Thursday, October 23, 2003
Thou shalt not murder...even members of society who inconvenience you!!!
Huw and James have articles up that sparked a few thoughts on this.
Huw's post discusses a new term for Partial Birth Abortion, Intact Dialation and Extraction. This term scares me because it sounds like they're removing a tumor, not a devoloping or developed baby boy or girl. James' post discusses the life of Terri Schiava, a semi-vegatative woman. Her husband wants her feeding tube removed so he can go on with life with his new girlfriend. I wish I could post a scream from "grind core", that's how I feel about this rubbish.
Given that in my house we are currently experiencing the miracle of life, this hits very close to home. One of the things that strikes me seems to be a contrast of perspectives. The idea that Sara and I would be absolutely and unequivocally horrified, sick, driven to deep despair if this procedure was even suggested in regard to Basil while he was still unborn. Yet, there are people out there who will gladly undergo this procedure to irradicate this inconvenient organism growing inside them. I once heard a female co-worker of very affluent standing in our culture declare, "Shoot, if I got pregnant, you can be sure I'd be getting an abortion tomorrow." If it isn't obvious already, abortion really is just another SICK extension of the American motto, "Give me convenience or give me death!"
I have never been more PRO-LIFE till seeing my own son develop and watching my wife give birth to him in our home. The preciousness of his life was magnified just six weeks later seeing him baptized and receive his first communion.
Besides the obvious spiritual implications there is something intense about what Orthodoxy communicates to the entire world through these rituals. This little life is an inconvenience to some people, but to Orthodox Christians he is a fully active member of the faithful in the body of Christ. We don't ascribe value to life because it serves some role or accomplishes some task or can espouse some intellectual ascent. We value all life because it has engrained in its very core the image of its creator. This is real grace! Who could have imagined me the former life long evangelical learned of the fullness of God's grace in ancient Orthodoxy?
Huw and James have articles up that sparked a few thoughts on this.
Huw's post discusses a new term for Partial Birth Abortion, Intact Dialation and Extraction. This term scares me because it sounds like they're removing a tumor, not a devoloping or developed baby boy or girl. James' post discusses the life of Terri Schiava, a semi-vegatative woman. Her husband wants her feeding tube removed so he can go on with life with his new girlfriend. I wish I could post a scream from "grind core", that's how I feel about this rubbish.
Given that in my house we are currently experiencing the miracle of life, this hits very close to home. One of the things that strikes me seems to be a contrast of perspectives. The idea that Sara and I would be absolutely and unequivocally horrified, sick, driven to deep despair if this procedure was even suggested in regard to Basil while he was still unborn. Yet, there are people out there who will gladly undergo this procedure to irradicate this inconvenient organism growing inside them. I once heard a female co-worker of very affluent standing in our culture declare, "Shoot, if I got pregnant, you can be sure I'd be getting an abortion tomorrow." If it isn't obvious already, abortion really is just another SICK extension of the American motto, "Give me convenience or give me death!"
I have never been more PRO-LIFE till seeing my own son develop and watching my wife give birth to him in our home. The preciousness of his life was magnified just six weeks later seeing him baptized and receive his first communion.
Besides the obvious spiritual implications there is something intense about what Orthodoxy communicates to the entire world through these rituals. This little life is an inconvenience to some people, but to Orthodox Christians he is a fully active member of the faithful in the body of Christ. We don't ascribe value to life because it serves some role or accomplishes some task or can espouse some intellectual ascent. We value all life because it has engrained in its very core the image of its creator. This is real grace! Who could have imagined me the former life long evangelical learned of the fullness of God's grace in ancient Orthodoxy?
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