Kermit Gosnell, Evil, and Spiritual Warfare

Last updated on: April 24, 2013 at 6:00 am by Esther O’Reilly

Kermit Gosnell, Evil, and Spiritual Warfare 2013-04-24T06:00:16-04:00 Esther O’Reilly

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A review of that Legacy Five concert is forthcoming. (And I didn’t mention this, but Greater Vision was there too and debuted some new songs!) However, I was too wacked from two back-to-back, early-morning math finals to focus on giving it the report it deserved. But I promise it’s coming, pictures and all. Meanwhile, here’s a mini-rant I threw together last night in the wake of some of the evil America has been experiencing over the past month. First we learned about Kermit Gosnell (may his memory be erased), now the Boston bombings. At the same time, I wanted to draw my readers’ attention to an absolutely incredible upcoming documentary from Korea about a pastor who started an orphanage for unwanted children (shades of Gladys Aylward in China). My intent is to lambaste some of the dumb rhetoric I’ve seen swirling around the Gosnell case and the bombings while daring to suggest that the world really can be divided into “good guys” and “bad guys” (sorry Tim Keller). So yeah, this is going to be a rather militant post. Sensitive readers, you’ve been warned.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it up to here with blog post after blog post from Christians who either feel funny about calling people evil in so many words, or acknowledge evil but hastily follow it up with “But I’m just as evil too in my own way.” I see this coming even from (allegedly) conservative Christians who are against abortion and for the death penalty. I don’t know whether to blame a certain brand of reformed theology, or the idea that all sins are equal, or what. But it needs to stop. I may take a little heat for saying this, but I don’t believe all sins are equal. I think God takes a hierarchical view of sin, and so should we. That’s not to say that “small” sins don’t need to be repented for, or that the accumulation of seemingly small choices over a lifetime can’t damn a person’s soul to hell. But yeah, there is something extra evil and extra horrific about what Kermit Gosnell and the Boston bombers did, and I think at this point, what’s needed are not more tired blog posts about how you and I are really just as bad as Kermit Gosnell or the Boston bombers. It’s not accurate, biblical, or helpful.
Can we cut the wrong-headed, pseudo-reformed claptrap for just one second and let the horror of these things sink in, in silence? Can we lose this obsession with not wanting to appear self-righteous for just one second? Can we stop regurgitating useless memes about hating our own sin and letting God hate everyone else’s, for just a moment? Jesus hates sin. The more like Jesus we become, the more we will hate sin, and yes, that includes everyone else’s, particularly when it comes to tearing human babies limb from limb. Gosnell’s crimes were documented in this video, which I personally have not seen but have heard is very disturbing. Still, one hopes it would provide a much-needed shock to those who are apathetic or uninformed.
By contrast, look at this documentary trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nO_E-zvwcM?<strong>&iv_load_policy=3</strong>rel=0&w=560&h=315 Now, don’t look at those two videos and tell me that Pastor Lee Jong-rak is just as evil as Kermit Gosnell, in his own way. Don’t look at those two videos and tell me that Pastor Lee Jong-rak is not one million times the man that Kermit Gosnell is, or perhaps ever will become before his just execution. Don’t look at those two videos and tell me that you do not see the forces of light and darkness arrayed against each other. Yes, this is war. This is, dare I say it, “us versus them.” I’m sorry if that sounds “political,” or whatever other knee-jerk label some folks like to slap on it, but it’s the truth. And I’m sorry if The One Who is Called Tim wouldn’t like it, but last I checked we were all Protestants, and I didn’t ask for his opinion.
And if you don’t like it either… well, get off my plane.

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