In 1789, probably the most controversial issue faced by the Constitutional Convention was slavery. Several southern states had made it clear that they would take no part in a Union where slavery was not allowed. Furthermore, three southern states continued to engage in the international slave trade. If this practice were banned, they would leave. So, in the interest of “forming a more perfect union”, the issue of slavery was swept under the rug. The proverbial can was kicked down the road. The founding fathers even agreed to put off addressing the international slave trade until 1808. They favored unity over truth. Convenience over justice. The result of these and other compromises meant that slavery became more firmly established in American culture and society, even spreading into the new territories acquired by the country.
By the time Abraham Lincoln was elected president, this evil
practice had so divided the country that war was inevitable. Forces gathered to
fight for their perceived rights and the future direction of the country. All
the while, the misery and suffering inflicted on multiple generations of people
continued. The cancer of sin had grown immeasurably throughout the nation, and
the entire nation was to blame for its continued existence.
After four
years of war, the perspectives of some had changed. Among them was the
president himself. Referring to the two
opposing sides in his second inaugural address, he said:
Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
Mr. Lincoln had come to view the war as God’s justice upon
the entire nation. A heavenly scourge upon earthly sin. (It’s interesting that
while we have come to use the word scourge to describe great suffering as in
the case of a plague or natural disaster, it also is defined as a whip used to inflict
punishment.)
We have a new cancer
eating away at our nation today. While we go about our daily lives,
millions of unborn children are being denied the right to life. No, that
statement is too benign. The truth is that millions of unborn children are
being brutally murdered, torn limb from limb or scalded to death while their
screams of terror and pain are muffled by the very environment that is supposed
to provide the most protection. (If that is too painful for you to acknowledge,
then you would fit right in with the society of 1850.)
There are parallels
between slavery and abortion:
- The victims are helpless and have no choice in the matter.
- Those who subject them to such suffering consider themselves greater in value. (I realize how this sounds. Many would-be mothers agonize over the decision. Yet, their conclusion supports my statement.)
- There are many who energetically fight the evil, but most who are against it remain silent and by their tolerance are complicit.
- The evil eats away at the core of the soul of America just like cancer in the body.
By the mid-1800s, generations of people had been enslaved
and forced to live through intolerably cruel hardship and suffering, many dying
at the hands of their enslavers. Since 1973, more than 56 million children, two
entire generations of people have been murdered in the womb. While there has
been a gradual decline in abortions since 1980, there are still 1.2 million
performed each year.
I wonder. What will the next scourge be on this country?
Perhaps you disagree with me entirely. Perhaps you believe
in another premise, another view of this thing inside the womb. Perhaps you
believe that it is nothing more than an extension of the mother’s body, a
choice she has to make.
What if you’re wrong?
God’s word makes clear that He plans for and designs each
person on this planet. Each is a distinct and separate individual made in His
image, spirit and flesh bonded together in a unique form. A child with the same
rights as the mother carrying it. The fact that survival outside the womb is
perilous the earlier it occurs does not change the fact that the child is a
person. I doubt that any newborns (legally considered persons) would survive
long if left unattended.
God’s Word also makes it clear that He detests sin and evil
within a society. He destroyed nations because of their wickedness. He even
allowed His own people, Israel to be overrun when they adopted the practices of
the nations around them. (2 Kings 17:17 states that “They
sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire …and sold themselves to do evil
in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.”)
The facts are clear that evil is among us, and it threatens
to destroy the very core of who we are. But there is hope. There is
forgiveness. For the individual and for the nation. Again, God’s Word makes
this abundantly clear. He desires to remove our sin. He pleads with us to
confess it and turn from it. And when we do, “…He is faithful
and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
If my
people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will
forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
