Saturday, April 13, 2013

Meditation on just one evil of mankind...

I cannot remain silent about the Gosnell trial, happening as I type this.

I usually try to remain silent on my own social media outlets because of the diversity of viewpoints I have on places like my facebook feed or twitter.  On one hand I choose to listen to what they have to say, and on the other hand I am afraid that they will see me as nothing more than some conservative nutjob and fail to see me for me...someone with varied opinions about a variety of topics, and who doesn't follow a party line.  However I felt about the topic of abortion years ago, my heart has been changed toward the topic over time. My heart has changed because of first hand stories I have heard and what I have experienced, although the stories of others belong to the people who have lived them--they are not mine to tell.

I used to be pro-choice.

I used to make the argument that many around me still do today: While I myself would never choose abortion for my own child, I would never make the act illegal so that it can remain safe for those who do choose it.

So in other words, I chose ignorance of evil and silent acceptance.

Yes, I said evil.

I guess it all goes back to the debate of when life begins.  Does it begin with birth? Does it begin at conception?  Or does it begin somewhere in between?  Oh....and how valuable is life anyway?  Is this creature in the womb even a person?

The reason that many pro-life advocates choose to show violent images of aborted fetuses is to try to shock the viewer into accepting their opinion as the right one.  I don't know if this is the answer.  I also don't know if legislation is the answer at this time, but I do know that honesty, integrity in the face of the suffering, education about options and gentle persuasion are.  Until the hearts and minds of a nation can be persuaded into choosing life, legislation might be doing little more than continuing to divide us as a people and nation.  It is for this reason that my heart goes out to those who support the adoption industry or drive the ThriVe vans, who provide prayer and emergency counseling at a grassroots level.  Division as it is today has caused more polarization of values in this country, and violence as a result, which is also wrong.  We need to pray that all hearts and minds see the evil of abortion and to be united in this....otherwise this fight will just go on and on and on, and back and forth and back again.

I do not think it is right to kill another human being just because a mistake was made.
We cannot cure sin with more sin.

BUT.  We live in a secular world, a world which more and more lacks morality and fails to see God's love for us.  We live in a nation severely divided against itself, where no one can agree whether it is black and white, or shades of gray.  It is complicated.

Women who have made this very tough decision need our forgiveness and our prayers.

I think that regardless of how you feel about abortion, we can all agree that the nature of Kermit Gosnell's work is absolutely deplorable and evil on so many levels.  What he did was to induce labor and kill the born....he didn't just kill the unborn.  That's just a small part of his crimes against women.  Feel free to research it for yourself here, here and especially here.  Was his work common practice in the abortion industry or simply the work of a depraved man?  There is quite a debate in that question alone.  I have heard both answers from multiple sides.  I'm saddened that this story isn't making the media as en force as a guy who hurts dogs....which is also deplorable, but aren't people a little more important?  People.....US....Those who cannot speak for themselves....such AS the UNBORN.

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