Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Late-Term Abortion Should Make You Weep, America

Late-Term Abortion Should Make You Weep, America

Last updated on: February 5, 2018 at 9:33 am by Grayson Gilbert

Late-Term Abortion Should Make You Weep, America 2018-02-05T09:33:42-05:00 Grayson Gilbert

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It is of little surprise to see the U.S. Senate block the recent late-term abortion ban bill brought before them. Since the passing of Roe V. Wade, it can hardly be claimed Americans have a dire sense of justice and mercy. The statistics on abortion are maddening. Given the sheer multitude of infants slaughtered in the ironic name of “choice,” the practice has been aptly compared to the atrocities of the Holocaust and chattel slavery.

Yet the astounding thing is that it is not a small number of quacks who, like the Holocaust, deny it has ever happened. No, our nation celebrates it and calls it mercy. Compassion. Justice. We use colloquial language and frame things in respect to civil liberties of the mother rather than in terms of ethics. The staggering hypocrisy of this stance betrays any sense of reason, as rather, it is an eclectic array of hijacked terminology defying standard definitions in favor of a perceived freedom

It is the cruel twist of semantics to frame abortion in such a positive light. Man did not rally behind the sanitary disposal of Jewish corpses buried with lye; African Americans did no rejoicing when their whip-laden gashes were treated for infection. Likewise, we too shall not go quietly into the good night with flaccid convictions. There is no joy to be had when the blood of the innocent climbs atop the mount of death. There is no olive branch to be returned by the dove. No. The blood-tide of epic proportions has not receded even minimally.

The sober truth is that for Elizabeth Warren, Et al., late-term abortion is giving em’ the mercy kill. It is the literal embodiment of the proverb: the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Surely, they feel we are not knuckle-dragging savages, for goodness’ sake! No longer is the procedure for the termination of an unwanted pregnancy confined to the back-alleys or behind the woodshed. We are a sensible brood; the progeny of the Roe V. Wade generation shall not exercise such freedoms without a genteel demeanor.

As the argument goes – would we not want safe access to affordable [sic] health care? Statistically, far fewer women have died since abortion was made legal – is this not a good thing? The antiquated barbarism of coat-hangers is no more; shall we not celebrate such refinement and elegance with the poise it deserves? Abortion is safer than ever, and because of this fact, it is statistically lower than it has ever been before, all [sic] praise be to Molech.

The Veil is Torn

Let it be known, we have not been debating the reality of the practice of abortion for some time now. The veil has long been torn back; there is no grand wizard; there is no magical Land of Oz where the protagonist wins the day. Everyone is quite aware of the man behind the curtain – there is no subtle illusion wherein ignorance can be claimed. There is pain and agony. Death is very much present. The depression that ensues with killing a child is all-encompassing. Let yourself feel this. Let yourself be disturbed by something that can only be adequately described as demonic. Let yourself weep over the staggering amount of blood shed.

Our nation has long practiced the art of self-deception in favor of gratification. It is far easier to shout platitudes of the 3% variety than it is to embrace the truth that we delight in barbarism. Yet if the flying monkey from Oz can still gallivant about the yellow brick road without being tethered with child, they are regarded to be in a far superior position. Never-you-mind the monkey is just that, an organism hell-bent on slinging its own excrement at their opponents; that monkey is free. At some point that flying monkey slung poop into the brownie mix and rather than simply saying, “There’s poop in the brownies – we probably shouldn’t eat them” someone proffered only 3% of the batter is poop.

Like that creature of instinctive folly, humanity plunders the sacred, content with enshrining a monument to their debauchery. Let the reader understand: it is the vainglory of autonomy which shackles them. The only freedom and safety abortion brings is the freedom of fleeing from an active blessing. It is the restraint of joy in true femininity. Likewise, it is the abandonment of wonder and awe at the magnificence of an image-bearer whose soul is in your hands. It is the exchange of precious gems for dung.

Yet it is fundamentally wicked in every sense of that word. The lifeblood of every human being reflects the glory of one’s Creator. To take such a gift and not only malign it, but rip it limb from limb, is the most heinous of sins. Again, there is no shock value in these words – everyone knows the destruction of an infant in utero is murder. Surely, we know it is even cowardice. The debate is not over the terms, the status, or any of the like – it is not even a question of the practice being inhuman.

The Actual Debate at Hand

The “debate” is if I am free to take the life of the one I please in order to best facilitate and maximize my own worldly pleasure. The ancillary topics brought to the forefront are simply devices meant to obscure that motive. This is made so wonderfully clear when the argument in favor of abortion is examined closely. It is not only poor logic, but devious, in that it seeks to take the exception to the rule in order to prove the rule (i.e. – what about rape? What about the life of the mother?).

As we have well seen with the recent senate vote – the desire is not for limitation of abortions in favor of more [sic] humane practice. It is for the unbridled ability to abort at whatever time one decides it is no longer convenient to be with child. Yes, I am painting a broad-brush because the stroke is accurately based statistically within the amount of elective procedures. Make no mistake about this though; it is not about evidence, it is about an enslaved desire.

Yet make no mistake about this as well: that enslaved desire can be taken when you find true freedom. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse one of even this act. As reprehensible as murder is – it is not beyond the pale of God’s grace to those who trust in Him for the forgiveness of sins. Let this be a healing balm to the mother in regret; let your heart be soothed by the promise that He makes all things new.

Likewise, for the proponent of killing the innocent – be honest about what it is we are talking about. It is shameful, and such shame should be palpably felt in order to benefit from what can be produced out of it. It is shame which leads us to humility, and humility which leads us to truth, and truth, to reconciliation to the Lord. Yet it is pride which leads us to brazenness, and brazenness which leads us to calamity.

The Gospel Brings Hope to Murderers

There is yet time for mercy, if you would have it. It was Paul who maintained that there is no single thing in all of existence that can keep us from the love of Christ Jesus, if we indeed are of Him. The gospel is profoundly simple, in that we must believe Christ is who He claims to be, that He died on the cross in our place to take the punishment for sin that we are due, and on the third day, He rose and defeated death.

Do not misunderstand, there is an incredibly high cost to following Christ; it is not a call to comfort and ease, but a demand for all of your being. C.S. Lewis remarked, “I didn’t go to religion to make me ‘happy.’ I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

We often think of Christianity as this religion of comfort and ease, yet the call to follow Christ is not quite so simple. To align yourself with Christ demands obedience to the Scriptures, which namely, call you to die to self. Well, what does this look like but the humble admission that we aren’t as great as we like to think we are?

God is the great and kind one – not you, not I.

We sin far more often than we freely admit to our peers (who also think too highly of us). We cling to immaturity rather than embracing our need to grow up in respect to our faith and own it. What’s more than this – we reflect upon the wounds we perceive others have given us rather than those we inflicted upon our Savior.

Yet Christianity demands so much more from us than this. Christ paid the ultimate penalty, not merely for your forgiveness, nor only for your joy to be made complete, but for you to be transformed into His likeness and walk in truth in love. Our salvation and restoration to true gladness is an immense gift, but it is not about us – it is for us.

It is about Christ, hence why the continual onus is placed upon the Christian to take up the means of their execution and follow Him to their own death. Surely, Christianity is not about the slaughter of the innocent, but the sacrificial love that lays one’s own life down in the place of the innocent. To do the contrary is not only a denial of the status of all people bearing the Image of God – it is supreme blasphemy against the God giving that wondrous Imago Dei.

This is hard for the average Christian to hear, let alone the average unbelieving American, for we have seen far more affluence and coddling than hardship, but it nonetheless stands. Reader, earnestly think on what you would do in the crucible, if the most minor of trials now nearly cripples and incapacitates you. If the prospect of caring for a child is so great you would rather shed their blood – I daresay, Lewis is quite right, though I would prefer Scotch to Port.

The point being: Christianity will not make you comfortable with yourself, let alone all of the wickedness being paraded about in front of you. It will continually poke and prod at your deepest convictions and require more – far more than you sense you are even capable of giving. Yet Christ is utterly sufficient and merciful in the midst of this, for it is not by works you are saved, but by the free gift of God’s grace.

This is why there is hope for the murderer, thief, liar, fornicator, or whatever else you have become. The idea simply being that in the Christian worldview, there is actual, substantive hope, even though there is hardship. There is a cost associated with following Christ, yet that cost involves only the forsaking of vain idols and ideologies as you now pursue Christ. God’s grace is so utterly scandalous that even the most heinous of perpetrators can be treated as a new creation.

Surely, God will forgive the mother and father who chose death rather than life, if they will turn from their sins and follow Christ.

Previous Post

January 23, 2018

The Rocket: An Interview with Actor & Producer Richard Blake

Next Post

February 1, 2018 Stop Doing Daily Devotions OR Studying the Bible

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #ShoutYourAbortion 10 Commandments 2016 Election 2017 2020 Election Abortion Accelerate Books Adultery America Andy Stanley Arminianism Ashley Madison Atonement B&H Academic Baptism Barry Horner Beauty Biblical Elders Billy Graham Blog Book Review Bruce Jenner Caitlyn Jenner Calvin Calvinism Cheating Chick-fil-A Children Christ Christian History Christian Living Christian Podcasts Christianity Christmas Church History Church Leadership Civil Disobedience Constitutional Coronavirus Culture Death Demoninations Discipleship Doctrine Doctrine of God Donald Trump Ecclesiology Entertainment Eschatology Ethics Evangelical Evangelism Evil Evolution Fear Forgive Yourself Forgiveness Francis Chan Future Israel Gay Marriage Gender Genesis George Floyd Gospel Government Gun Control Halloween hamartiology Heavenly Reward Hermeneutics History Hollywood Holy Spirit Homeschool Homosexual Homosexuality Hope Hospitality Humor Husband Infant Baptism Interview Jesus John Piper Josh Duggar Joshua Harris Judgment Justice Kathy Griffin Kim Davis Leadership Logic Love Manhood Marriage Martin Luther Messianic Prophecy Miscarriage Mocking Modesty Money Movie Reviews Music Music Review Netflix New Testament Obergefell Old Testament Parenting Pastor Pastoring Persecution Planned Parenthood Podcast Politics Pop Culture Pornography Prayer Preaching Predestination Pride Prosperity Gospel Rachel Held Evans Racism Ravi Zacharias Redemption Reformation 500 Reformation Day Reformed Theology Relationship Repentance Salvation Same Sex Marriage Satan Satire Scripture Seminary Sex Sin slavery Sola Scriptura Soteriology Sovereignty Spiritual Gifts Spurgeon Star Wars Steven Furtick Suffering Sufficiency of Scripture Sunday School Supreme Court Technology Testimony The Church The Lord of the Rings The Problem of Evil The Shack Theology Theonomy Tithing Transgenderism Tullian Tchividjian Uncategorized Universalism Vanity Fair Video Games Virgin Birth Voting Wife Women Worldview Worship

Select a Month June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz