john, 1.26.09
i think it's great that you are picketing abortionists homes and supporting those in prison in the cause seeking to end abortion. Jesus clearly said, 'I was in prison and you came unto me (matthew 25:36;visited me,v.43). the idea is one of watching over someone with the goal of caring for them. i don't know how many who are thus in prison are Jesus' brethren but if there are any such, Jesus says to you, john, 'inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these My brethren, you have done it unto Me' (v.40). although this has nothing to do with granting forgiveness for your sins, it certainly is laudable in the sight of God!
a comment on the liberty tree amendment idea...i may be wrong but i kind of despair of a 'legislative coup' ,as it were, at this point. the liberty tree amendment is a great and sound idea but i don't personally see it as having the means of fulfillment. as i see it there are not enough people, either in political office or among the voting public, to effect a change that would criminalize abortion from a political angle. our moral or Biblical values as a nation are washing away...
on the other hand, i don't see deadly force as the answer either. if we condemn the use of deadly force as it is seen in abortion, we condemn ourselves in the use of it to stop abortion.
on the third hand, i am grieved as i read the latest edition of world magazine which advocates efforts at educating/changing our society's mind and offering greater, more widespread support to women who are likely to abort for reasons of 'peer' pressure, avoidance of 'shame', perceived financial inability, etc. not that i'm necessarily against these things but i guess, to me, it smacks of reasoning with little johnny for having just chocked his little sister to death. sure, the line goes, there are still over a million a year murdered in this way but it's lessening due to these efforts...i want to vomit... my mind keeps returning to isaiah 1:17...'seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan'... isaiah has just said, 'hear the word of the Lord, you rulers (politicians) of sodom; give ear to the law of your God, you people of gomorrah' (v.10). so it seems either our politicians do it or we must. the only other acceptable path i see remaining is what gandhi called satyagraha (firmness for the truth). i cannot fight fire (murder) with fire. education, help, political remedies do not seem to match the offense either. but i can, i am thinking, speak out clearly that this is unacceptable, can clearly tell government officials that this must change and then (with no acceptable response) take some nonviolent, noncooperative, symbolic action to defend the murdered orphan with the result being jailed...a jail term that either extends to the limit of my life whether by one sentence or a number (ie. every time released after serving my sentence i would immediately provoke another arrest by repetition of the same symbolic action). this is one citizen saying, 'if you will not give up murdering the innocent, i will not support you but will welcome your stiffest penalty...i would prefer the death penalty. if you kill the babies, be consistent. kill those who take their lot with the babies. paul clearly writes 'there is no power except of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. therefore whoever resists the power resists the ordinance of God and those who resist shall receive condemnation upon themselves' (romans> 13:1-2) this paul wrote when emporer nero (the one who used christians for torches to light up the night) was in power. we have no right as individuals to 'govern' when government fails. God knows what He is about. but neither should we be complicit in evil. in daniel the three hebrew children, ordered to bow down to the golden image of nebuchadnezzar, a direct affront to the commandment of God against idols, said to nebuchadnezzar, 'be it known unto you oh king that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up' (3:18). one the one hand, i am a part of a government that purports to be of and by the people...a government that 'legalizes' premeditated murder in abortion. on the other hand, i am commanded not to murder by my God. i believe myself to be complicit in the ongoing murder of the babies. i believe i must do something to extricate myself from that complicity. is there not another way? education, support and political involvement seem to fall so short. they seem to be rationalizations, excuses...'who loses his life for My sake will find it' echos in my spirit...am i crazy? i ask myself but hear no answer... you ask me, why are you not in jail? i do not have a good answer for you but hopefully i will sooner than later. if everyone in montgomery county, where i live, surrounded the planned parenthood where i bear witness of opposition to their abortions every friday morning...let's see, that would be several million people...everyone who did not want to be brutally murdered unawares in their sleep...say for a couple weeks maybe the state of pennsylvania would declare it a capital offense to have an abortion and we could invoke the doctrine of interposition so that the central government stayed out of this business...so i dream...and so i illustrate the power, or lack of it, that seems to come with numbers. but having said that i think of an amazing verse in ezekiel that i have been attracted to and been thinking about lately. 'the people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery and have vexed the poor and needy, yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. and I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none'. (22:29-30) ... stephen paine
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