Normalizing the Inconceivable: Abominating Abortion (Living the Implications)
(This post is the fifth and final installment in a series of articles that bear the heading, “Normalizing the Inconceivable,” dealing with the issue of abortion. Click to access: Normalizing the Inconceivable [part one]; Normalizing the Inconceivable: A Philosophical Problem? [part two]; Normalizing the Inconceivable: A Scientific Problem of Being and Personhood? [part three]; or Normalizing the Inconceivable: A Lack of Biblical Clarity [part four].)
NOTE: This article includes uncensored and graphic images/videos for the sake of coming square with a reality that is easy to ignore due to an unwillingness to face the facts of what happens when inconceivable evil is normalized in a society. In no way am I seeking to offend anyone.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of a treacherous act of terrorism that wrought death upon almost 3,000 people: the September 11th attacks. As do most people, I remember exactly where I was that morning, watching the news as the surreal footage filled the television screen with horror. It was no movie – it was a heinous tragedy carried out by cowards. It is a day that ought to be remembered.
I was talking with someone this week who – when asked how he was going to commemorate 9/11 – pointed out that 11 million human persons have been legally sacrificed on the altar of reproductive choice since September 11, 2001.
He has a point, doesn’t he?
“Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes. That’s one child every five seconds.”35
According to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing in their 2009 report in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research (Vol. 33, No. 1: 32) estimate that approximately 176,000 Christians will have been martyred from mid-2008 to mid-2009. This, according to the authors, compares to 160,000 martyrs in mid-2000 and 34,400 at the beginning of the 20th century. If current trends continue, Barrett, Johnson and Crossing estimate that by 2025, an average of 210,000 Christians will be martyred annually…. These figures are… projected averages.36
The fact is that systemic starvation, Christian persecution, and countless tyrannical governments in third world countries claim the lives of innumerable people each and every day, but those of us in the “civilized” countries of the West walk on in our blissful ignorance, societally refusing to acknowledge the suffering of the world that dwarfs 9/11 exponentially. Hear me clearly: 9/11 was a tragedy that must be remembered. I’m simply challenging our inconsistency and depraved indifference to the sufferings of those we conveniently label the “others.”
Think about it, though: Are we really the civilized countries of the West? What is the definition of civilized?
I hope that it has been convincingly argued in the articles in this series – as it has been competently argued by countless others far more intelligent than me – that abortion is nothing short of the murder of innocent human life. (Once again, I am not referring to the absence of sinfulness here.) Through “Normalizing the Inconceivable” it has been shown that three of the major battlefields on which the war of abortion is fought – the philosophical, the medical/scientific, and the biblical – yield absolutely no support for abortion advocates, but definitively speak against the legitimacy of abortion in any form, save cases where the life of the mother is actually put in danger through carrying the child to term (and, as you may recall from the last post, these instances are rare).
In light of the evidence presented I offer the following concluding remarks, exhortations, and promotions – particularly to my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Abominate Abortion
To abominate something is to loathe and despise it. I believe there is a severe shortcoming in the Evangelical Church when it comes to loathing and despising abortion, and this must change. Nazi Germany was in a social stupor regarding the atrocities leveled against the Jewish people, yet social stupor will not suffice before the Judgment Seat of Christ.37 Many (I hope most) Evangelicals would claim that they don’t support abortion, but in the depths of their soul and by their emotional indifference they disclose the truth that they really don’t care that much. The thick and thin of it is that abortion is murder, and if the same Evangelicals showed indifference toward murder, they would be thought hard-hearted and inhumane. Why the discrepancy?
Consider the succinct and non-optional command given in Romans 13.9b: “Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good” (NASB).38 Abortion is evil, make no mistake; if even a halfway coherent case has been made in this series of articles, then this much is indisputable. So make a resolution in your heart to abominate abortion in all its forms. Pray that God would work in your heart to hate it with zeal, and yet to be filled with bold grace when interacting with others around the issue; after all, it is a sensitive issue filled with brokenness.
Be Aware and Be Willing to Educate Others
As noted earlier, we tend to be blissfully ignorant when it comes to abortion, either pretending it doesn’t exist or that it really isn’t such a big deal. This is my exhortation in the strongest possible terms: Refuse the ignorance any longer! Are you aware of what abortion is and does, beyond the trite answer, “It kills a human being?” If not, please open your eyes! Be aware, and be willing to educate others.
One of the most incredible resources available to the public regarding all things abortion is Abort73.com. The following is a short film from Abort73.com that I plead with you to watch. The graphic images are distorted through pixelization, though I have included some beneath the film:
This is a model of a human fetus at 9 weeks development:
image obtained from http://blkandred.blogspot.com/
These are aborted human fetuses at 11 weeks development:
image obtained from http://akagaga.com/category/abortion
image obtained from http://jshrimp.blogspot.com/
This is an aborted human fetus about 30 weeks development, I think (this is legal, mind you):
image obtained from unknown
Once again, it is not my aim to offend anyone by showing these photographs. Rather, if it is offensive to some – as it should be – then I would argue that it is not my including them here (appropriately, I might add) that is offensive, but the fact that this is the parentally-chosen, government-sanctioned reality of thousands every single day. That is the offense. That is the abomination. To repeat the exhortation: Be aware, and be willing to educate others from their ignorant slumber. Check out the resources of Abort73.com, Eternal Perspectives Ministries, as well as local ministries such as Options360.
Beware “The Pill”
image obtained from http://www.bvwellness.com/
People rarely live lives that are so cut-and-dry as to be unequivocally “black or white,” moral or immoral. Rather, the issue with most people when it comes to morality is that of consistency. Simply put, both within and outside the Church, a major issue is people’s concurrently holding a set of moral propositions to be true and even living in light of these truths, and yet maintaining areas of their lives that remain untouched by their beliefs. To be specific to the issue at hand, millions of Bible-believing Christians maintain that abortion is wrong, yet do not give thought to their use of “the pill,” which is arguably the most popular form of birth control. For the sake of transparency, I must say that in writing this section I am getting very personal, for my wife and I walked the road of disobedience in this area; allow me to explain.
In his book, God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation, Andreas Kostenberger lays out a well-researched presentation of the issues in hormonally based birth control:
There are two basic categories of hormonally based chemical contraceptives: combined and progestin-only contraceptives. Combined contraceptives (containing both estrogen and progestin) come in both an oral form (usually referred to as COCs – combination oral contraceptives – such as Ortho Cyclen or Ortho-trycyclen) and an injectable form (CICs – combined injectable contraceptives – such as Cyclofem and Mesigyna). Progestin-only contraceptives likewise are produced in oral and injectable forms. Progestin-only pills (POPs) contain the hormone progestin and are taken daily, while progestin-only injectable contraceptives (PICs) such as Depo-provera and Noristerat require an injection roughly once every two to three months. Norplant is another version of progestin-based birth control involving a surgical procedure to insert small tubules containing progestin under the skin. This method is said to be effective for years.
According to the Physician’s Desk Reference, all these versions of both combined contraceptives and progestin-only contraceptives work by employing the same three basic mechanisms of action. The first of these is to prevent ovulation (a contraceptive mechanism). The second is to alter the cervical mucus buildup, which increases the difficulty of the sperm entering the uterus and thereby fertilizing the egg (a contraceptive mechanism). The thirst mechanism – in all forms of both combined contraceptive and progestin-only contraceptives – whether intended or not, is to inhibit the endometrium (uterine lining), thereby making it incapable of supporting the life of the newly conceived child should fertilization take place. This third mechanism, then, is not a contraceptive measure but an abortifacient; that is, the mechanism works as a fail-safe means to control birth if the other two mechanisms do not prevent contraception.39
By definition, a contraceptive is something that prevents conception, which is what the grouping of chemical contraceptives collectively known as “the pill” do most of the time. However, they are not error-free – conception still happens for some. It is at this point that the preventative measures built into “the pill” kick into a “damage-control” mode of sorts, turning the contraceptive into an abortifacient, or a means by which the conceived child is expelled from the body. If you have followed the reasoning and evidence presented in “Normalizing the Inconceivable,” then you immediately see the issue. The problem of utilizing “the pill” and birth control methods like it is that – boiled down – it represents an essentially cavalier attitude toward the life of a human child at worst, and ignorance at best.
To return to my story, my wife and I began our marriage by using Ortho-trycyclen Lo, which is squarely in the camp of hormonally based chemical contraceptive. For us, it was a matter of ignorance: We didn’t know that the pill was potentially abortifacient. However, a couple of years into our marriage a friend informed us of its abortifacient mechanism. Being young, going through school, and wanting very much not to become pregnant at that point, we talked the matter through and took a shameful and cowardly approach. Under my spineless leadership, we prayed that God would prevent conception, and we kept on using the pill without much thought at all. It was a spiritual cop-out.
A couple years after that, God dealt with us. Under the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry, we recognized that we took a careless attitude toward the sanctity of human life made in the image of God. We revisited the issue and, to my shame, I realized that my complete lack of biblical leadership in this matter very well may have cost the life of one or more of the children that God had – unbeknownst to us – given into our care. And we may have killed them through our selfish neglect.
Praise be to God, we begged His mercy, repented, and went off the pill earlier than we would have planned. We switched to a morally permissible method of birth control – natural family planning (which, incidentally, is equally reliable as the pill) – and it worked. Then, not long after we began “trying,” we were blessed with the conception of our daughter.
To my countless brothers and sisters in Christ (and those who do not identify with Christ, as well), my strong counsel to you in light of the evidence is this: Please abandon hormonally based contraceptives (including “the pill”) immediately! The thing is, if we were to consider a course of action that could potentially result in the killing of an innocent person, it would be absurd, careless, and indefensible to do it anyway. (And no, the argument cannot be coherently made that this is essentially what happens every time we drive a car.) Please consider how deeply ingrained in our culture it is to go on “the pill,” that the moral implications are almost totally ignored, even within the Church. Take the high road of courage and honor, and write it off in favor of a morally consistent form of contraception, or natural family planning.
Consider Action; Consider Adoption
As a note of conclusion, we may ask the question, What, then, are we to do with these things? Well, for one, as noted earlier, become educated about abortion and educate others for their sakes and the sakes of the unborn who are being led away to the slaughter. As well, resolve to take responsible, wise action. This means making informed decisions regarding who to put into public office. If a candidate were running for a public office who supported the murder of someone outside the womb, how come all of a sudden it’s not a “deal-breaker” when they support abortion? That’s the height of inconsistency. Also, get the word out about abortion, and make it the big deal that it is. There are ways to take action beyond numbering, and some concrete suggestions that take little effort are given in the Online booklet, “A Biblical Mandate to Do Something About Abortion.” And lastly for now, please join me in prayer that the horror of abortion may be eradicated from legislation and societal normalcy. Without prayer, there is not hope. So pray that the matter will be overturned in the Supreme Court, where the decision must ultimately be made, as it was in the Supreme Court that abortion was famously favored in the first place.
Of particular note, I want to pose to you the honor and heroism that is adoption. (The concept of adoption is thoroughly biblical, and I will not here take the time to address its theme throughout Scripture.) One of the ready alternatives on the tip of any anti-abortionist’s tongue is that of adoption, however I wonder if many people seriously consider adoption into their own families as a route they are willing to pursue. My wife and I are intent upon adopting as God gives us the resources and timing, and I would highly commend this noble ministry to all who will hear it.
Experience the Overwhelming Grace of Christ in Repentance
In writing this series of articles I am acutely aware that many who may read these words have either supported abortion or maybe even had one themselves. I have in no way minced words on the matter, as the stakes are too high and the issue too pertinent. However, it is my sincere desire that anyone who has supported abortion or engaged abortion first-hand understand the all-consuming grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Contrary to what some anti-abortionists may seem to say, abortion is not the sin-of-sins – this is reserved for the stubborn rejection of the personal lordship of Jesus Christ until death. Because of this, those who confess the sin of abortion (or the sin of believing that abortion is alright) and truly repent may hold the well-beloved promise of God close to their hearts: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1.9, NASB).
Gracious Father, the God of life, teach us ever more to respect and love all the lives You create. Forgive us our lack of concern and love for those who are yet unborn, who are born with impairments, who are rejected by their parents. Teach us to open our hearts and our homes to all Your children. Forgive us when we are negligent and uncaring for those who are elderly, for those who are forgotten in nursing homes, who merely exist in their old age, who cannot affort medical care, who suffer from a careless society. Teach us to open our hearts, to open our homes and churches, to visit the lonely, to bring Your love into their lives on this earth. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.40
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word” (2 Thessalonians 2.16-17, NASB).
Notes
35“Global Hunger,” Bread for the World, http://www.bread.org/hunger/global/ (accessed September 11, 2011). [Footnotes will continue numerically where the previous post left off.]
36“How many Christians are killed for their faith every year?” Voice of the Martyrs, http://www.persecution.net/faq-stats.htm (accessed September 11, 2011).
37John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 226.
38The Lockman Foundation, New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition (Anaheim, CA: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1995).
39Andreas J. Kostenberger and David W. Jones, God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation, 2nd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004, 2010), 126.
40The Worship Sourcebook (Grand Rapids, MI: The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Faith Alive Christian Resources, Baker Books, 2004), 106.
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