal practice which they perform such as Dr. Tiller. My personal hope is that what you take from this information is something that will make you ponder on or perhaps re-think your views on this very controversial topic. Thank you for reading the following information:
Abortion: Praxis Paper
When we say the word abortion the first thing that comes to mind is Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court case that gave the United States its present legal stance on abortion. Thru the appeals process this case made its way up to the highest Court in this country, and the decisions made by the Justices have changed the lives of all Americans directly or indirectly. Did the decisions and deliberations made by these Justices more than thirty years ago achieve the objective that they intended? The answer to this question will be addressed in this paper. For instance did it reduce teen pregnancy? Did it protect the mother from maternal mortality? Did it assist the mother in her pursuit of happiness or did she find grief? Germany established the Embryo protection Act in 1990 why? Sandra Day O’Connor said “the U.S. should look into international sources for guidance in U.S. laws”, perhaps she had a good idea. Should we turn around this case policy by legislative action? Is the consensus to do so growing?
You have two sides, the pro-lifers and the pro-abortion, and that is the divisor line. In a November 22nd,2004 document written by Sandra Curless called Maternal Mortality in the United States, she explains how there is very little information given to the public in relevance to the amount of maternal deaths during or after abortion because it is written up as some other cause of death. Is this some form of cover up? Abortion is a business, and if information of this nature would leak out it would hurt business. But a human life should be protected before any other thing when it comes to policy. If Germany has an Embryo Protection Act does this mean that they believe life begins at conception? If this is true then we have another life to protect. I mean we are environmentalists we save the Seal and the Whale, but are we concerned about Human life in general?
My opinion is that Abortion or Partial-birth abortion is the killing of human life and that is Evil. How many abortions are on record for the United States alone? Millions have been killed innocently. What is partial-birth abortion? This is a brief description of it by Cardinal, Alfonso Lopez Trujillo:
“partial-birth abortion describes an abortion technique used in the final months of pregnancy, during which there is an intervaginal partial birth of the living fetus: the content of the brain is then sucked out before delivery is complete. This technique was legalized in the United States after the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, which authorized the different States to issue measures permitting artifically-induced abortions.( http://vatican.va/)”
Is there something in our minds that block this reality as being evil or does God have to reveal this to us as humans?
In Maternal Mortality in the United States the author says the following:
“This is the assumption that the United States Supreme Court relied upon in its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade,[1] and is the assumption that seemed to trouble chief Justice Warren Berger. In a later case he wrote that, “I am somewhat troubled that the Court has taken notice of various scientific and medical data in reaching its conclusion...”[2] Dr. Reardon believes that his statement was made in regard to the “judicial assessment of abortion’s safety relative to childbirth,”[3] noting that the Court has subsequently, and even recently made other statements which show its belief that more women died in childbirth than in abortion. (Citing to the Court’s language in Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.W. 914, 923-24 (2000), “Vacuum aspiration is considered particularly safe. The procedures for mortality rates are, for example, 5 to 10 times lower than those associated with carrying the fetus to term.”)[4] Dr. Reardon quotes the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Roe v. Wade, for why States might prohibit or regulate abortion: (1) discourage illicit sexual conduct (2) exercise a State’s interest in protecting the unborn; and (3) “to protect the pregnant woman, that is, to restrain her from submitting to a procedure that placed her life in serious jeopardy.” He notes that the Court quickly disposed of the first question, limited the State’s interest to later in the pregnancy because there was no consensus as to when life begins, and held that the State had a legitimate and compelling interest in protecting Dr. Reardon quotes the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Roe v. Wade, for why States might prohibit or regulate abortion: (1) discourage illicit sexual conduct (2) exercise a State’s interest in protecting the unborn; and (3) “to protect the pregnant woman, that is, to restrain her from submitting to a procedure that placed her life in serious jeopardy(Curless,2004, p. 22).”
Immediately, I see, Immediately I see, I see a problem in just hearing about the procedure, but I am only one voice, many others see it or they would not write about it with great concern. In judging the act we must conclude that artificially-induced abortions to kill the child should not even be happening anywhere. The Supreme Court Justices are appointed by a human, and they are human; consequently, I would right away question the fact that we all make mistakes; therefore couldn’t deliberations on this case have taken a wrong direction by error? Well, of course, just based on the humanity factor, we must acknowledge that we always need a higher power for guidance and even more in decision making. Psalm 32:8 says: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
The un-born child has no voice because speech is learned, but we can speak and the Bible exhorts for us to speak as it says in Proverbs 31:8:
“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. (Proverbs 31:8)”
The bible says much in all of the following passages about children:
“Psalms 127:3 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.
Psalms 139:13-11 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
Jeremiah 1:5 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Proverbs 31:8: open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
1 Thessalonians 2:7 7 But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.
Mathew 5:21Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment (Holy Bible).”
This topic is always very controversial and emotional, and it draws attention to our moral values on the matter. My thoughts are that we need to get research done to obtain evidence that looks into the health of a woman in all aspects, and how much of an impact an abortion can have on her Life. And, then we need to finally decide when it is that we believe that Life really begins. We can believe whatever we choose to believe, and we can convince ourselves that a lie is true if we want, but I believe that all this grief and health issues some women are having due to abortions they had are needed to be studied in depth, and perhaps in a very time extensive manner. It would be good to have supporting scientific evidence that could reverse this trend, and make our society healthier. We should review the Judicial Policy on Abortion. We need to have a Congress that represents the people decide what type of policy we will have, and not nine individuals that were appointed by someone. We need to have the three branches of government limit themselves to functioning as to how United States Constitution intended, otherwise we can create unhealthy Policy.
What is the opinion of the Catholic Church on this topic? Well, below is a portion of writing posted on the vatican.va website that is simply on partial-birth abortion, and it is written by Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo:
“of pregnancy, during which there is an intervaginal partial birth of the living fetus: the content of the brain is then sucked out before delivery is complete. This technique was legalized in the United States after the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, which authorized the different States to issue measures permitting artifically- induced abortions. There is a legal raison d'être for the development of this method: it was deduced from the deliberation of the Supreme Court of the United States which states that the term "person" as used in the 14th Ammendment of the Constitution is not applicable to the unborn child, and that until the moment of birth it is possible to put an end to this child's life without incurring judicial action. On the other hand, the legislation of the various States all specify that during birth, when an infant has fully emerged from the mother's womb and shows even only the slightest sign of life, he or she is a person in the eyes of the law, so that, from the legal standpoint, to deliberately deprive the child of life would be homicide. On the other hand, it is legally permissible to kill this child during birth, on condition that the child still remains partially inside the uterus.
According to those who champion this method of abortion, it can be rapidly performed without hospitalization under a local anaesthetic. The abortion is preceded by a three-day preparation involving mechanical dilation of the cervix. The operation takes place in five stages: first, guided by ultrasound, the person carrying out the abortion, possibly after reversing the position of the fetus in the uterus, takes hold of the feet with forceps. He then draws the legs of the fetus from the womb causing the birth and extracting the baby's whole body apart from the head. Next, he makes an incision at the base of the infant's skull through which he inserts the point of a pair of scissors to puncture the cranium. A tube is then inserted through which the brain and the content of the cranium are sucked out. At this point, to conclude the abortion, the head, now reduced in size, is extracted and the dead infant delivered (Lopez Trujillo, http://vatican.va/.).”
The foregoing gives a very gruesome and horrific description of the procedure. Cardinal Lopez Trujillo continues to say:
“In spite of all this, the truth, with difficulty, is making headway. We are facing a moment of lucidity on the part of legislators when it is actually dawning on them that the perpetration of such a tremendous and brutal crime against human dignity can no longer fail to provoke the reaction, hence sanction, of the juridical order. In this regard, it is imperative to point out the different attitudes of President Clinton and President Bush in the whole of this saga (Lopez Trujillo, http://vatican.va/).”
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo closes his argument by saying the reality and the truth about partial-birth abortion and abortion in general. The following are His closing statements:
“If partial-birth abortion is banned in the United States by the House of Representatives (as everything seems to indicate it will be), we will be witnessing a true step ahead, not only of the culture of life, but also of a legal discipline more in tune with it that is rooted in a deeper understanding of the prerequisites of human dignity and in a more refined perception of the deep harmony between the right to life and the dignity of the woman( LopezTrujillo,http://vatican.va/.).”
I have tried to expose this issue as to what the problem is, and I have made observations from the Bible and from the Church's views, but how should we respond or act to solve the problem? Well, the Bible says in Proverbs 31:8: “open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.” My interpretation is this. We have to to all that we can to be the voice for those that cannot speak for themselves so that we all have the right to Life….
What is being done? Well many people are campaigning and communicating to their legislators on the issue to try to change policy. Cases have been appealed in the courts. There are legal organizations such as the ACLJ which is headed by Jay Sekuklow that have lawyers working on the issue all over the world. People have done public marches to bring about a social awareness. Many try to fund these oerganizations to help and finance we can all help.
How is it being done? The same as I describe above, people are doing all this some have written books to raise public awareness. A good example is Janet Folger, one of her books called is True to Life. An excerpt from the closing of her book says as follows:
“I believe with all my heart that one day, when the nation sees the truth, just like Germany, our Children will be taught about what happened in our nation, They will learn in school about the American Holocaust.. And, I believe when this happens,our grandchildren will come home from school with a very important question for us... where were you when they were killing babies? I want to be able to answer, I was doing everything I could to stop it ( Folger, p. 228).”
On the internet we have several websites such as Lifenews.com which are communicating stories an issue . An example of a portion of one these stories says as follows:
“Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) -- The abortion center that houses the business of Kansas late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller was vandalized on Tuesday night. Tiller has made national headlines because he is the subject of 19 misdemeanor charges that he did illegal abortions and he could be headed to prison if convicted. Apparently someone was able to get by the security cameras posted at Tiller's abortion facility and gain access to the roof of his building. Once there, the vandals cut a hole in the roof and inserted a garden hose and eventually flooded the abortion center with water. In addition, the perpetrators tried to seal the gate to the parking lot shut so no one could enter it. Firemen were able to gain access through the gate before the sealant dried. Pro-life groups typically condemn such illegal or violent actions and one leading pro-life observer told LifeNews.com that someone who opposes abortion may not have been responsible. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told LifeNews.com that someone affiliated with Tiller's abortion center may have caused the vandalism to try to take the spotlight off of the investigation by Attorney General Paul Morrison into the potentially illegal abortions or to engender public sympathy (Ertelt, 2007).”
In Closing, I believe as Janet Folger said in her book that “ one day, when the nation sees the truth, just like Germany, our Children will be taught about what happened in our nation”. And yes, it will all be history ,and we will have reconcilliation with that dark past, but in our present we must contnue to work hard to achieve this healing which we need, and with our faith placed in God this will occur for the benefit of all humanity. John Powell says the following in his book, Abortion: the Silent Holocaust:
“ And, I do believe that, no matter how long it takes to clarify our values, as a human family we will find our way into the light. We will someday see each life as unique and unrepeatable image and likeness of God, a fragile miracle of his love,bringing us a special message from God himself (Powell, p.178).”
I can not say it any better in my own words, just simply that we need to care and have love and compassion in our hearts for all humans and unborn humans. What is going on with abortion is extremely, extremely sad.
References:
BibleGateway.com
Card. Alfonso Lopez Trujillo.(2007)Vatican on Partial Birth abortion. Say: Pontifical
Council For The Family.Reflection Card. Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, Retrieved July 4, 2007 from http://vatican.va/.
Curless, S(2004)Maternal Mortality in the United States: Reversing the Trend by Challenging the Assumptions, November 22nd, 2004.
Ertelt, R. (2007, July 5). Abortion Center of Kansas Abortion Practitioner George Tiller Vandalized. Lifenews.com. Retrieved July 14, 2007, http://www.lifenews.com/state2374.html
Folger, J.L. (2000). True to Life,
Fort Lauderdale, Fl: Coral Ridge Ministries.
Holy Bible(2001), NKJV, Thomas Nelson Bibles
Powell, J. (1981). Abortion: the Silent Holocaust. Allen,
TX: Argus Communications.
[1] Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, (1973).
[2] Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 208 (1973).
[3] Deaths Associated with abortion, at 281.
[4] Id. at note 5.
Abortion: Praxis Paper
When we say the word abortion the first thing that comes to mind is Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court case that gave the United States its present legal stance on abortion. Thru the appeals process this case made its way up to the highest Court in this country, and the decisions made by the Justices have changed the lives of all Americans directly or indirectly. Did the decisions and deliberations made by these Justices more than thirty years ago achieve the objective that they intended? The answer to this question will be addressed in this paper. For instance did it reduce teen pregnancy? Did it protect the mother from maternal mortality? Did it assist the mother in her pursuit of happiness or did she find grief? Germany established the Embryo protection Act in 1990 why? Sandra Day O’Connor said “the U.S. should look into international sources for guidance in U.S. laws”, perhaps she had a good idea. Should we turn around this case policy by legislative action? Is the consensus to do so growing?
You have two sides, the pro-lifers and the pro-abortion, and that is the divisor line. In a November 22nd,2004 document written by Sandra Curless called Maternal Mortality in the United States, she explains how there is very little information given to the public in relevance to the amount of maternal deaths during or after abortion because it is written up as some other cause of death. Is this some form of cover up? Abortion is a business, and if information of this nature would leak out it would hurt business. But a human life should be protected before any other thing when it comes to policy. If Germany has an Embryo Protection Act does this mean that they believe life begins at conception? If this is true then we have another life to protect. I mean we are environmentalists we save the Seal and the Whale, but are we concerned about Human life in general?
My opinion is that Abortion or Partial-birth abortion is the killing of human life and that is Evil. How many abortions are on record for the United States alone? Millions have been killed innocently. What is partial-birth abortion? This is a brief description of it by Cardinal, Alfonso Lopez Trujillo:
“partial-birth abortion describes an abortion technique used in the final months of pregnancy, during which there is an intervaginal partial birth of the living fetus: the content of the brain is then sucked out before delivery is complete. This technique was legalized in the United States after the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, which authorized the different States to issue measures permitting artifically-induced abortions.( http://vatican.va/)”
Is there something in our minds that block this reality as being evil or does God have to reveal this to us as humans?
In Maternal Mortality in the United States the author says the following:
“This is the assumption that the United States Supreme Court relied upon in its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade,[1] and is the assumption that seemed to trouble chief Justice Warren Berger. In a later case he wrote that, “I am somewhat troubled that the Court has taken notice of various scientific and medical data in reaching its conclusion...”[2] Dr. Reardon believes that his statement was made in regard to the “judicial assessment of abortion’s safety relative to childbirth,”[3] noting that the Court has subsequently, and even recently made other statements which show its belief that more women died in childbirth than in abortion. (Citing to the Court’s language in Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.W. 914, 923-24 (2000), “Vacuum aspiration is considered particularly safe. The procedures for mortality rates are, for example, 5 to 10 times lower than those associated with carrying the fetus to term.”)[4] Dr. Reardon quotes the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Roe v. Wade, for why States might prohibit or regulate abortion: (1) discourage illicit sexual conduct (2) exercise a State’s interest in protecting the unborn; and (3) “to protect the pregnant woman, that is, to restrain her from submitting to a procedure that placed her life in serious jeopardy.” He notes that the Court quickly disposed of the first question, limited the State’s interest to later in the pregnancy because there was no consensus as to when life begins, and held that the State had a legitimate and compelling interest in protecting Dr. Reardon quotes the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Roe v. Wade, for why States might prohibit or regulate abortion: (1) discourage illicit sexual conduct (2) exercise a State’s interest in protecting the unborn; and (3) “to protect the pregnant woman, that is, to restrain her from submitting to a procedure that placed her life in serious jeopardy(Curless,2004, p. 22).”
Immediately, I see, Immediately I see, I see a problem in just hearing about the procedure, but I am only one voice, many others see it or they would not write about it with great concern. In judging the act we must conclude that artificially-induced abortions to kill the child should not even be happening anywhere. The Supreme Court Justices are appointed by a human, and they are human; consequently, I would right away question the fact that we all make mistakes; therefore couldn’t deliberations on this case have taken a wrong direction by error? Well, of course, just based on the humanity factor, we must acknowledge that we always need a higher power for guidance and even more in decision making. Psalm 32:8 says: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
The un-born child has no voice because speech is learned, but we can speak and the Bible exhorts for us to speak as it says in Proverbs 31:8:
“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. (Proverbs 31:8)”
The bible says much in all of the following passages about children:
“Psalms 127:3 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.
Psalms 139:13-11 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
Jeremiah 1:5 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Proverbs 31:8: open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
1 Thessalonians 2:7 7 But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.
Mathew 5:21Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment (Holy Bible).”
This topic is always very controversial and emotional, and it draws attention to our moral values on the matter. My thoughts are that we need to get research done to obtain evidence that looks into the health of a woman in all aspects, and how much of an impact an abortion can have on her Life. And, then we need to finally decide when it is that we believe that Life really begins. We can believe whatever we choose to believe, and we can convince ourselves that a lie is true if we want, but I believe that all this grief and health issues some women are having due to abortions they had are needed to be studied in depth, and perhaps in a very time extensive manner. It would be good to have supporting scientific evidence that could reverse this trend, and make our society healthier. We should review the Judicial Policy on Abortion. We need to have a Congress that represents the people decide what type of policy we will have, and not nine individuals that were appointed by someone. We need to have the three branches of government limit themselves to functioning as to how United States Constitution intended, otherwise we can create unhealthy Policy.
What is the opinion of the Catholic Church on this topic? Well, below is a portion of writing posted on the vatican.va website that is simply on partial-birth abortion, and it is written by Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo:
“of pregnancy, during which there is an intervaginal partial birth of the living fetus: the content of the brain is then sucked out before delivery is complete. This technique was legalized in the United States after the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, which authorized the different States to issue measures permitting artifically- induced abortions. There is a legal raison d'être for the development of this method: it was deduced from the deliberation of the Supreme Court of the United States which states that the term "person" as used in the 14th Ammendment of the Constitution is not applicable to the unborn child, and that until the moment of birth it is possible to put an end to this child's life without incurring judicial action. On the other hand, the legislation of the various States all specify that during birth, when an infant has fully emerged from the mother's womb and shows even only the slightest sign of life, he or she is a person in the eyes of the law, so that, from the legal standpoint, to deliberately deprive the child of life would be homicide. On the other hand, it is legally permissible to kill this child during birth, on condition that the child still remains partially inside the uterus.
According to those who champion this method of abortion, it can be rapidly performed without hospitalization under a local anaesthetic. The abortion is preceded by a three-day preparation involving mechanical dilation of the cervix. The operation takes place in five stages: first, guided by ultrasound, the person carrying out the abortion, possibly after reversing the position of the fetus in the uterus, takes hold of the feet with forceps. He then draws the legs of the fetus from the womb causing the birth and extracting the baby's whole body apart from the head. Next, he makes an incision at the base of the infant's skull through which he inserts the point of a pair of scissors to puncture the cranium. A tube is then inserted through which the brain and the content of the cranium are sucked out. At this point, to conclude the abortion, the head, now reduced in size, is extracted and the dead infant delivered (Lopez Trujillo, http://vatican.va/.).”
The foregoing gives a very gruesome and horrific description of the procedure. Cardinal Lopez Trujillo continues to say:
“In spite of all this, the truth, with difficulty, is making headway. We are facing a moment of lucidity on the part of legislators when it is actually dawning on them that the perpetration of such a tremendous and brutal crime against human dignity can no longer fail to provoke the reaction, hence sanction, of the juridical order. In this regard, it is imperative to point out the different attitudes of President Clinton and President Bush in the whole of this saga (Lopez Trujillo, http://vatican.va/).”
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo closes his argument by saying the reality and the truth about partial-birth abortion and abortion in general. The following are His closing statements:
“If partial-birth abortion is banned in the United States by the House of Representatives (as everything seems to indicate it will be), we will be witnessing a true step ahead, not only of the culture of life, but also of a legal discipline more in tune with it that is rooted in a deeper understanding of the prerequisites of human dignity and in a more refined perception of the deep harmony between the right to life and the dignity of the woman( LopezTrujillo,http://vatican.va/.).”
I have tried to expose this issue as to what the problem is, and I have made observations from the Bible and from the Church's views, but how should we respond or act to solve the problem? Well, the Bible says in Proverbs 31:8: “open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.” My interpretation is this. We have to to all that we can to be the voice for those that cannot speak for themselves so that we all have the right to Life….
What is being done? Well many people are campaigning and communicating to their legislators on the issue to try to change policy. Cases have been appealed in the courts. There are legal organizations such as the ACLJ which is headed by Jay Sekuklow that have lawyers working on the issue all over the world. People have done public marches to bring about a social awareness. Many try to fund these oerganizations to help and finance we can all help.
How is it being done? The same as I describe above, people are doing all this some have written books to raise public awareness. A good example is Janet Folger, one of her books called is True to Life. An excerpt from the closing of her book says as follows:
“I believe with all my heart that one day, when the nation sees the truth, just like Germany, our Children will be taught about what happened in our nation, They will learn in school about the American Holocaust.. And, I believe when this happens,our grandchildren will come home from school with a very important question for us... where were you when they were killing babies? I want to be able to answer, I was doing everything I could to stop it ( Folger, p. 228).”
On the internet we have several websites such as Lifenews.com which are communicating stories an issue . An example of a portion of one these stories says as follows:
“Wichita, KS (LifeNews.com) -- The abortion center that houses the business of Kansas late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller was vandalized on Tuesday night. Tiller has made national headlines because he is the subject of 19 misdemeanor charges that he did illegal abortions and he could be headed to prison if convicted. Apparently someone was able to get by the security cameras posted at Tiller's abortion facility and gain access to the roof of his building. Once there, the vandals cut a hole in the roof and inserted a garden hose and eventually flooded the abortion center with water. In addition, the perpetrators tried to seal the gate to the parking lot shut so no one could enter it. Firemen were able to gain access through the gate before the sealant dried. Pro-life groups typically condemn such illegal or violent actions and one leading pro-life observer told LifeNews.com that someone who opposes abortion may not have been responsible. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told LifeNews.com that someone affiliated with Tiller's abortion center may have caused the vandalism to try to take the spotlight off of the investigation by Attorney General Paul Morrison into the potentially illegal abortions or to engender public sympathy (Ertelt, 2007).”
In Closing, I believe as Janet Folger said in her book that “ one day, when the nation sees the truth, just like Germany, our Children will be taught about what happened in our nation”. And yes, it will all be history ,and we will have reconcilliation with that dark past, but in our present we must contnue to work hard to achieve this healing which we need, and with our faith placed in God this will occur for the benefit of all humanity. John Powell says the following in his book, Abortion: the Silent Holocaust:
“ And, I do believe that, no matter how long it takes to clarify our values, as a human family we will find our way into the light. We will someday see each life as unique and unrepeatable image and likeness of God, a fragile miracle of his love,bringing us a special message from God himself (Powell, p.178).”
I can not say it any better in my own words, just simply that we need to care and have love and compassion in our hearts for all humans and unborn humans. What is going on with abortion is extremely, extremely sad.
References:
BibleGateway.com
Card. Alfonso Lopez Trujillo.(2007)Vatican on Partial Birth abortion. Say: Pontifical
Council For The Family.Reflection Card. Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, Retrieved July 4, 2007 from http://vatican.va/.
Curless, S(2004)Maternal Mortality in the United States: Reversing the Trend by Challenging the Assumptions, November 22nd, 2004.
Ertelt, R. (2007, July 5). Abortion Center of Kansas Abortion Practitioner George Tiller Vandalized. Lifenews.com. Retrieved July 14, 2007, http://www.lifenews.com/state2374.html
Folger, J.L. (2000). True to Life,
Fort Lauderdale, Fl: Coral Ridge Ministries.
Holy Bible(2001), NKJV, Thomas Nelson Bibles
Powell, J. (1981). Abortion: the Silent Holocaust. Allen,
TX: Argus Communications.
[1] Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, (1973).
[2] Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 208 (1973).
[3] Deaths Associated with abortion, at 281.
[4] Id. at note 5.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The Ten Virgins
Mathew 25:1-13 says:
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
In this parable told by Jesus, all 10 are virgins, and all became drowsy because of the bridegrooms delay. We don't know how long the delay was, but it was long. Half of them were wise and got enough oil. At midnight the bridegroom came, and half of them had to go buy oil. The bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Half of the virgins were left out of the feast. The shut door reminds me of the story of Noah when the door to the Ark was shut by God.
Genesis 7:15-17 says:
"And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth."
Genesis 7:21-22 says
"And all flesh perished that moved upon the earth, both fowl, and cattle, and beast, and every swarming thing that swarmeth upon the earth, and every man; all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, whatsoever was in the dry land, died."
Jesus spoke concerning His return as the ruling Messiah in Mathew 24:36-39 it says:
"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
If I return to the original story, we know that Jesus always refers to himself as the bridegroom. I do not have to explain this story, but the question we must ask ourselves is do we have enough oil in our lamps? it has been about 2000 years since the bridegroom was taken away. Although it says in Acts 1:9-11:
"And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
Do we still have enough oil in our lamps? Do we know what the oil symbolizes in scripture? We may not be at the hour of midnight, but are we in the eleventh hour? Do we believe in the words Jesus spoke? Should we, at this hour be pondering on why Jesus told this parable? I personally think we should be.
References:
Esv Bible
JPS Tanakh
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.' And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
In this parable told by Jesus, all 10 are virgins, and all became drowsy because of the bridegrooms delay. We don't know how long the delay was, but it was long. Half of them were wise and got enough oil. At midnight the bridegroom came, and half of them had to go buy oil. The bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Half of the virgins were left out of the feast. The shut door reminds me of the story of Noah when the door to the Ark was shut by God.
Genesis 7:15-17 says:
"And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth."
Genesis 7:21-22 says
"And all flesh perished that moved upon the earth, both fowl, and cattle, and beast, and every swarming thing that swarmeth upon the earth, and every man; all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, whatsoever was in the dry land, died."
Jesus spoke concerning His return as the ruling Messiah in Mathew 24:36-39 it says:
"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
If I return to the original story, we know that Jesus always refers to himself as the bridegroom. I do not have to explain this story, but the question we must ask ourselves is do we have enough oil in our lamps? it has been about 2000 years since the bridegroom was taken away. Although it says in Acts 1:9-11:
"And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
Do we still have enough oil in our lamps? Do we know what the oil symbolizes in scripture? We may not be at the hour of midnight, but are we in the eleventh hour? Do we believe in the words Jesus spoke? Should we, at this hour be pondering on why Jesus told this parable? I personally think we should be.
References:
Esv Bible
JPS Tanakh