In his “State of the Union Address” last month, US President Donald Trump raised the issue of abortion. Taken, word for word, from his speech, he said the following:
“Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother’s womb moments before birth. These are living, feeling, beautiful babies who will never get the chance to share their love and dreams with the world. And then, we had the case of the Governor of Virginia where he basically stated he would execute a baby after birth.
“To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in the mother’s womb. Let us work together to build a culture that cherishes innocent life. And let us reaffirm a fundamental truth: all children — born and unborn — are made in the holy image of God.”
When I heard the examples he raised, my blood boiled, but that was not the end of it. When he said this to a joint session of the United States Congress, one side of the chamber rose and applauded; the other side, with a handful of male exceptions, metaphorically, sat on their hands.
The Daily Mail wrote: “A group of Democratic women who wore white in honor of the suffragettes gave President Donald Trump an unexpected standing ovation at Tuesday evening’s State of the Union address. They stood slowly at first, then clapped joyously, as Trump spoke about the economic gains that have been enjoyed in the United States by women since he took office. ‘No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women who have filled 58 percent of the newly created jobs last year,’ Trump said, prompting loud cheering from the section of women.”
These women were basking in self-congratulatory terms but when it came to the President’s statement about abortion, they obviously did not approve of even a small curtailment of this abominable practice; after all, abortion is another name for murder.
We read in 1 Timothy 5:14: “Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
God gave women a hugely important role in life but the tragedy is that today a woman who stays at home to look after her husband and family seems to be despised and looked down upon in society. Currently, many women seem to see children as a nuisance, and abortion is seen by too many to be the answer to that which would otherwise curtail their career. There are many other reasons, of course, but God formed women to have the caring and loving approach to their offspring and, in no way does He approve of abortion. The attitude of these American women elected to positions of importance was totally grievous.
The President did a good thing when he asked Congress to pass legislation to prohibit the late-term abortion of children. However, he didn’t go far enough; he should have said that ALL abortion is wrong but that may have been way too much for many in a nation that seems to have embraced this practice as something good, acceptable and worthwhile, and not the selfish self-indulgent and sinful action that it is. When God’s Word is not consulted on such issues, man’s reasoning comes into play which often has a disastrous end result.
In the true Church of God, members are not to vote nor take political sides, but it is disappointing in the extreme to observe a group of people (in this case, women) standing to applaud themselves but later not approving, as was seen by their inaction, a basic and fundamental right of the unborn to not have their lives snuffed out right at the beginning of their existence.
It is several weeks since I saw this “exhibition” by those who were elected to office and I still feel the same now – a feeling of righteous anger at the unfeeling and cruel approach of so many to the unborn.
These same representatives of the people–blind leaders–may wonder why the nation has so many problems but never align this to spiritual matters that need to be addressed. Their constant denial or ignorance of the right way to live leads to problems that they cannot solve, and it not only applies to the USA but to every nation around the world.
As for Church members, we should continue to “cry and sigh over all the abominations that are done within it” (Ezekiel 9:4). Although this passage was written about 2,600 years ago and was about idolatrous Israel at that time (which would include Britain and the USA today), the same principles still apply to us now when we see similar evil within our present world. The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary explains “sigh and … cry—similarly sounding verbs in Hebrew, as in English Version, expressing the prolonged sound of their grief. “Sigh” implies their inward grief (“groanings which cannot be uttered,” [Romans] 8:26); “cry,” the outward expression of it.”
That should be our approach and it will be different from the world at large but that should, and must not be, our concern. The Church of God, of which we are a part, is being judged now (see 1 Peter 4:17), and that includes our conduct and approach towards politics and abortion. The judgment of others will be at a later time, and they will have to answer for their hypocritical political behaviour and their ungodly approach to the unborn.
They will have quite a lot of explaining to do!
