Monday, October 20, 2008

The Upcoming Election


I know how divisive talk of politics can be, so I am going to try to make this my last post on the subject.  After all, I've already voted, and I doubt anything I can say is going to change anyone's mind.  

And let me hasten to add that a lot of my Christian brothers and sisters are supporting the opposite candidate in this national election.  I bear them no ill will, and I support their right to think and decide for themselves. 

I also know that God rules in the affairs of men, so God is going to work through whoever wins this election. "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord," so God can and WILL work through either candidate to accomplish his eternal will.  

At the same time, God also expects us, his children, to be salt and light in our community, and a light has to shine.  God has given me a voice, and I know he expects me to use it.  I care passionately about many issues--one in particular--and I cannot hold my tongue while people argue about tax rates and political parties.  And since this is my own little corner of cyberspace, I am going to hold forth and pontificate for a few moments.

Last night I watched a movie on DVD: Karol: A Man who Became Pope. It was a biopic about Pope John Paul II, who was a young man under the Nazi oppression of Poland. He witnessed the disenfranchisement and destruction of an entire people group--the Polish Jews--and saw how the Nazis and then the communists tried to destroy individual freedom. He believed that through God's love, the value of human life and human freedom could be--and ought to be--restored.  I completely agree with him. 

In March 1857, in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford, the United States Supreme Court ruled that all blacks—slaves as well as free--were not and could never be citizens of the United States. As to the Constitution, which declares that all men are created equal, Justice Taney wrote that “it is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration . . . .”

The members of the court who ruled against the African-American Dred Scott apparently bought into Hamlet’s argument that “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

Hamlet would have no problem justifying the disintegration of people to property.

But Hamlet’s argument is false. Some acts violate moral decency and divine laws.  But in 1857 it was more "politically correct"  to buy into the Supreme Court's argument that blacks were not human and could be bought and sold.  In Hitler's Germany, it was more expedient to accept the idea that the Jews were not human and could be worked to death or exterminated. And today, millions of people have bought the argument that unborn babies are not human so they can be eliminated whenever "inconvenient." 

I find it supremely ironic that Obama, a man of color, is supporting another Supreme Court decision--Roe v. Wade--that proclaims that an entire category of human beings is not deserving of protection under the U.S. Constitution.  Obama voted against an Illinois bill that would provide medical care for aborted babies born alive. (These babies were taken to closets and left to die).  Not even the National Abortion Rights League went so far as to oppose that bill. He also refused to support a ban on partial-birth abortion, when a living baby is almost completely removed from the womb (all but the infant's head), and then brutally killed. 

On April 2, 2008, the Washington Post, hardly a conservative paper, reported:  "But Obama's record on abortion is extreme. He opposed the ban on partial-birth abortion -- a practice a fellow Democrat, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, once called "too close to infanticide." Obama strongly criticized the Supreme Court decision upholding the partial-birth ban. In the Illinois state Senate, he opposed a bill similar to the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act, which prevents the killing of infants mistakenly left alive by abortion. And now Obama has oddly claimed that he would not want his daughters to be "punished with a baby" because of a crisis pregnancy -- hardly a welcoming attitude toward new life."

 What if the issue today were not abortion, but slavery?  Would the Democratic Party, would Obama, say that "No one likes slavery, that's why we're trying to make it rare. But we can't deny slaveholders the right to choice.  And we can't even think about overturning a Supreme Court decision." 

If you lived in 1857, would you agree with the Supreme Court, or would you join the abolitionist cause?  If you lived in Hitler's occupation of Poland, would you be hiding Jews or closing your eyes to the destruction? You are living now--what will you do with your vote? 

My friends, I don't think I will ever agree 100 percent with any particular politician.  But if this were 1857, I'm pretty sure I'd be an abolitionist, even though I'm a child of the South.  Being a Southern abolitionist would subject me, I'm sure, to the same scorn pro-life women feel today.  (If you don't believe that pro-life women are scorned, just watch a couple of episodes of THE VIEW.) 

This issue is important in this election because our Supreme Court judges are aging, and the next President will choose their replacements.  Even if the present court does not lose any members in the next four years, a pro-life candidate holds certain truths--namely, that ALL life is created by God and deserves protection, especially in its most vulnerable form. This point of view influences all kinds of decisions; it is a specific world view, not just an opinion on abortion. 

I know most people these days are thinking about the economy, the war, and gas prices. They're worried about themselves and their families.  Well, my friends, we who believe in God know that there's a lot more to life than house payments and mortgages. We are commanded to be heavenly minded, not earthly-worried, and we know that the Father who takes care of sparrows and daisies will care for us. 

An eternal issue is staring us in the face--an issue that speaks as clearly about belief in God as anything imaginable. Don't for a moment think that abortion is simply about a woman's right to choose. It goes much deeper than that. The abortion issue is about whether or not life is God-created. If it is, man has no right to destroy it in the bloom of innocence.  If it is merely an evolutionary by-product, then who cares? 

Who, indeed?  

~~Angie 


24 comments:

Cindy Swanson said...

Thank you for being a courageous voice, Angela. This is a very serious issue that needs to be emphasized as we step into the voting booth.

SmilingSally said...

Well said, Angie! I too am a Proud Pro-Life advocate, and I voted for the only choice available.

Kay Day said...

I know several Christians who have grown weary of voting on a single issue. They mention that it hasn't changed anything yet. And that may be true to some extent. But the thing is, if someone thinks it's ok to murder babies--if that's how their logic and judgement work -- do I want them making other decisions for me?

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Angie, for this strong but critically important piece today. Your comparisons were valid and well thought out. And, Kay, your extrapolation is spot on. Would we indeed want that kind of person guiding other decisions for us. It is ultimately the character of the candidate, and how he has so far addressed each issue put before him, that should guide us in placing our vote in a couple of weeks. May God have mercy on our beautiful country. Clyde

Unknown said...

Well said Angie. I too continue to speak as loudly as possible concerning this issue. It is foundational. How can you speak of "the least of these" and ignore the very least and most innocent of all. Who is more an orphan than a baby whose mother wants him dead? Fight the culture. Vote pro-life and support your local crisis pregnancy center.

Suzanne said...

I agree wholeheartedly. It saddens me when people can't look beyond the price of gas. BUT we are to think heavenly minded. Even if the worst is to happen we can't be afraid. Even the Bible says it'll get worse before it gets better!

Megan DiMaria said...

Preach it, Angie!

Even before I became a Christian I was pro-life. I get more passionate with each passing year.

When I speak with pro-abortion people, I never, ever use the term pro-choice. That term is the best example of PR-speak ever invented. It masks the issue. It's an issue of life or death.

A prisoner of hope
Megan

Mocha with Linda said...

Thank you, thank you for being a voice. As a believer and as a nurse, it simply boggles my mind that people can be so blase about the procedures you described. It is heartbreaking.

And I get so aggravated with the mantra of "pro-choice." The vast majority of these women indeed did have a choice. It's called self-control and abstinence.

Doni Brinkman said...

Angie - well stated! I have had a hard time with this choice (though I am voting the McCain/Palin ticket). Not because I would EVER vote Obama but because McCain does not meet my criteria for a Pro Life candidate either. He has a history of supporting embryonic stem cell research so while he considers himself pro-life, he has been unwilling to defend life at the point of conception.

Pamela S. Meyers said...

Preach it, sister!!!

I am so appalled at the way the majority of people in this country is going, virtually ignoring or refusing to read about the candidate of their choice.

I sat here watching the debate last week with a dear sister in the Lord. She admittedly isn't as well informed about the election or the candidates and boy did she get an earful from me that night LOL. As I told her, Obama's voting and stand on abortion, and in particular, late term abortion is reason enough. It goes to his character, same as his glossing over his associations with Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright, and others. Total lack of judgment. If he didn't think they were people of ill-repute why did he feel the need to gloss over and make little of his association with them?

I live in Illinois and I can tell you O. is no savior. He says now that he'll change the world. Well, I just read in Acts this morning how Herod-Agrippa believed the people who worshiped him and God caused him to get sick and die. I'm not wishing that on O. at all, but it reminded me that God is in control and as it says in Daniel, He seats and unseats kings.

There's still time to speak out and pray, folks.

Affording the Mouse said...

Excellent post, Angie. Yes, I too am tired of talking/thinking election. But it's just too important not to. I remember when I voted in my first election, I had friends who couldn't believe that I would support a particular candidate primarily because of his stance on abortion. What about the other issues? they asked. (In reality, I did agree with the candidate on many of the other issues as well.) My response: no other issue matters to me as much as the sanctity of life. I worry about our economic and foreign policies, but these issues pale in comparison to abortion.It's such a big issue, and we're sliding down a very slippery slope with every decision that supports and builds on Roe v.Wade.

Lisa said...

Well said, Angie! I am not a very "political" person at all. I don't really care to hear all the debates and arguements, because it has always come down to one issue for me. The sanctity of life. I've been told I'm ignorant for only voting for someone based on that one fact, but for me, that's it. To me supporting the most helpless people (yet-to-be born babies) is foundational. If they care for life that God Himself has created, I can hope they will make good decisions for the rest of us. That's how I choose.

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

My mantra has been, "I may a be a one-issue voter, but this one issue trumps all the others, especially any monetary issues."

Tyson Wynn said...

Angie,

Very good post. This one issue is worth being a single issue for people because of the lives involved.

And here's the thing: it takes a LOOOOOOOONG time to change the Supreme Court, and it's done piece by piece (person by person). We have had some very good recent appointees. Of the remaining court, the two most liberal justices are Stevens and Ginsburg. Stevens is 88. Ginsburg is in ill health. It is likely (though not guaranteed) that they will both exit during the next administration. If Obama wins, I expect them both to go. If McCain wins, they might try to wait one more term, but it might not be possible.

The only way pro-lifers are going to be able to make progress is if liberal seats on the Court can be converted to conservative seats. We have a chance of that with McCain. We have absolutely no chance of it with Obama, and in fact are almost certainly guaranteed that Obama will install the most liberal justices the court has seen in years, who will be young and ready to serve long terms.

Thanks for being bold and showing how important this issue is in this election.

Anonymous said...

Amen, all.

Character. If you can exterminate unborn children and defend it, what are you?

Anonymous said...

I so agree with you, Angie. This is a fundamental issue for me. But I also believe as you wrote: time,elections, leaders are all in God's hand and His to command. I am praying fervently for a leader who will bend the knee before the King of kings.

Blessings,
Kerry

Anonymous said...

Hear! Hear!

Bj

Anonymous said...

amen, amen!

Anonymous said...

Amen,Angie. And we each must do what we can, wherever God has placed us. The issues you refer to are exactly what agitated me so that I had to write on my website about Truth being a victim in this election cycle. The manner in which the language is stretched and distorted, yet is believed by so many tells me this IS a spiritual battle.

I used to live in Illinois, sat in church, prayed with and for, and demonstrated alongside the nurse who highlighted the Infant Born Alive issue. (At, incredibly enough, a hospital called Christ Hospital!) To listen to Obama distort the facts is disgusting.

God bless you, sister. And yes--let's all pray for our nation. Only God's mercy and His people's petitions and right actions will move our nation back toward Him.

Mary Kay

Rachel Leigh Smith said...

This very issue is why I cannot vote for the McCain/Palin ticket and I would never be able to vote for Obama. For the first time I'm voting third-party, for a candidate who believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned and has the guts to say it publicly. His name is Charles Baldwin and he's running on the Constitution Party ticket.

I cannot vote for someone who supports embryonic stem cell research. There's the whole sanctity of life issue, but there's also the scientific issues. Embryonic cells are extremely unstable and 75% of the time the tissue grown from them becomes cancerous. Why on earth would you want to give someone something that's probably going to kill them? Cord blood stem cells are the most promising aspect of this field, but you don't see anyone campaigning for more funding for that one.

Anonymous said...

I do not believe either candidate has a consistent pro-life stance, which I personally believe encompasses more than life before birth.

Alexia said...

I've just learned of your blog via the back flap of one of your books :) And I have to say, I love this post. It's nice to hear someone else *who is alot more popular than I am* LOL standing up for Christian values and babies lives!

Dawn said...

Beautiful post!
We've robbed our nation and our world of so many people that had so much to offer. Maybe we've aborted the person that would cure cancer. Or maybe this economic disaster could have been prevented by the world's greatest economist. The economist that never got the chance to live.

Anonymous said...

Few things grieve my heart the way the abortion issue does.

Have you seen Jill Stanek's website? She has been a strong ally in the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Her site has a link to Obama's testimony against the initiative. (posted 9/19/08)

This election is crucial. I am praying constantly for God's provision of godly leadership for our nation.