Pre-born Lives Matter

On January 23^rd New York became the most dangerous state for pre-born human beings to live.  NY lawmakers made it legal to kill children up to the moment they are born and breathing on their own.  The law also excused medical personnel from stepping in to save the life of a survivor of an abortion attempt.  

With this action, NY officially became the most barbaric of states in the US.  Killing pre-born children is savage. Taking human life in this way is evil.  But the door for accepting this kind of evil was thrown open on January 22, 1973 with the US Supreme Court Roe  vs Wade decision.  A slippery slope was begun by not clearly defining a pre-born child as human life, and tragically, the slope continues its decline.  

I became aware of the gravity of the problem sometime around 1980, and joined the battle to defend the value of human life.  In the 1980’s my wife and I spent countless hours on the sidewalks of abortion facilities talking to young ladies about their options in pregnancy.  We were instrumental in saving a number of babies lives, and saving their mothers the horrors of abortion.  We led groups that offered practical assistance to moms and dads of children that were rescued from the knives of abortionists.  We were founding members of a Board of Directors to bring a Bethany Christian Services adoption provider to our town.  Later we turned our attention to the prevention side of the pro-life efforts by founding an organization to promote the message of chastity for youth in our region.  With 3 natural born children of our own, in 1996 we adopted a 3-year-old girl from China.  Currently in our counseling ministry we help post-abortion men and women deal with the losses associated with making their bad choices.   We are pro-life, not just in theory, but in action, because truth demands action.  

           Why is truth important?  History tells us why.  About a century ago, a casual view of truth led to the careless destruction of approximately 11 million peoples’ lives (see Andy Andrews book “How Do You Kill 11 Million People”).  The Nazis were pathological liars and no one had the will to hold them accountable until it was much too late.  A pattern of lying, deception, and propaganda accompanies dictatorships throughout human history.  Our world has suffered diar consequences of foolishness and  falsehood.  Since the original sin of mankind, we are extremely prone to falsehood and vulnerable to its destructive results.  

A society is only as morally good as the people who make up the society.  A person’s thinking determines their actions.  If a person is not thinking true thoughts, their actions will yield results that are not based in truth.  For example, the truth is that a newly conceived child is a unique human being as expressed by God’s creation.  If people place value in that truth, thoughts and actions will treat the pre-born child the same as any two year old child they know. They may wonder what the child will do when they grow up, which set of parents do they look like the most, or observing what kind of personality they have.  Good-willed thoughts of the child’s future will lead to actions that support the child and help them grow into the person they are meant to be.  On the other hand, if a pre-born child is not thought of in ths same way as a two year old, their value will be diminished.  If they are thought of as unwanted, inconvenent, unsupportable, not yet human, etc., then actions taken by adults around them will be unsupportive and may not lead to the well being of the child (and the child’s family).   

The idea of “slippery slope” magnifies this truth with even greater implications.  A famous quote by Mahatma Gandi states, “The true measure in any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”  When we tolerate the ill-treatment of pre-born children who have no voice of their own, we set ourselves up for the ill-treatment of anyone deemed unfit for some random reason.  Again, the Nazis showed this by killing persons with disabilities, Jewish people, and then anyone who disagreed with their regime.  By taking away the God-given value in what it means to be human, it becomes easier to take away God-given value in what it means to be married, be male, be female, be a person with a certain color skin, ethnic background, or cultural views.  The social ills facing our society all trace back to dispising the sanctity of human life.  

So what exactly is the truth?  The Truth is God’s reality, not mankind’s perceptions of reality.  The truth is absolute, and not defined by trends, popularity, or media propaganda.  God is the Author and Creator of life.  Human life is God’s idea.  Our respect for God is mirrored by our respect for the sacredness of life.  When we dishonor God and disregard his ways, we are at risk for the worst kinds of falsehoods and deception known to mankind.  The Book of Proberbs in the Bible (written by the most intelligent and succcessful person of his time) starts out by acknowledging that wisdom begins with a respect (“fear” as he calls it) of God.  Many of the verses in Proverbs speak of the folly of mankind trying to ignore or devalue the Creator.  God knows each person better than they know themselves.  God knows everything about the world in greater depth than the combined knowlege of all humans put together.  God’s power, authority, and majesty are limitless.  Every human life from the moment of conception is a unique stamp of God’s creative ability.  Every individual’s worth and value is equal and determined by God.  Every human life is valuable because God made it so.   

           How should we then live?  Seek God for truth.  God came into the world as a man, Jesus Christ, to demonstrate the heart of Father God, and save us from the largest slippery slope of all.  Our sin condition seeks to devalue the dignity God placed in each of us from the moment of conception.  We need Jesus to redeem us from our lost condition.  The greatest deception of all is that we don’t need God to do this for us.  We are deceived to think we can define our humanity on our own, and decide for ourselves what is best, what is good or bad, or right from wrong.  

Pre-born lives matter, All lives matter.  All of life matters. Your life matters.  How you live your life matters.  It matters how we think and act.  Living for God reveals truth.  It matters how we make decisions, choices, and form opinions, with their corresponding actions, results, and consequences.   Disrespecting God reveals falsehood  (not always immediately, but eventually for certain).  God wants to heal us in the midst of the struggles we face in this life.  All mental health problems (not directly attributed to brain malfunction) are somehow related to poor self concept (see previous articles).  Perceiving ourselves as  unworthy and lacking value keeps us fulfilling our God-given purpose for our existence.  Poor image of self leads to poor image of others, causing poor relationships, which cause a breakdown of society.  When we fail to take action to defend  the truth of the value of human life, our world literally falls apart.    

May I encourage you to take a stand for truth.  Start with what you have the most control over, that is your own transformation and sanctification journey.  Receive God’s healing for guilt or shame.   Look at some of my previous articles for help with this.  Your personal life matters, and directly affects your views of God.  In addition to guirding up your inner being, be aware of the evil influences from without.  The major news media sources have a record of being extremely biased  against God-honoring people and principles.  Do not allow your mind to be tainted  by their false narratives.  It’s not always what they say, but what they don’t say that misleads the most.  Editors often fail to report significant events because they are more concerned about selling their product (via popular opinion), that revealing truth. On the bright side, CBNNews.com is a great source for truth reporting.  Of course your time building your relationship with God is crucial.  Truth is found not merely in the words of the Bible, but getting to better know the Person of God behind the words.  Another thing you can do is make your market place purchases count. Do research on vendors, and only support those who refrain from joining the trends that dishonor God.  Find a church, get pugged in, and support leadership of like-minded people supporting all of the above.  

One last thing.  If you have been a participant in abortion in any way, it is not an unforgivable sin.  Our Father God has his arms open wide for you regardless of how you feel, or what you’ve done.  You’re not alone.  There is someone who understands.  God is there and he understands, but there are people who can help you also.  Please contact me if you need help.  

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian martyred by the Nazis a few days before his concentration camp was liberated by US soldiers.  This article is inspired by his quote, “Not to speak, is to speak. Not to act, is to act.”  We must speak.  We must act, because truth demands action.  Our pro-life/ God-respecting actions over the years have been motivated by Scripture.  One most pointed Proverb says, “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.  If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”  does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?” (Proverbs 24:11-12).  What will your next action be to uphold the value of life?   

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry

Counter Revolution in Politics

The events of last month surrounding the confirmation by the US Senate of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, revealed a new low for the respect of America’s government, of the people, by the people, and for the people.  

The two major political parties seem to be as far apart as they have ever been.  The written document called the party platform shows the difference of key issues facing the present health and future of our country.  But the dangerous divisions lie even deeper.  We seem to have lost respect and dignity for the process that keeps people on track in assuring virtue and honor are attached to the ideas most valuable for the good of families and communities who make up America.  The biggest problem of all is our distance from respect for God’s ways, and  importance in keeping us on track.  So political power seems more imprtant than it really should be.

This power hungry trend showed up strongly in the confirmation hearings for Judge Kavanaugh. Judge Kavanaugh had gone through the vetting process already a number of times (for the lower court positions he served in), had a proven record for fairness and responsible decision making, and his qualifications were impeccable.  A group of people driven by the ideology of one of the political parties mounted a coordinated effort of falsehoods, character assassination attempts, physical violence, and other tactics demonstrating the lowest level of moral character ever in the history of our political system.

Perhaps most troubling is that this trend downward is encouraged by the top party leadership. Published reports of Hillary Clinton’s comments on 9^th of October quote her as saying there should be civil unrest until their party gets it way. This party’s  Congressional Representatives have made public statements wishing physical harm on political opponents. Other party leaders have made statements that are code words for things like, “lying is okay,” “hurting people is okay if they don’t agree with you,” “whatever it takes to win is justifiable.”  Followers and the sources donating to these political figures are encouraging and  financing mobs to stir up division and unrest, taking forms of racism, sexism, and the like.   

Civil societies must rely on rules of engagement.  Playing a sport is a good illustration of how this works.  Imagine the fans response to a referee who seems to make up the rules as he goes.  From the players perspective, knowing the rules and how they will be interpreted by the referees, is vital to success on the field.  Competent execution of teamwork can only be possible if all the team members are familiar with the rules, and interpreting them as one unit.  Declaring a winner in a game is predicated by both teams playing by the exact same rules.  The referees job is to ensure that happens.   

If our elected officials are the players, then we the voters are the referees.  We are endowed with the task of insisting that these players play by the rules.  Each individuals vote counts toward keeping the elected officials honest in governing so the best interests of the people are served, and not the elected officials themselves.  To vote intelligently, we must make judgment calls regarding actions performed by the players.  In this process truth becomes a vital concern.  

Truth is the foundation for all moral judgment, but truth does not always line up with public opinion.  Public opinion is largely formed by the traditional journalism media. This has become a problem because about 93% of the media endorse one particular political party. This is a serious conflict of interest.   For decades, the media have shown more and more favoritism towards so-called liberal ideology.   The so-called fake news of recent years proves to us that media cannot be trusted for unbiased information upon which to base judgments regarding the best candidates in elections.  Moreover, the party they choose to favor is the party trying to create the most division in our social structure.  

            Several years ago I quit watching network television news for many reasons. It shapes public opinion, one mind at a time.  I realized I could not stay clear of their bias without totally abstaining from their influence on my mind.  I don’t want the negative narratives of the media to influence how I think and respond to life events.  Much of their spin on the truth is designed to create a negative emotional response based on fear.  At best this amounts to manipulation, but at worst this amounts to propaganda and the rapid spread of evil.  Mixing this dynamic into the political arena (for example the way Mr. Kavanaugh was treated), is one of the most dangerous threats to the well-being of our nation.  

I am not saying all this to be alarmist, or to attack specific individuals.  I wish I had more space to share more thoughts and evidence.  Here are some books I’ve read recently, or have on my reading list to reveal the truth.  I encourage the reader to check them out.  A great short book is Andy Andrew’s book called,  “How Do You Kill 11 Million People:  Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think.”  Another book is Eric Bolling’s “Wake Up America: The Nine Virtues That Made Our Nation Great--and Why We Need Them More Than Ever.”   Another is Tucker Carlson’s “Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution.”   Another is Howard Kurtz’s “Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press, and the War Over the Truth.”  Former White House spokesman Sean Spicer wrote, “The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President.”  Writing from a faith perspective, the well known journalist Joe Bartaglia has written, “The Politically Incorrect Jesus: Living Boldly in a Culture of Unbelief.” Another is Erwin Lutzer’s “The Church in Babylon.”  Authors Eric Metaxas, George Barna, Josh McDowell, and many others are warning of trends that need to be reversed for our nation to survive.  Of course the Bible is the greatest source of truth and books like Proverbs share wisdom that transcends all peoples, places, and times.   

God is the source of all truth.  Respecting God is the beginning of all wisdom (Proverbs).  There was a time in our nation when our leaders showed much more honor for God (and his guidelines for living) than we see presently.  In our system of government, each individual has the responsibility of helping referee our leaders’ commitment to truth.  Our voice (whistle) is a vote in an election.  God followers must pray, engage, and vote for candidates who are demonstrating actions which honor God and honor his created people.  Speech doesn’t cut it. Many candidates say the right words without  actions consistent with a true meaning of their words.  We are called to pray and seek God’s guidance.  

Sometimes it is difficult to discern who is telling the truth.  Seeking out voter guides from reputable organizations who monitor positions valued by people of faith is helpful.  It has become necessary to drastically limit exposure to media with negative narratives to deceive and divide.  We hear a lot of talk about how divided we are, but I think we are more deceived than divided.  We are seeing more and more good-willed people being decieved and believing things that simply are not true.  Don’t allow yourself to be one of them.  

Regardless of political party affiliation (or non-affiliation), we must take seriously our responsiblity to engage our system of government.  We must hold those in office and seeking office to standards of truth.  A quote by Edmond Burke I heard many years ago still rings true, “The only thing necessary for the evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.  History has proven this over and over again.  In the Germany of the 1930’s and 40’s, Deitrich Bonhoeffer also had it right when saying, “Not to speak, is to speak.  Not to act, is to act.”  Hitler’s lies deceived multitutdes because truth was treated casually. Speaking up and taking action are essential.  A person can only be a friend of truth by applying the truth in his or her own life, AND in everything touching their life.   Truth requires participation, or the foes of truth may win.  There is no middle ground. Truth and passivity cannot co-exist.

Prayer is important.  Uniting in prayer with others is also important (see PrayinUnity.org).  But prayer is not a substitute for action.  Becoming informed takes action,   A great source Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), has just launched a 24 hour news channel (see CBNNews.com).  Voting is a necessary action. I heard prayer warrior Cindy Jacobs say, “Voting is a spiritual act because, we are called to steward our nation.”   Some may be called to further action through service in elected or non-elected government offices.  

When I hearChristians say, “politics is not the answer, but Jesus is the answer,” I am in agreement.  However, politics is part of an answer that cannot be avoided.  Living out the Truth in all areas of life is commanded by Christ himself, in order to be called a follower of Christ.  Christ did not come to this earth to bring political revolution, but he did come to bring a counter revolution to political systems.  Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  The political arena is yet another sphere where the glory of God is meant to shine on the earth.  Let’s do our part in making it happen.  Pray, seek the truth, and take action!

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry