Many states are heading to their voting booths today to make decisions on a myriad of issues and to elect new governing members. Each year a state or two hits the news with some "controversial" piece of legislation. This year it appears to be Mississippi's turn with Proposition 26.
I hope that the proposition passes, though I am sure some a judge will quickly deem it unconstitutional. How it can be wrong to provide rights to an individual? Now a number of people will argue that a unique individual is not created the moment that an egg is fertilized, i.e. at conception. They would like to argue, depending on which camp they sit in, that the person exists when there is a heart beat, or at the age of viability, or only after birth.
But since when did whether or not you were wanted determine whether or not you existed?
I have never had a co-worker run up to me and say "Guess what! I have an embryo!" or seen a Facebook post that says "Well, we have a mass of cells peculating and hopefully next month we will hear the fetus' heartbeat". No, people say they are going to have a baby just as soon as they see those two lines, and start immediately guessing if it is a boy or a girl. I have had friends who have undergone IVF, and they mourned each implanted embryo that did not take. Why? Because to them each embryo was a baby, a person who they had yet to meet but still loved. If you need any further prove that it is a matter of being wanted or unwanted, just look a the rational of late term abortions. How can the medical community do everything humanly possible to save a 21 week old baby, as in the case of Amillia Taylor, but still perform late term abortions?
I believe that every person does have rights as God's creation, and it should not matter what those of us who are a little taller and heavier think. Wanted or not, these little ones are still individuals. I am glad that there are people in Mississippi who are willing to take a stand for those who can't yet.
"Because a person is a person, no matter how small"
Horton the Elephant by Dr. Seuss
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Do you know what today is?
Do you know what today is? No, it is not the day after Halloween or the Satanic New Year, Samhain. It is actually a day all of us who enjoy being able to read our Bibles in our own language, go to the church we want, sing hymns, and exc., should celebrate. It is the day that marks the start of church as we know it and take for granted. Today is Reformation Day.
Years and years ago, as in 1517, Martin Luther wrote a long letter to his bishop concerning issues in the Catholic church at the time. These 95 Theses were the beginning of something bigger, questioning of the Catholic church and the birth of the Protestant movement. Luther felt that forgiveness came through God alone not through a piece of paper signed by the Pope's emissary. Also salvation was through grace, not a result of amassing good works. It was a scholarly work but as such started people thinking and actually looking at the Scripture for themselves for the first time.
At the same time across Europe another mighty man of God was leading a holy revolt. William Tyndale was a English man, a tutor and a house chaplain, who felt that the people should have the Bible in their own language. This was a monumental undertaking and strictly forbidden.
One of the more pungent scenes from a movie comes for a movie about William Tyndale. The movie opens with a English family standing outside with a church official asking one of the young boys if he could recite the Lord's Prayer. The child is shy but with gentle coaxing he says it perfectly. The mother than starts weeping, which I thought odd. The "kindly" church official then arrests the father and orders him to be hung! A lay person could not have or learn about a Bible themselves, and definitely not instruct their children. The movie was low budget but I was shocked by the sacrifice of others way before me.
In the end William Tyndale died for voicing opposition to King Henry XIII's divorce. He was eventually betrayed and martyred, though four years after his death the English Bible was published with King Henry XIII's blessing (Just in case you ever wondered, God can use anyone for His purpose!)
So, as you go about your day, listening to your Christian radio and reading your Bible, remember those who gave so much for the cause of Christ. Men and women who were not afraid to stand up to the establishment of the day and say and teach what was truth. We are part of a long line of light through history, may we not drop the torch in the final hour.
Years and years ago, as in 1517, Martin Luther wrote a long letter to his bishop concerning issues in the Catholic church at the time. These 95 Theses were the beginning of something bigger, questioning of the Catholic church and the birth of the Protestant movement. Luther felt that forgiveness came through God alone not through a piece of paper signed by the Pope's emissary. Also salvation was through grace, not a result of amassing good works. It was a scholarly work but as such started people thinking and actually looking at the Scripture for themselves for the first time.
At the same time across Europe another mighty man of God was leading a holy revolt. William Tyndale was a English man, a tutor and a house chaplain, who felt that the people should have the Bible in their own language. This was a monumental undertaking and strictly forbidden.
One of the more pungent scenes from a movie comes for a movie about William Tyndale. The movie opens with a English family standing outside with a church official asking one of the young boys if he could recite the Lord's Prayer. The child is shy but with gentle coaxing he says it perfectly. The mother than starts weeping, which I thought odd. The "kindly" church official then arrests the father and orders him to be hung! A lay person could not have or learn about a Bible themselves, and definitely not instruct their children. The movie was low budget but I was shocked by the sacrifice of others way before me.
In the end William Tyndale died for voicing opposition to King Henry XIII's divorce. He was eventually betrayed and martyred, though four years after his death the English Bible was published with King Henry XIII's blessing (Just in case you ever wondered, God can use anyone for His purpose!)
So, as you go about your day, listening to your Christian radio and reading your Bible, remember those who gave so much for the cause of Christ. Men and women who were not afraid to stand up to the establishment of the day and say and teach what was truth. We are part of a long line of light through history, may we not drop the torch in the final hour.
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