Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Taking of Human Life

This just spoke to me this morning...and, as always, Elisabeth Elliot is eloquent:
Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference: 2 Timothy 3:2-9 Romans 12:1-2

The Taking of Human Life

In the relentless effort to keep the world from squeezing me into fits own mold (see Romans 12:1-2, PHILLIPS) my mind is always making comparisons and connections and trying to test the world's reasoning by the straightedge of Scripture. When I read of the execution in Texas of Charles Brooks, Jr., by lethal injection, I made one of those connections. I remembered another news story a few months before about an unborn twin who was quietly dispatched, by means of a needle in its heart, while still in its mother's womb.

Medical science has advanced to the stage where it is possible to remove human beings from this world's scene cleanly and kindly (we tell ourselves) and without too much trauma to the executioners and the consenting public. Of the trauma to the victim we prefer not to let ourselves think too much.

One of the people I refer to, of course, was a full-grown man, convicted of murder. The other was far from full-grown. It was not even born. Nobody wanted it to be born because it happened to be not quite normal. A person, without question, but not quite a normal person. So, since the mother very much wanted the normal twin to be born, she was very glad to be able to get rid of the abnormal one in such a handy way.

In a Time (Dec. 20, 1982) essay about the Brooks execution, Roger Rosenblatt writes of the public's eagerness for a "gentle killing," yet its hunger also to know the details of the prisoner's last dinner and last words, his position on the stretcher, and how the tubes were hooked up which would carry the poison into his bloodstream. Strange that there should be this fascination at a time when there is strong protest, at least in the media, against the death penalty for criminals. There is no protest in major magazines against the death penalty for unborn children and no corresponding eagerness for pictures or descriptions of just how it is done. Few people are willing to scrutinize the details of what happens to the tiny bodies who are daily, at the request of their mothers, and with the consent of the Supreme Court, being disposed of by sophisticated chemical, pharmaceutical, and mechanical techniques.

The correction facility in Texas and the abortion facilities in hospitals are equally thorough in their efforts to make sure that the method works. Imagine the embarrassment if Charles Brooks had managed to slip out of the straps that bound him to the gurney, or if the silent fluid had somehow been obstructed in the tubes! Nobody wants that to happen. It is a major disaster, too, when an abortion produces a living child instead of a dead one. Some awful scenes have taken place in hospital nurseries when a baby has been taken there who had been intended for the garbage can. What is wanted in the cases of both the murderer and the undesirable fetus is death, pure death, the "spectacle of life removed."

Do not misunderstand me. I believe that capital punishment is both necessary and just. I believe that abortion is murder. Both are appalling to anyone human, it seems to me. Surely, no matter what our convictions and public declarations may be, we shrink inside at the hideousness of it all. But one is commanded by God--evil must be dealt with by public justice--and the other is forbidden. We cannot, without His express direction, take human life into our hands. Let us not imagine that we can somehow palliate the stark and shocking fact of death by making it private. Only a few people, including four reporters and Brook's girlfriend, were allowed to witness his death. An abortion is now called a private matter, to be decided solely by a woman and her physician. Let us not, by making it quick, easy, and clean, evade the truth that somebody is being killed.

Rosenblatt in his essay looks for the day when we may "drive out the barbarians." Is it barbaric, then, to mete out judgment in this form to a murderer, but somehow civilized to send a lethal poison into the heart of an as yet sinless child?

Paul wrote to the young minister Timothy to warn him of the sort of evil he must guard against. "Men will love nothing but money and self... men who put pleasure in the place of God, men who preserve the outward form of religion but are a standing denial of its reality. Keep clear of men like these.... These men defy the truth, they have lost the power to reason, and they cannot pass the tests of faith" (2 Timothy 3:2, 5-6, 8-9, NEB). God help us not only to stand for the truth, but to obey it scrupulously that we may not lose the power to think as Christians.

Father, May our leaders be made aware of the value of human life, no matter how young or how old, and may they take steps to preserve such precious life.  May we speak boldly against the murder of babies by their mamas, may we love these women who see no other recourse and may we reach out compassionate hands to give them alternatives instead of just preaching at them. May we love the ones who have already walked that path and may we offer them Your forgiveness....and ours....and remind us to offer them Your hope..that there is no deed to dark to be forgiven....completely.

Blessings,

5 comments:

  1. Oops, sorry about the broken HTML

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  2. Hi Zoe,
    For me, I have to go back to my plumb line which is the Word of God. I take everything and measure it against that...what does our Father say. There are times for capital punishment...do I think they always do it/get it right? Absolutely not but I believe under our Father's teachings it is necessary at times.

    And abortion...no matter the reason why is still ending an innocent life...and that can't ever be condoned.

    Cheri

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  3. Hi Cheri,

    Going back to my plumb line (also Word of God, in case any may think otherwise), I feel that execution is wrong. I'm not saying don't punish the criminal, but execute? No. A life is a life is a life and we are to cherish them as our own.

    I'll just leave this conversation here, because this is an issue that I am probably a little TOO passionate about. But there's my $.02, take it or leave it. :)

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  4. Zoe,
    However, the Father calls for execution for certain crimes....even though life is precious.
    I think back then it was a GREAT deterrent to certain criminal activity....and probably because justice was swift.
    Blessings,
    Cheri

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  5. IMHO, to be pro-life extends far beyond the realm of abortion. Defining "innocent life" can be a very subjective thing. Some have made very good arguments claiming that there is no such thing as an innocent party in a conflict, and even if there was, we (being fallen creatures) would have no capacity to determine which party was innocent.

    Were Japanese civilians (including baby fetus') innocent when the U.S. dropped the a-bomb? American Indian genocide?

    Deferring to the Word of God ... while I do believe that babies are innocent before God, defending their life exclusively on the basis of their innocence is taught nowhere in scripture. In my view, God teaches a universal defense of human life regardless of who that party may be.

    Unfortunantly, the whole pro-life issue has depreciated in it's value. Now, it's largely a matter of controlling the terms, or used by politicians to rack up points up the sleeve of fellow conservatives. If you are against abortion, you're not pro-life, you're more specifically anti-abortion. Being pro-life is something totally different.

    My two cents.

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