Thursday, March 29, 2007

Shot In the Dark - Double-Minded Madness at Work

This week a man in Massachusetts was sentenced to death for the shooting death of a child. He received the standard "life without parole" sentence that our state mandates. So what makes this case, 1 out of about 200 that year, something out of the ordinary? It was an unborn child in a mothers womb that was hit by his bullet. It is a triumph of justice that this man was convicted.

While the woman, like hundreds of other survivors, morns the loss of a life. Here is what else I find amazing about this story passing by in the "Breaking News" segment. In our state alone, there was an abortion almost every 21 minutes in 2002; 25,249 in all! Read the stats for yourself HERE. Stunning!

When we look at what our laws really call illegal in these instances, we should easily be able to see the hypocrisy. On one hand, a man sits in jail for violent murder with a gun. On the other, a woman receives a violent medical treatment. In both cases the end result is murder. Unless of course, unborn babies are not babies. (See Psalms 139:13 for God's perspective of when life begins.) So which is it? I know, it's a debate that has been taken up since 1973. The truth is there are no winners in abortion or murder.

So how did we get in this mess? A court in Texas decided for Roe in the controversial Roe vs. Wade case on January 22, 1973. (Which ironically is the same day of the month my daughter was born.) We have called the then, young woman Roe for so long most of us have never seen her face or know her name. Her real name is Norma McCorvey ("Jane Roe") . I believe in she is 59 now. You may read her story and see her picture HERE (she is also pictured above at her baptism).

Now, let's ratchet up our total amazement of Roe vs. Wade. Ms. McCorvey became a born again Christian and tried to have the judgment reversed saying, she had a "change of heart," yet the court would not accept the case! Why? Because the case has been the precedent in which 50 states and the US Supreme Court have made other judgments. It would have been a house of cards for every court in every state in the US!

And here is what I find most intriguing in a spiritual sense. Two times in Biblical history we see that in order to keep the Jews from proliferating as a people; the bringers of salvation... once in the Old and once in the New Testament, Pharaoh's and Kings ruled that every baby should be put to death. In the time of Moses God preserved him, a Jew. In the time of Jesus, the King decreed the same in hopes of killing the King of the Jews before he could mature. We know that he failed in his mission. I see the parallel, don't' you?

So, here is one more stunning facet to this story. One of the reason that Ms. McCorvey was not taken all that seriously was that she had changed her mind since she became a Christian. No one said that in her official court papers, but the sentiment was heard around the country. She was called a religious nut, a kooky born again Christian. I find it sad that woman became much more of what God intended her to be and others regarded her as the same radical young woman that she was in 1973. Sad, very sad.

The good news? Jesus changes people... sometimes quickly and some times slowly. Thank God for that!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Which of these comes closest to your views about abortion?

o A woman should be able to get an abortion if she decides to have one no matter what the reason.
o A woman should be able to get an abortion if she decides to have one no matter what the reason up until the third trimester.
o Abortion should only be legal when a woman's health or life is endangered or when the pregnancy results from rape or incest.
o Abortion should only be legal when a woman's life is endangered or when the pregnancy results from rape or incest.
o Abortion should only be legal when a woman's life is endangered.
o Abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.

- a nano moose

David said...

Well, it's murder. When should murder be legal?

99.2% of abortions are for convenience. .08% are rape/incest and when the mother's health is in danger. 99.2% would be an improvement.

Unfortunately for America, the debate is over an extremely small percentage. The rest is due to stupidity, immaturity, selfishness etc.

And the case of the murders in Philadelphia - all I can say what the hell did people expect? I am sure it is not the only place.

Anonymous said...

"Well, it's murder. When should murder be legal?"

Murder has a precise definition. There are many many cases where people take the life of another person and it's not murder.

- A soldier in a foreign land sees a local gesticulating with an object. The soldier asks the hostile to put down their object, with no response. The solder terminates the hostile.
- A police officer in a similar situation terminates a suspect who does not down their suspected weapon.
- A doctor has a person on life support with negative brain wave activity. Said person has previously authorized organ doaner rights, and the doctor is going to remove their heart and put it into another person.

In each of these cases, someone is about to end the life of an innocent. The local, the suspect, the heart donator. In each case, the agent is deliberately taking the life of an innocent. Is this murder? If it is not, then would you mind defining the term murder?

Anonymous said...

I am also interesting in your answer on the survey, "which of these..."

I'll throw out an example. A young woman becomes pregnant, but her doctor determines that it's an ectopic pregnancy. This is a pregnancy in which sperm and egg have joined, and thus, we have a new baby. But sadly, the baby is not in utero, but becomes implanted elsewhere - in this case, in the Fallopian tubes. There is no chance of this living baby surviving. There is every chance of the resulting non-viable pregnancy damaging and even killing the mother.

Is this murder? Suppose you were the young woman's father. What would suggest she do?

Anonymous said...

BTW, the Philadelphia doctor is a murderer. I would be more than happy to walk through the specific legal reasons why.

David-FireAndGrace said...

@ a nono moose

abortion = murder precisely.

It is not a matter of logic, or ethics.

Anonymous said...

@David - thanks for the response!

"I'll throw out an example. A young woman becomes pregnant, but her doctor determines that it's an ectopic pregnancy. This is a pregnancy in which sperm and egg have joined, and thus, we have a new baby. But sadly, the baby is not in utero, but becomes implanted elsewhere - in this case, in the Fallopian tubes. There is no chance of this living baby surviving. There is every chance of the resulting non-viable pregnancy damaging and even killing the mother. Is this murder?"

"abortion = murder precisely."

Well, OK! So abortion when the health of the mother is at risk AND the baby would die regardless is murder.