A Christian Response to Sexual Assault and Reproductive Assault (Sanctity of Life)

    In the discussion around abortion, I have heard this argument made a number of times, which says that as a man, I have no way of understanding what a pregnant woman goes through and thus should have no say on the legality or morality of a woman's choice regarding abortion.
   I totally agree that I can never fully understand what a pregnant woman undergoes (and, no matter what modern science might engineer, I never want to). However, to say that I am unable to have an opinion on the morality and legality of an action due to the nature of my genitalia is ridiculous, sexist and totally untrue. As it happens, I don't have an opinion but I have moral precepts that The Holy Spirit has embedded in me through reading His Word in The Bible. And God makes clear that He knows us even before He forms us in our mother's wombs. (Jeremiah 1:5) He also hates the shedding of innocent blood. (See Proverbs 6:16-19)
     What's funny to me is the inconsistency I hear with this idea. Some people who don't claim to be Christians will sometimes bring Bible verses to my attention where God authorizes the killing of people, including babies and thus they make the claim that it must be okay Biblically. I then explain that those verses are being read out of context and that those verses are generally either part of God's judgement of sin and/or part of imprecatory prayers. Of course, as 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, people without Christ will not understand The Bible because it's spiritually discerned. So I explain that you need to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord to really understand His Scriptures. (And you can do that by putting faith in His death and Resurrection that pays for all sins and following Him.)
    So the irony here is that while I'm being told that I can't judge to say what a woman should or shouldn't do regarding abortion because of being a man- and this position supported by Bible verses taken out-of-context- non-Christian people who tell me this can't understand and judge to tell me what the Scriptures say because of not being a Christian.
    As it turns out, you do need the Holy Spirit to understand The Bible, but you don't have to have the Holy Spirit in you to know that murder is wrong. (See Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Romans 1-2)
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   Having here addressed one of the common objections to men even speaking on the topic of abortion, I want to further address some other radical claims that have been made in recent years regarding abortion and sexual responsibility in a post from a Mormon mother that famously went viral online. It offers many interesting ideas, some of which I agree with and others I disagree with as well.
     Even the terminology used can be off-putting at times. People in favour of abortions as a legal right often speak of the reproductive rights of mothers. I find it interesting to use the term "reproductive rights" because pro-life people are not trying to take those away by any means. Rather, they want mothers to utilize those rights and reproduce rather than kill the baby forming inside them. That said, here is my analysis and response to the aforementioned viral post.
     There are a lot of points made on this thread but I'll try to briefly address the main ones that stick out to me. First of all, I totally agree with her that sex outside of marriage is one of the main reasons for unwanted pregnancies! I totally agree that sex should be reserved for marriage and that would eliminate the vast majority of abortions.
   Sadly, many choose not to do this and wind up having a baby form due to their sexual activity. The male and female are not married and have no intention of getting married or being parents- and thus, the baby is killed via abortion. The parents might choose to get married and still have an abortion. The parents might just live together and never get married and still choose an abortion. It could be a baby formed through an adulterous relationship and thus abortion might again be employed.
The scenarios could continue but that covers a lot of them.
And there are times when a married couple has a baby form and abortion is chosen because the child is inconvenient for them.
    All of those are horrible options that basically amount to abortion as post-conception birth control and it does equate to murder.
     The other scenario mentioned, which statistically happens far fewer times as the reason for abortion, is rape.
   I agree that the rapist must bear responsibility for this crime and while it may sound harsh, I think either jail and/or castration could be the response to help stop that.
(Though for the latter option, the courts obviously better be as near undeniably sure as possible.)
   Rape is a horrible, evil crime- but even then, it still takes 2 people to make a baby. And unwanted pregnancies are not always because of rape.
Scientifically speaking at least along with morally speaking, it's untrue to say unwanted pregnancies are 100% the fault of men. (Though yes, I would concede that the blame should fall squarely on the rapist and the rapist is 100% at fault for rape. I don't care if the woman was stark naked with a "Rape Me" sign on her back, the rapist is 100% responsible for his crime. (And to be clear, women are rapists at times too- I have known men who have been sexually abused by their ex-wives- and in such cases, the rapist there is 100% at fault for her crime.))
    To get back to cases of consensual sex, there are numerous pregnancies that occur that are unwanted by either the man or the woman though both wanted the coitus.
With sex comes responsibility. It is like a car in some ways. You can get a licence to drive but you must accept the responsibilities that come with it. A car is not a toy. Sex is not a toy either. Sex is a beautiful expression of love between a husband and his wife- that is who it's reserved for and when it's kept in that context, it's a beautiful thing. Outside of that context, it's an ugly mess. And both the man and woman are responsible for their own actions and thus both men and women are 100% responsible for unwanted pregnancies.
     The very rare cases where abortion is performed to save the life of a mother are usually performed in a manner where emergency work is being done to save the mother's life and not purposefully kill the baby. That is sometimes an unfortunate byproduct, but not the desired result. Ideally, doctors should do all they can to preserve all life, both mothers and babies.
   I can agree with comprehensive sex education in schools because I know not everyone will choose to employ abstinence until marriage. (Abstinence until marriage is the morally correct route that I would prefer but I know not everyone is a Christian and even Christians sometimes fail too.) Thus, it's good to have this education- that's not a bad thing.
   Rape is a horrible, evil act- no one should rape anyone. Rapists should be caught and imprisoned. (As I mentioned earlier, castration is another possible solution.)
And to be clear, I don't think abortion should be done in the case of rape because two wrongs don't make a right. It's still wrong to kill a baby. Don't punish the baby for the father's crime. It's worth noting that, as Matthew 1 relates, Jesus' own genealogy on Earth included people born of rape and incest and adulterous relationships. This doesn't make any of those things right but it does mean God redeems even those horrible deeds when we let Him. And God also forgives us of those horrible deeds when we truly repent.
    Sex should be reserved for marriage. That will eliminate the vast majority of abortions that happen.
     The focus should be put on both men and women because both are responsible. The baby formed has his or her own body and is not part of the mother's body. It's not the mother's choice- it's always The Father's. (Yes, note the capital letter- God the Father is the One who decides who lives and dies alone.)
Men and women don't have the right to murder and we don't have the right to decide to end a baby's life- that's still murder. And when we do that, we make ourselves our own god- and that's what it all comes down to in the end. It mainly comes down to us doing what's convenient for us and trying to escape consequences. But we can't escape consequences. We must take responsibility for our actions. (And this includes making sure, as best as we can, that we're prepared to handle a baby's birth. But guess what? No one is really totally prepared to handle a baby's birth- yet a man and his wife have babies anyway and they sacrifice to provide for them because that's their responsibility as well as their pride and joy.)
   And in all this, remember that God is always willing still to forgive us of premarital sex and adultery and incest and rape- when we come to Him in true repentance. Jesus died and rose to pay for all those sins.
   And we must trust Him to help us through in dealing with this unexpected pregnancy and parenthood. And the option of adoption is a wonderful one to employ as well as there are so many infertile married couples- as well as those who are fertile- who would love to adopt these children instead. These babies have a right to live and we have no right to stop them.

Absorption

To briefly address a few points commonly raised about abortion, I just wanted to point out a few things. Let's be clear on terms first. Abortion is ending the life of a human being. Whether you want to call what's growing in the mother's womb a bunch of cells, fetus or a baby- the being has 100% human DNA. Having 100% human DNA would classify one to be a human being to me.

That is the biggest question regarding morality. If it's not really a human being, then the morality is akin to eating a fried chicken egg- since it wasn't fertilized, you're not killing a chicken to do so.

If it is a human being, then you're taking the life of someone else against their will, also known as murder.

   We should at least be honest enough to admit this much.

   I have heard a number of concerns raised in favour of abortion and one guiding principle I would say in response to them is that you reap what you sow. And we must all, men and women, be willing to take responsibility for our actions- and the government employs laws to help us do so in some cases.

   The best method to prevent many abortions would be to reserve sexual relations only for the bonds of holy matrimony- one man and one woman for life.

    (This is of course the original design of God and His command, as laid out in Genesis 2:24 before the fall of man and reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 19. As I am a Christian, I hold to that, but no- I don't expect any non-Christians to do so, though a number of other religions would hold to this too. America is not a theocracy and I don't wish it to be one and thus, I realize you can't force someone to maintain celibacy until marriage.) Nonetheless, the government can pass laws forbidding murder and it has done so (even though those laws are also based upon the Judeo-Christian heritage of faith influence in the US too. But most every country and people of most religious stripes or none accept this.)

  To address the Biblical claims mentioned, it cannot be stressed enough that The Bible, like any other book, must be read in context, which means considering the time and place it was written and to whom and recognizing the type of language used, etc. Of course, The Bible is unique in that it is spiritually discerned and thus the mind of natural man does not receive it, as 1 Corinthians 2:14 says. (Thus, it is necessary to be a follower of Christ and have the Holy Spirit inside opening our eyes and minds to the Scripturesto fully understand it.)

   2 Kings 15 speaks of some of the Kings of Israel. In reading through this book, one notices a pattern. Some Kings are described as having done what is good in the sight of The Lord. Some are described as having done what is evil in the sight of The Lord. It is true that 2 Kings 15:16 states that Menahem ripped open all the women who were pregnant in Tipshah. If we continue reading through verse 18, we see that The Bible says that Menahem did what was evil in the sight of The Lord. Thus, we cannot conclude from verse 16 that God condoned the death of pregnant women or their children, much less commanded it.

   Hosea 13:16 is part of a larger passage where God is bringing an indictment against Israel and Judah for sin. In verse 16, He says that Samaria shall bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. As punishment, the Samaritan people shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

It is important to note that God did not command anyone here to do these things- He said they will happen as punishment for sin. God is not wantonly allowing death and destruction to happen out of arbitrariness. He has a reason- it is punishment for sin. And as the only Righteous Judge of the earth, He has the power, position and authority to mete out that judgment as He sees fit. He is the Potter and we are the clay and He can do whatever He wants with His creation. And God is consistent to maintain His standards and the consequences He puts in place for when we break His laws. Deuteronomy 27-30 explains God's covenant with Israel quite clearly. God plainly told the people that they would be cursed if they disobeyed Him, some of those curses including the fruit of their wombs being cursed and that they would be destroyed and quickly perish. Exodus 20:5-6 also says that God punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generations but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments. (Note how the outpouring of His love for obedience outlasts the length of His punishment by about 996 to 997 years.

(It's also important to note that many numbers in The Bible have figurative meanings and not all are meant to be taken literally.)

God always keeps His promises and covenants. Hosea 13:16 is evidence of this.

   Furthermore, other places in The Bible use this same phrase and clearly identify it as evil. (See 2 Kings 8:11-12 and Amos 1:13. In the verse in Amos, God says that He will punish the Ammonites for the evil practice of ripping open pregnant women.)

   (Here is a quick article about this phrase where both the verses mentioned in 2 Kings and Hosea are discussed.

https://claudemariottini.com/2014/06/19/ripping-open-pregnant-women/)

   Another worth mentioning is that as a Christian, I also believe those babies would also have gone to eternity with Lord Jesus in Heaven, as 2 Samuel 12 would seem to indicate. But woe to the one who sent them there by slaughtering them! Jesus said if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble into sin, it'd be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea. (See Matthew 18:1-6) I think Jesus clearly loves children including babies.

He says in Jeremiah 1:5 that before He formed him (i.e. Jeremiah) in the womb, He knew him and set him apart before he was born. Note that it says specifically that God formed him, not his mother. And 1 Corinthians 6 says our bodies are temples of The Holy Spirit and we belong to The Lord (for all who have trusted Jesus as Saviour and Lord.) Romans 14:8 says whether we live or die, we belong to The Lord. Psalms 24:1 says the earth is The Lord's and everything in it! Thus- whether we believe in Him and follow Him or not- we all belong to God as part of His creation.

So if it's anyone's body in pregnancy, both the woman's body and the baby's body belong to The Lord and He has said that we shall not kill. (Exodus 20:13)

Isaiah 66:7-9 further confirm that it is The Lord who causes the baby to come forth in the womb. Isaiah 44:24 reiterates that The Lord is the One who forms us in the womb and Psalms 139 says the same thing.

   Proverbs 6 says that He hates the shedding of innocent blood. There are numerous other Bible verses that make clear that God abhors the shedding of innocent blood. In reading the totality of Scripture, I find impressed upon me how much God loves the helpless and weak victims and despises any violence against them.

   As I said, there are other passages that could be mentioned, but the main point here is that The Bible tells us how much God loves all people. He doesn't want any to perish but all to come to repentance. That's why Jesus died and rose- to pay for all our sins. If we believe that God raised Him from the dead and confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we will be saved! (Romans 10:9-13) And then when we follow Him in obedience, we become more and more like Him and come to see people as He does- people made in His image who are eternally loved whose lives we must protect and preserve rather than destroy them.

Season for the Reason: Parenthood- Planned or Unplanned, It's all in His hands

Note: This is another entry that is based on real life conversations and questions raised regarding morality and our responsibility. My post here is based on the following post at Ravishly.com

I am only seeking here to present a Biblical response to the idea of abortion, always remembering that we must speak the Truth in Love and extend grace to everyone in our dealings on these difficult matters.

o    Nice piece of satire indeed. I don't agree with it all, but that's okay. I always get confused about the second point though. Surely there's a bit more to abstinence-based sex education than that, right? I would want students to be aware of safe sex procedures regarding condoms and birth control and so forth-but I also would want to encourage students to reserve sexual activity for the marriage bed alone. (Of course, I'm not naive enough to think everyone will choose to do so, but we can rest assured that it really won't happen if no effort is made to instill this as the best choice for sexual health and the best moral choice. [I know people will have differences on opinion on that second point though- but because of my Biblical view from my faith in Christ, I believe that God designed sexual intercourse to only happen between a man and a woman in the bonds of holy matrimony. Anything else is a perversion of His creation and a violation of His laws.])

Leaving the religious and moral arguments aside though, I think it is simply a matter of logic that should be impressed to students that it is simply not a good idea for teenagers to get pregnant as they are generally wholly unprepared for the responsibility that comes with children and they often are unable to complete schooling and of course, will possibly face ridicule with a reputation as a slut, as the article pointed out. [And I don't think that ridicule is right of course- I don't think we need to have Hester Prynne walking around with that red scarlet letter 'A' emblazoned on her blouse. I would also hold Roger Chillingsworth to that 'A' as well- but it helps neither one to ridicule them and that's not right anyway.]

Teenagers and people in general should certainly have information; as a librarian, I would highly encourage them to come to their local library for such information. The library strongly believes in freedom of information (so this means information from all points of view) and many do offer programs for this particular topic of sexual activity and healthcare.

I would also like to think that there are some men of moral character that, given the possibility of being pregnant, would not be getting abortions like going through a drive-through. (Again, this gets into the issue of the morality of abortion, which of course, is where the contention lies in this matter.)

If Planned Parenthood were simply providing information regarding sex and birth control and sex control while they're at it, along with cancer screenings and health checkups- I would have no problem funding such a program. I don't believe in funding abortion, which is a process that kills babies. I believe murder to be both morally wrong and legally wrong.

The two issues that seem to come up the most are in regards to the definition of life itself and when and where it begins, as well as the rights that men and women have in controlling their bodies. Of course, men and women are already limited in the rights they have to control their bodies. Laws from the government force all people to clothe their bodies on the upper torso and legs and particularly over private parts. Other laws restrict the use of drugs for recreational use in people's bodies. Other laws restrict the sale of alcohol and tobacco products (and thereby intending to limit the use of alcohol and tobacco products as well) in the bodies of minors. There are even some laws in some places that restrict the consumption of particular beverages and food products that are otherwise legal in the bodies of men and women.

Thus, it would not seem inconsistent for the government to issue a law regarding the control of a woman's body, insofar as requiring the woman to refrain from destroying the life placed in her through coitus. It would be great to see the law also require a man as well as a woman to refrain from the act of coitus itself outside the bonds of holy matrimony. However, this would be legislating morality, which I don't particularly believe works anyway, as it doesn't really produce a genuine heart change on the parts of people. (The only One who can do that is Jesus Christ. And I believe He desires people to come put their faith in His death and Resurrection for forgiveness of their sins willingly- and then, as an act of obedience to Him in gratitude for His saving work, in conjunction with the convicting and molding work of The Holy Spirit, willingly choose to follow Him in all His laws, and in this case, particularly the ones regarding sexuality.) And certainly I don't believe that can or should be forced upon non-Christians. I would want people to willingly choose to abstain from sexual contact until marriage and reserve it only for that special expression of love between a man and a woman on the marriage bed, not the cheap and casual thing that so many make it to be, sadly.

However, since many will not choose that, it is necessary to provide sound sexual education.

In that education, it would be good to define where life starts. In a worldview that for many evolution is accepted as that origin point, it is easy to see how the developmental stage of babies still in the womb is disregarded as nothing more than "a clump of cells", as I noticed one commenter referred to the result of procreation. After all, in an evolutionary worldview, human beings themselves were, at some point, nothing more than "a clump of cells" that slowly turned into increasingly progressing lifeforms, both in form and complexity.

This gets to the other question that is so often raised in this matter. It seems very weird, to say the least, that most every expectant mother I have ever known or heard of, most always seems to refer to the growth within her uterus as her baby, rather than her foetus or embryo or clump of cells or "parasite that's killing her", as I noticed another commenter say. [That last one was in the case of a pregancy that was causing medical problems for the mother, I believe.]

Also, seeing that Webster's Dictionary defines a child as "an unborn or recently born person", it would seem that "child" is another fitting term for the union of sperm and egg. [The root word apparently is akin to Goth kilthei [i.e. womb] and perhaps to Skt. jathara [i.e. belly] Both terms would seem to be referring, in ancient terminology, to the uterus.]

That is the moral dilemma that surrounds the matter, as I see it. The government has made its ruling, of course, and as a Christian, I am bound to respect the laws of my country, of course (since God is the one who put the government in power and He's the One who can take it down as well- see Romans 13). However, there is also a call in The Bible to stand and fight for justice to "the least of these" [see Matthew 25 and Isaiah 1:16-20, among others.]. God also states repeatedly that He hates the "shedding of innocent blood". [see Proverbs 6:16-19, Deuteronomy 19:1-13, Deuteronomy 21:1-9, 2 Kings 21:16, 2 Kings 24:4, Psalms 106:36-42, Jeremiah 7:1-15, Isaiah 59, numerous others.] And, of course, there are times when "we must obey God rather than men." [Acts 5:29]

(The account of the midwives refusing to obey Pharaoh's order to slaughter the Hebrew baby boys in Egypt, as related in Exodus 1, is a great example. God dealt well with them and blessed them with families because they feared Him.)

In conclusion, to clarify one other point often raised, let me say that all life is infinitely valuable and eternally loved by God. (see Jeremiah 1:5, Jeremiah 31:3 and others.) This is because all human beings are made in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26-31) And I value and love the lives of not only innocent babies, but also the mothers and fathers who are driven to such extremes that they feel they must make the choice to have an abortion. I always want to consider their plight and consider how best I can help them and love them.

I think the government should seek to support and help all parties involved and provide the resources needed as much as possible, as I have discussed earlier. However, I think the government should also make a stand against allowing the slaughter of human life at any stage of development.

I know this is a very touchy and tough subject for many people and I also want to clarify that I mean no disrespect or disregard for the concerns, feelings and rights of others. This certainly includes those who may vastly disagree with me. I am also called by Jesus to love them as much as I love myself. (Matthew 22:34-40) So let's seek to love one another and come together to see how we can work together to minimize abortions at the least and increase healthcare and support for pregnant women and sexual education for people (something I think most people agree on) and be willing to listen to each other in the conversation regarding the morality of the matter- and how we want to be defined as a people in regards to what is acceptable or not. 

 

A Baby's Cry To The Lord (song)

I'm cutting right to the chase on this one, crew. I had the idea for this parody song a while back and I've waited a while to post it. It actually worked out to be good timing along with my last two devotional posts, as both of those inform the approach I am taking with this song. I want to make sure that I make clear that I offer this as a voice crying in the wilderness, looking to speak truth and life to a controversial issue of our day. Keep in mind that you can't always say everything you want to say in a song, but I hope some things come across very clearly in this piece. For one, we are all sinners in need of the Savior's forgiveness. And secondly, no matter what you've done, Jesus Christ loves you with an unending love- in fact, Jeremiah 31:3 says that God has loved us with an everlasting love! And that eternal Love has restored our relationship to God through Jesus' death and Resurrection if we will only trust Him in faith for it. And though we still deal with the consequences of a sin-fallen world, one day He will ultimately right all wrongs and make everything sad come untrue.

A Baby's Cry To The Lord
(parody of "(I Just) Died In Your Arms" by Cutting Crew; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 3/4/2014)
(Ecclesiastes 11:5, Job 33:8-18, Job 10:8-12, Job 1:20-22, Job 34:10-22, Job 34:31-33, 1 Samuel 24, 1 Samuel 26, Genesis 2, Romans 1, Romans 2:14-16, Hosea 2, Hosea 11, Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17, Isaiah 65:17-25, Psalms 27:10, Genesis 9:1-7, Matthew 19:13-15, Matthew 18:1-14, Matthew 21:15-16, Psalms 116:15, 1 John 1:7-10, Psalms 130, Amos 5:24, Amos 5:14-15, Ecclesiastes 12:7, Ecclesiastes 7:27-29, Proverbs 31:8-9, Colossians 1:13-23, Romans 5, Isaiah 49:13-18, Isaiah 49:1-7, Jeremiah 1:5, Genesis 1:26-27, Psalms 140:12, Isaiah 57:3-6, Psalms 143, Genesis 4:1-18 (especially v. 10), Psalms 139:13-18, Proverbs 6:16-19, Isaiah 5:20-21, Isaiah 66:7-16, Revelation 21:1-5)

(Pre-Chorus)
Oh, I, I just died in your arms tonight
I must have been one of "those kids"
They'll just pry out my skull and spine

(Verse 1)
She kept looking for love but got pregnant
Broken hearts and lies all surround her
Abortion seems an easy way to get out of this

The Bible says- Isaiah 49- hey, ya'll
God forms us in the womb- knows us before the cradle
Who would've thought that our liberty would come to this?

(Chorus 1)
Oh, I, I just died in your arms tonight
I guess my mom had a death wish
Better I go than Mom tonight
"Just a zygote" quells qualms- not child
I guess we get one life to live
Unless you're borne of rape; unless you're their mistake

(Verse 2)
Is there any just cause for choosing life's end?
Job asserted The Lord takes and He gives
Colossians 1:17- by Christ all things exist

Life lost its value- didn't start with Roe v. Wade
(In) 5 Romans, the pox has been given by Fall's stain
So baby's killed from adultery and everyone's fine?

(Chorus 2)
Oh, (but) I, I just died in your arms tonight
Through murder- and yes, it's a sin!
I'll just fly to the arms of Christ
That's why Christ just died for our sins and did rise
I trust you know Christ can forgive
He shouldered all the weight; He's still there offering grace

(Bridge)
It was a long hard fight
Snake made it easy; he made it feel right
And now it's worded as women's choice and bod
The Law's been written on our hearts- we know it is wrong

(Repeat Chorus 2)

Oh, my blood just cries to The Lord
Oh, my blood just cries to The Lord...

-He's still there offering grace... (and fade)

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