An Open Letter,
It is not my normal practice to be political. I tend to try to educate and allow folks to discern how to vote or decide. An example was this past election. I had personal and spiritual differences with some of the candidates for the Presidency from both parties but did not try to persuade the congregation how to vote. I merely asked them to compare the stands of their candidate with the Bible and vote accordingly.
I pray daily for our President, Barack Obama, but one of the concerns I had about his Presidency was his outspoken support of Planned Parenthood and the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which has been tied up in legislation since it first appeared in Congress in November of 1989. This piece of legislation masks its true impact, by appealing to those who believe it is the right of a woman to decide what happens in her own body. This piece of legislation will remove all laws curbing abortion on demand at any time during a pregnancy (more on this later), by all states.
The norm of society shouldn’t become the norm for the church. There are times when the church must speak out against the society, even if it affects the church in doing so. I believe more and more we will see our society and the church defer and we will come under persecution for our differences (more on that another time). I will try to stay on topic in the paragraphs that follow.
I believe that life begins at conception. The Bible supports this belief. I also believe that God has a plan for each life and that taking life takes away from God’s ideal plan.
At a very young age, Jeremiah received a word from God about his calling and ministry. He was told that he was called and set apart before he was born, while in his mother’s womb.
Jeremiah 1:4-6 – 4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 6 "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
God used Jeremiah in a special way, but I do not think that God’s plan for Jeremiah, the fact that He had one, is unique. I believe that God has a plan for each life and that this plan goes beyond viability or the post womb life. How many Jeremiahs have we aborted since Roe v. Wade became the law of the land? The Psalmist believed that life began in the womb as well.
Psalms 139:13-15a – 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
Should abortion be available for certain cases? Absolutely! When there are life verses life issues such as tubal pregnancies where the mother’s physical life is in danger and the unborn child is not viable, abortion, although still taking a life, is a necessary evil. Even if one would add rape and incest into the equation, which I wouldn’t, such accumulative cases, according to studies I have read are leniently estimated at less than 5% of the abortions performed today. The remainder fall into life circumstance rather than life verses life. I believe that some are using abortion as a birth control method and this is totally unacceptable.
Some who would support FOCA believe they are doing so to protect women from oppression or to give them the freedom of choice. The rhetoric often used – to protect the innocent – is a misnomer. By allowing abortion on demand, the most innocent, the yet to be born human baby, is having their life and God given purpose ended.
My wife works for an organization, Bethany Christian Services, in Crofton, that places babies with Christian families. These are usually children where the parent(s) are not capable of or willing to parent. Other cases include those who believe having someone else parent their child is in the best interest of the child. They have never failed in placing a single child that comes into their care, to my knowledge. Some of these children are born in the worst of conditions medically and physically speaking. The old saying that abortion is removing unwanted children is a lie. There are no unwanted children.
If anyone is pro-choice, let me suggest that the choice should be about educating people on abstinence, birth control, and decisions we make dealing with our reproductive systems. The wrong choice is made when we have sexual relations outside of a loving marriage. The wrong choice is made when we have unprotected sexual relations outside of marriage. When a baby is the product of these choices, it is ungodly, amoral, and completely unscientific to say it is merely tissue that a woman can chose to remove from her body.
As a pastor, I can say from my pastoral experience, that abortion doesn’t free a woman from the pain of childbirth. It may remove the baby developing within her, but it introduces a new pain, that of taking a life. As I have ministered to post-abortion women, I have never met one that was glad she took this action. It may have seemed like the only out at the time, but it becomes a prison from which no surgery can free for them.
As a church that stands for life, we must do more than preach/teach against abortion on demand. And we do. We have members who work in the area of crisis pregnancy, in adoption, and in the social work fields. We financially support ministries that help support mothers who decide to allow the life inside of them to live. As a pastoral staff, we counsel those who are contemplating abortion and those who have experienced abortion and its pain. We must be non-judgmental and caring for those who struggle with this issue, while sharing the truth with love. We must be part of the solution and not simply call out the problem.
I will end as I began (not that I have covered all areas of concern). I do not normally speak politically. In this case, I have read nothing positive about FOCA, and I have read about it on sites that support it as well as others. FOCA removes all attempts to curb abortion on demand, at any and all stages of the development of life. It removes the safe guards and takes away the rights of others who desire to protect a woman’s choice for life.
I have read that FOCA will overturn the following:
State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
Forty-four states’ laws concerning parental involvement
Forty states’ laws on restricting later-term abortions
Forty-six states’ conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
Twenty-seven states’ conscience protection laws for institutions
Thirty-eight states’ bans on partial-birth abortions
Thirty-three states’ laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
Sixteen states’ laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion
I have read that FOCA will do the following:
Eliminate regulations that protect women from unsafe abortion clinics
Force taxpayers to fund abortions
Require all states to allow “partial birth” and other late term abortions
Subject women to abortions by nonphysicians
Violates the conscience rights of nurses, doctors and hospitals
Strips parents of their right to be involved in their minor daughter’s abortion decision
So what will you do? I urge you to call your representative(s) and give them your opinion. I urge you to write them as well. We are ordering 1,000 post cards that will make this easier. They should be available this coming Sunday and will be available at the front door. I urge you to take a stand for those who cannot stand, the innocent who are having their lives cut short by the millions each year. I pray you will do so and will help me fight an unjust law, even as we struggle with this and other important life issues.
Your Pastor and Friend,
Rev. Dr. Ramon E. McDonald II
If links are not active – here are the links in order of their appearance:
Planned Parenthood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf0XIRZSTt8
FOCA: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1173
Post cards: http://www.nchla.org/datasource/idocuments/Postcards.Eng&Sp.pdf
It is not my normal practice to be political. I tend to try to educate and allow folks to discern how to vote or decide. An example was this past election. I had personal and spiritual differences with some of the candidates for the Presidency from both parties but did not try to persuade the congregation how to vote. I merely asked them to compare the stands of their candidate with the Bible and vote accordingly.
I pray daily for our President, Barack Obama, but one of the concerns I had about his Presidency was his outspoken support of Planned Parenthood and the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which has been tied up in legislation since it first appeared in Congress in November of 1989. This piece of legislation masks its true impact, by appealing to those who believe it is the right of a woman to decide what happens in her own body. This piece of legislation will remove all laws curbing abortion on demand at any time during a pregnancy (more on this later), by all states.
The norm of society shouldn’t become the norm for the church. There are times when the church must speak out against the society, even if it affects the church in doing so. I believe more and more we will see our society and the church defer and we will come under persecution for our differences (more on that another time). I will try to stay on topic in the paragraphs that follow.
I believe that life begins at conception. The Bible supports this belief. I also believe that God has a plan for each life and that taking life takes away from God’s ideal plan.
At a very young age, Jeremiah received a word from God about his calling and ministry. He was told that he was called and set apart before he was born, while in his mother’s womb.
Jeremiah 1:4-6 – 4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 6 "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
God used Jeremiah in a special way, but I do not think that God’s plan for Jeremiah, the fact that He had one, is unique. I believe that God has a plan for each life and that this plan goes beyond viability or the post womb life. How many Jeremiahs have we aborted since Roe v. Wade became the law of the land? The Psalmist believed that life began in the womb as well.
Psalms 139:13-15a – 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
Should abortion be available for certain cases? Absolutely! When there are life verses life issues such as tubal pregnancies where the mother’s physical life is in danger and the unborn child is not viable, abortion, although still taking a life, is a necessary evil. Even if one would add rape and incest into the equation, which I wouldn’t, such accumulative cases, according to studies I have read are leniently estimated at less than 5% of the abortions performed today. The remainder fall into life circumstance rather than life verses life. I believe that some are using abortion as a birth control method and this is totally unacceptable.
Some who would support FOCA believe they are doing so to protect women from oppression or to give them the freedom of choice. The rhetoric often used – to protect the innocent – is a misnomer. By allowing abortion on demand, the most innocent, the yet to be born human baby, is having their life and God given purpose ended.
My wife works for an organization, Bethany Christian Services, in Crofton, that places babies with Christian families. These are usually children where the parent(s) are not capable of or willing to parent. Other cases include those who believe having someone else parent their child is in the best interest of the child. They have never failed in placing a single child that comes into their care, to my knowledge. Some of these children are born in the worst of conditions medically and physically speaking. The old saying that abortion is removing unwanted children is a lie. There are no unwanted children.
If anyone is pro-choice, let me suggest that the choice should be about educating people on abstinence, birth control, and decisions we make dealing with our reproductive systems. The wrong choice is made when we have sexual relations outside of a loving marriage. The wrong choice is made when we have unprotected sexual relations outside of marriage. When a baby is the product of these choices, it is ungodly, amoral, and completely unscientific to say it is merely tissue that a woman can chose to remove from her body.
As a pastor, I can say from my pastoral experience, that abortion doesn’t free a woman from the pain of childbirth. It may remove the baby developing within her, but it introduces a new pain, that of taking a life. As I have ministered to post-abortion women, I have never met one that was glad she took this action. It may have seemed like the only out at the time, but it becomes a prison from which no surgery can free for them.
As a church that stands for life, we must do more than preach/teach against abortion on demand. And we do. We have members who work in the area of crisis pregnancy, in adoption, and in the social work fields. We financially support ministries that help support mothers who decide to allow the life inside of them to live. As a pastoral staff, we counsel those who are contemplating abortion and those who have experienced abortion and its pain. We must be non-judgmental and caring for those who struggle with this issue, while sharing the truth with love. We must be part of the solution and not simply call out the problem.
I will end as I began (not that I have covered all areas of concern). I do not normally speak politically. In this case, I have read nothing positive about FOCA, and I have read about it on sites that support it as well as others. FOCA removes all attempts to curb abortion on demand, at any and all stages of the development of life. It removes the safe guards and takes away the rights of others who desire to protect a woman’s choice for life.
I have read that FOCA will overturn the following:
State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
Forty-four states’ laws concerning parental involvement
Forty states’ laws on restricting later-term abortions
Forty-six states’ conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
Twenty-seven states’ conscience protection laws for institutions
Thirty-eight states’ bans on partial-birth abortions
Thirty-three states’ laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
Sixteen states’ laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion
I have read that FOCA will do the following:
Eliminate regulations that protect women from unsafe abortion clinics
Force taxpayers to fund abortions
Require all states to allow “partial birth” and other late term abortions
Subject women to abortions by nonphysicians
Violates the conscience rights of nurses, doctors and hospitals
Strips parents of their right to be involved in their minor daughter’s abortion decision
So what will you do? I urge you to call your representative(s) and give them your opinion. I urge you to write them as well. We are ordering 1,000 post cards that will make this easier. They should be available this coming Sunday and will be available at the front door. I urge you to take a stand for those who cannot stand, the innocent who are having their lives cut short by the millions each year. I pray you will do so and will help me fight an unjust law, even as we struggle with this and other important life issues.
Your Pastor and Friend,
Rev. Dr. Ramon E. McDonald II
If links are not active – here are the links in order of their appearance:
Planned Parenthood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf0XIRZSTt8
FOCA: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1173
Post cards: http://www.nchla.org/datasource/idocuments/Postcards.Eng&Sp.pdf
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1 comments:
I read the version on the homepage for the church and assuming it's the same...nice letter. Thank you Rev. Ray for standing up for those who can't. I for one am very concerned about the upcoming legislation changes and I am very forth right and vocal about it. I don’t condemn folks but, I make it very clear where I stand and where I believe the Bible stands on this matter. Thank you Rev. Ray for doing the same. I also will not tolerate our leaders who claim the banner of Christ and would then condone such actions, via their legislation, etc. I am reminded of a quote by John Calvin; “A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet remained silent.”
It is with deep, deep sadness and regret that our culture has come to the point where the little ones are deemed insignificant by its leaders. I am recently new to fatherhood and I can't begin to tell you what I feel as I gaze into the eyes of my little girl. The thought of having ended her life, if that was the road we took, absolutely shocks and crushes me. I can "somewhat" understand what those mothers (whom Rev. Ray mentions) feel as they grapple with the thought and emotions of having done the horrible act of aborting their little one. I would in no way shun or otherwise condemn a mother who has done this and felt the awful guilt and remorse for having gone through with an abortion. I would by all means hug, console, and offer hope to those mothers struggling with their past actions. Lord knows I have sinned a bunch, and am in need of grace just as much as a mother who has aborted her baby. Where I see us as Christians falling of the wagon (if you will) is we don’t stand boldly and in complete defiance against those who would even hint at allowing such atrocities to run rampant through our society. Mainly by their legislation which condones the act. Please, please I admonish you, us, and all as Christians…stand, stand in bold defiance against the forces of evil and valiantly waive the banner of Christ – which is truth --- before our foes. For the very first order of business in loving our neighbor is telling them the truth. After all, in the Word, the Lord says to us the truth will set us free!!! To be free at last…is to be free indeed!!!
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