No. Neither are those of the Southern Baptist Convention. Or the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Or other church bodies which are speaking up in defense of religious liberty.
But, President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius must think differently. Following the firestorm ignited by his policy forcing religious organizations to pay for “contraceptives” and sterilizations, the President offered a compromise. “Quite frankly,” said Bill Donahue of the Catholic League, “he’s adding insult to injury. He must think the Catholics are stupid.”
The president is playing word games which fail to mask his assault on core convictions regarding the sanctity of human life held dear for decades by many Christians. Catholics, Southern Baptists and Missouri Synod Lutherans believe aborting a child by way of so-called “contraceptive” pills such as Ella or “Plan B” is a sin. The government said, “So what? You’ll do as we say.”
Mr. Obama and Ms. Sebelius have blatantly disregarded individual conscience and faith by forcing religious organizations to pay for “preventative services for women.” HHS, you see, has included unintended pregnancy as “a condition for which safe and effective prevention and treatment” need to be more widely available. (This sets the stage for mandated coverage of abortion as the treatment when prevention fails.)
In effect, Mr. Obama and Ms. Sebelius see pregnancy not only as a burden, but as an obstacle – or disease – that must be overcome. To commemorate the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Mr. Obama was unashamedly transparent. He said legalized abortion is indispensable “to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”
I believe Mr. Obama is being honest in a most sobering way. He is taking a stand against life and liberty. He is friend to Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions, but foe to the church that seeks to protect and rescue human life in Jesus’ name. More important than the sanctity of human life to this administration is the sanctity of personal liberation.
So, here’s what I think. Catholics, Southern Baptists, Missouri Synod Lutherans, Rick Warren, and other conservative believers are not stupid. But, we are enablers.
I think this government is doing what it is doing because we Christians have enabled the culture to deteriorate. We let ourselves come under the influence of nonbelieving neighbors in the land. We went to the university and mingled with those who followed Darwin, Lenin, Sanger and Kinsey. We set aside God’s Word on all matters of life to follow after human opinion. We believed ourselves wise enough to separate good from evil.
Abortion was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court only because many in the so-called faith community had already condoned it. And, why do you think that might be? Because they had fallen for the lie that abortion is “a tragic but necessary choice.” Behind that lie was another: We are “sexual beings” whose right to be sexual trumps all other rights, even the right to life.
Perhaps we in the faith community ought not be so critical of this government for attacking religious liberty. Perhaps we set ourselves up for the attack by letting people who oppose God shape the thinking of our children. Lenin said that America would never be changed by a Bolshevik-style revolution. Instead, believed Lenin, removal of God and the rule of socialism would be guaranteed if children were separated from their parents and taught to follow after “their sexual instincts.”
A century of Darwin and at least five decades of Sanger and Kinsey have had their way with American children. Those children grew up questioning God and standards of morality. They were taught to be comfortable with their flesh side – their sensuality, but this put them at odds with their Creator and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. For them, the First Commandment is no longer “You shall have no other gods before Me;” rather, it is: “I am my own god” and “it’s my body, my choice.” This becomes crystal clear to me as I hear women defend President Obama’s order that all religious institutions provide contraceptives. They completely miss the fact that individual conscience is being violated and religious liberties stripped away. They focus, instead, on their sexual liberties and the “right” not to be burdened by the procreative miracle of sex. “I’m a working woman,” said one, “who must be guaranteed my reproductive rights.” “This Catholic uproar,” said another woman, “has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with women’s health.”
Do you agree that Christians have enabled such thinking? It is fact that even “good” Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, and other Christian parents have allowed their sons and daughters to be educated by those whose worldview opposes God. Children have been separated from parents and tutored K-12 in “sex education” or “family living” or “human sexuality” classes whose origins are not God but Sanger and Kinsey. Educated in such an environment, children do come to think about the act of sex, marriage, family, and civic responsibilities in ways that open the door to government intervention.
Legalized abortion and now this bold attack on religious liberties and individual conscience are government policies that happen when the people (that’s us) seek after the unholy rather than the holy. After sensuality rather than purity. After self-gratification rather than generational faithfulness.
People of faith are not stupid. But, we are enablers. I’ve always believed that God placed me where I am at this time in history to play a specific role as the woman He created me to be. As that woman, I have a choice. To enable neighbors – and, thus, a culture – to seek after things of God… or self. To raise the standard of behavior for men and children… or to lower it. To live as if I’m on a journey to eternal life with God… or just “here for the moment, so get all I can.”
There are those who want to strip away the right to defend life. Purity. Marriage and family. Ethics. Just law. Freedom of conscience and faith. We can no longer enable them to do so.
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I often hear: “Your faith is a good thing… but, you should keep it separate from real life.”
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