"Justice Harry Blackmun, RIP"

[Note: The above title was from the April 5, 1999 issue of National Review. The following is a part of a satire on his judgment rendered in the Roe vs. Wade case which gave our country the right to abortion on demand. Via Oscar Miles. – p.a.o.]

"Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, the author of Roe v. Wade, died on March 4, 1999. He began as a single-cell human zygote containing 46 chromozones. He was, from conception, genetically unique and distinct from his parents. Although initially very tiny, and conceived in a condition of dependency, the Harry Blackmun who lived for more than 90 years was, from the very beginning, a separate human organism a human being who under the proper circumstances would direct his own continuous development from embryo to fetus to neonate to child to 23-year-old law student to 25-year-old lawyer to 50-year-old appeals-court judge to Supreme Court justice, all the way to his death. Even in the zygotic and embryonic stages of his existence, Blackmun was no mere 'undifferentiated mass of cells.' Still less was he an 'appendage' or 'part of his mother's body.' . . . For someone to have cut short his life at any of these stages would have been to kill a human being and not in any merely abstract sense: it would have been to kill the particular, unitary, determinate being who was Harry Blackmun.

". . . [Yet Blackmun declared] in Roe that the offspring of human beings prior to birth are mere 'potential life.' From that fundamental error followed all the pro-abortion dogmas that Blackmun secured his place in history by writing into our Constitutional Law.

". . . In place of the Constitution, he substituted his own conscience. Unfortunately, it wasn't up to the task."

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How Does God View Abortion?

1. An unborn baby as a person, a human being! Psalm 51:5 – "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me." David considered himself a person from the time of conception. He was not something else before birth such as a blob, tissue, a fetus only, then became a person after he was born! Rather, there was continuation of personhood and identity from conception to the time he wrote those words. Though immature, he was the same person before birth that he was after birth. The fact he was a human being after he was born does not change the fact that he was a human being before his birth. Please read Psalm 139:13-16 for a similar idea. Abortionists (translated baby killers) attempt to sanitize their actions by a euphemistic vocabulary. "Terminating a pregnancy" and "pro-choice" are such buzz words.
2. An unborn baby as a "child," a "babe," and "children." Note Matthew 1:18 where the Bible says Mary "was found with child of the Holy Spirit." When Mary visited Elisabeth, the mother of John the baptist while she expected John, the Bible says, "the babe leaped in her womb."(Luke 1:41) When Rebekah expected Jacob and Esau, the Bible says, "the children struggled together within her."(Gen. 25:22) Obviously, God considers the unborn baby more than just a blob, a fetus, an inconvenience(?)! He considers him/her a "child," "babe," and when twins, "children!"
3. An unborn baby in a similar sense as He does a young child! Four English words—"babe," "infant," "young child," and "child"—are translated from one Greek word which can describe a young person either before or after his birth. Note the following:

It is clear from the above that God considers the person within his mother’s womb just as much a person and just as important as one outside his mother’s womb! If taking the life of one outside the womb is murder, it is murder to take it intentionally within the womb. If fact, the Bible teaches if two men who fought harmed a woman "with child" so that she miscarried or some harm occurred to the unborn child, they were to give "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."(Ex. 21:22-25) Obviously, God considered the unborn child "life," and anyone who was responsible for killing him/her was to pay for the crime with his own life!

Other Consequences

On the opposite end of the spectrum from abortion is its twin sister, euthanasia. From one standpoint, we should be appalled that there is even a debate in our country over euthanasia. But on the other hand, we should not think it strange. The reason? If people can, with no compunction of conscience, take the life of an innocent unborn child, what reasoning would prevent them from taking the life of an elderly or informed person who might be "in the way"? Frankly, we should be thankful that there is a semblance of respect for life left among the general populace to the point that statutory law does not sanction "mercy killing"! When people refuse to believe that we were created in God’s image and after His likeness(Gen. 1:27) and because of that life is sacred, that murdering one made in God’s image warrants the highest penalty anyone can pay—giving his life(Gen. 9:6), there is absolutely no moral mooring and no logical reasoning that would prevent killing at random, like as was seen yesterday in Colorado. When one’s convenience (a baby conceived by an unmarried high school or college-age girl is inconvenient, hence abortion is an attractive alternative) or feelings (the high school students who shot their schoolmates felt they had been made fun of) rank as the primary motivating force behind one’s actions rather than God Almighty and His word, such low regard of human life is a natural and inevitable consequence.

What can we do to help? Teach and preach the truth to all who will listen, and encourage any we know (especially those unmarried) who become "with child" to have the baby. The baby (even unborn) is a precious soul who has the potential to become an elder, deacon, gospel preacher, doctor, or engage in some other work that can benefit mankind tremendously! Frankly, there is no other "choice" available or desirable that meets with God’s approval. – p.a.o.

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It is easy to tell if someone is experienced with hard physical labor. A simple look at their hands will show it. Those who work at such tasks develop thick calluses from the repeated exposure to their work environment. The things that once irritated them and produced sore blisters now no longer hurt them. They have grown accustomed to these abrasives, their bodies have adjusted to them, and there is no more adverse reaction.

Sadly, too many Christians have developed a kind of spiritual callousness to the wicked world we live in. We are constantly bombarded by evil of every kind. We see it in person, we read about it, we view it on television, we hear it on the radio. We have unlimited access to it via the Internet and other media. Our neighbors are involved in it. Officials in high office are engaged in it.

Initially all of this evil irritates us. We are upset and disgusted by it. But gradually, by long exposure to these things, we become hardened. We've grown accustomed to the evil, and it no longer bothers us. We have adjusted to it all and there is no more adverse reaction. We can view the immorality and not be shocked by it. We can hear of the perverted deeds and not be repulsed. We are "street-wise." We know about illicit sex, drug abuse, and every sort of wickedness. We talk about them with ease. We have become callused.

The Lord does not want us to be this way. He desires us to live "in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom" (2 Cor. 1:12). He urges us to "be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil"(Rom. 16:19). He commands us to think on things that are "pure, lovely, and of good report" (Phil 4:8). Christian, are you keeping yourself "unspotted from the world?" (James 1:27)

Sixty years ago our country was aghast at one four-letter profane word at the end of Gone With The Wind. How mild in comparison to what some members of the church pay money to rent, buy, and go to theaters to watch! Why? People have become callused, desensitized, and accepting of corrupt speech.(Eph. 4:29) The same is true in regard to morality, modesty, and other areas where we should be different from the world. Our attitude should be: "Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; And I hate every false way."(Ps. 119:128) -- p.a.o.