Brave New World???

“We've got a duty to die and get out of the way with all of our machines and artificial hearts and everything else like that and let the other society, our kids, build a reasonable life.” Governor Richard Lamm

In the year 2274, the remnants of human civilization live in a sealed city contained beneath a cluster of geodesic domes, a utopia run by a computer that takes care of all aspects of life, including reproduction. To prevent overpopulation, everyone must undergo the rite of “Carrousel” when they reach the age of 30. There, they are killed under the guise of being “renewed.” To track this, each person is implanted at birth with a “life-clock” crystal in the palm of the hand that changes color as they get older and begins blinking as they approach their “Last Day.”

  That was the premise of a popular 1976 Sci-Fi movie with Michael York called Logan’s Run. Back then, it seemed far-fetched and unbelievable. Today…maybe not so far-fetched.

  Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. Increasingly, more Americans identify as pro-life. Yet, pro-life isn’t only about abortion. It’s defending human life from conception to death. It means that birth selectivity, mercy killing and euthanasia are also morally wrong. Many who’d claim to be pro-life would have no problem aborting a child if tests confirmed that the child will be disabled. But what’s considered disabled? Down Syndrome, physical limitations or autism? What about gender selectivity? Many choose to abort if the child is not the gender that they’d prefer.

  At the recent Golden Globe Awards, actress Michelle Williams, when she accepted her award suggested that abortion is a way to protect one’s career and finances: “I’m grateful for the acknowledgment of the choices I’ve made, and I’m also grateful to have lived at a moment in our society where choice exists. Because as women and as girls, things can happen to our bodies that are not our choice. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose.”

  Ms. Williams never suggested that she was raped or forced to have sex,  but instead freely chose to have sexual relations that resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. She’s “grateful” to have the freedom to terminate a life if it hinders her future, in her case being an actress and creating “art.”  Yet, if it’s acceptable to terminate a life at the beginning because of financial liabilities or career inconvenience, why would it be wrong to terminate a life at the end, if one was the caregiver and/or it was a financial burden and hampered a career?

  We’re living longer. Look at the candidates running for President. Most are pushing 80. Then, we’re running out of money for financial care of the elderly and infirm. The cost of healthcare is skyrocketing and the costs for the last three months of life are the highest. It’s not a leap to draw some obvious conclusions. If it costs the most to care for someone at the end of life and they have a terminal disease or limited “quality of life,” “mercy killing” or euthanasia become a much more viable option.

  One of contemporary society’s greatest faux pas is racism. Yet, bigotry toward the elderly is so socially accepted and so much a part of American culture, most never give it a second thought. By 2025 the number of people aged 60 and over will double and by 2050 it will reach 2 billion globally.

  Yet, consider the all too common attitude toward the elderly. It can take many forms and includes depicting them as frail, dependent, and out of touch in the media. According to the World Health Organization, ageism is most rampant in high-income countries. Americans, as a whole, place great value on youth, beauty, vitality and the ability to earn a large income. Aging is often seen as a debilitating process that robs people of these high-prized attributes.

  In one study, 70% of older Americans said they’d been insulted or mistreated because of their age. This can take the form of something as simple as a server asking a senior’s younger companion what the senior would like rather than addressing the senior citizen, or by the numerous portrayals in the media of elders as crabby, incompetent, and superfluous.

  If that’s happening while the elderly are still self-sufficient and independent, what will be the outcome when they aren’t? There are two common phrases that open Pandora’s Box for a Culture of Death: Quality of Life & Death with Dignity.

  Quality of Life. When John Quincy Adams was well past the usual span of life, a young friend met him on the street and asked, “How is John Quincy Adams today?” Adams replied: “John Quincy Adams is very well, thank you. But the house he lives in is sadly dilapidated. It is tottering on its foundations. The walls are badly shattered and the roof is worn. The building trembles with every wind, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out before long. But he himself is very well, thank you.”

  If we are just a “human animal,” it’s not a reach, as one would do with a dog or cat, to end their suffering that’s a result of aging. But according to Scripture we are not the “human animal.” We are Imago Dei – made in the image of God. Life is sacred and must be protected as much as possible.

  Death with Dignity is a farce. There is no dignity. The Bible calls death “the last enemy.” For the individual who has committed their life to Christ, it’s a transition that culminates in an eternal transformation.

  Please understand, there’s a vast difference between extending life and prolonging death. Death can be extended by medical science for a long time. There are difficult end of life ethical decisions. Sadly, our culture is moving forward into utilizing euthanasia that’s both passive and active.

  Euthanasia is not mercy, it’s killing and morally wrong! If we believe that we are created by God and God gave us the breath of life, we must be strong defenders of the sanctity of human life at every stage of life.

  Preserving life is rarely convenient or cheap. We must be wary that we’re not conformed to a “culture of death,” where human life is cheapened and its termination is justified if it’s an impediment to ME.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Defending a Culture of Life in a Culture of Death

“God already thought of us before the creation of the world. Not one of us is extra. All of us are desired by God.” Dr. Jose Maria Simon Castellvi

  Are you like me? Sometimes I feel like I am living in the midst of the Holocaust. Just when I think that I’m shockproof at the hardness and rationalization of evil in hearts, I find I’m stunned again.

  Recently, Breakpoint shared this posting. It took my breath away. The physician responsible is now being investigated. In 2010, 38-year-old Tine Nys was one of approximately 1,000 people euthanized in Belgium, but Nys was not suffering from a terminal illness. In fact, she wasn’t sick at all. Despite how it’s sold around the world, inevitable death isn’t a requirement for euthanasia in Belgium. The standard for eligibility is “unbearable and untreatable suffering,” which now includes psychological suffering. 

  Between 2005 and 2014, 124 people diagnosed with a “mental and/or behavioral disorder” were euthanized in Belgium. These included conditions such as depression and dementia. But in Tine Nys case, it’s wasn’t even clear that she was “suffering” at all, much less in an “unbearable and untreatable” sense. Nys had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism.

  If you’re familiar with the Autism Spectrum, you know that Asperger’s is characterized by, among other things, difficulty in social situations and restricted interests. It’s also characterized by “remarkable focus and persistence,” “attention to detail,” and an aptitude for recognizing patterns. If that doesn’t sound especially unbearable, you’re correct, and most people agree. In fact, Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has called Asperger’s a possible “big advantage” in places like Silicon Valley. My son, Ben, was diagnosed with Asperger’s many years ago. I know that we have others who are somewhere on the Autism Spectrum in our church family and nearly all of us know someone who is on that spectrum.

  In the midst of a “culture of death,” the Church of Jesus Christ must, as it has since those early days of a “culture of death” in the Roman Empire, be committed to a “culture of life.” And it will become more costly and require more sacrifice on our part. We must speak graciously, kindly and in a Christlike manner BUT we must speak. We must remember, too, that our mission is first the gospel and heart change, then social change. We must also be aware that politicians are first pragmatists. At the end of the day, they’re usually more concerned about the next election than pro-life issues in spite of the rhetoric, campaign promises and political saber rattling.

  For example, during the last two years, in spite of a “conservative majority,” Planned Parenthood was not defunded. Frequently, you’ll hear someone make the ludicrous statement that abortion is merely 3% of what Planned Parenthood does. Can you imagine though if someone defended sexual predator, Bill Cosby, suggesting that sexual assault is only about 3% of what Bill Cosby did over his long and illustrious career, and thus his egregious offenses should be overlooked, and that you can’t paint him with the broad brush of “sexual offender,” just because a very small percentage of his activities were horrifying and abusive?

  The silence of Black Lives Matter supporters when it comes to abortion is inexcusable. Abortion is the biggest killer in the black community. In New York City alone, thousands more black babies are aborted than born alive each year. The abortion rate among black mothers is more than three times higher than it is for white mothers. Nationally, 36% of all abortions were performed on black women though they’re only 13% of the female population. The little-discussed flip side of “reproductive freedom” is that abortion deaths far exceed those of cancer, violent crime, heart disease, AIDS and accidents. Racism, poverty and lack of access to health care are the typical explanations for these disparities, yet black women have much higher abortion rates even after you add in a statistical control for income.

  More died in 2018 from abortions than any other cause of death worldwide. Nearly 42 million abortions were performed last year. That means that nearly a quarter of all pregnancies worldwide (23%) ended in abortion. For every 33 live births last year, 10 children were aborted. Because it’s debated on whether to even call abortion what it is: death, and unborn babies what they are: humans, the nearly 42 million lives that were lost last year to abortion aren’t even recorded in the global death toll of 2018, which was 59 million.

  Human life is a wonderful thing. There’s nothing else like it. Every human being, no matter how small, is fearfully and wonderfully made. Every human being, no matter how disregarded, bears the image of God. Every human being, no matter how weak, will keep on living forever.

  And that’s why we can offer hope! Jesus offers forgiveness for women who have aborted a child and hope to men who have encouraged a wife or girlfriend to abort. Jesus offers hope to employees of abortion clinics and hope to those who are apathetic about this great evil in our society.

  So, what can we do? We can pray and we can proclaim!

  We may think our prayers are small in relation to the magnitude of the evil of abortion, but God is not small. Hearts are changing toward abortion, even among those who don’t know Christ.

  We will only see true life and cultural change through proclamation of the gospel! Our main calling and greatest gift to this world is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s the only message that gives pardon for the agents of death and power for the agents of life. Since we have all at one time been children of darkness (Ephesians 5:8), the blood-bought pardon of Jesus is precious to us all. That’s where we must start, by offering the free gift of salvation – God’s grace, forgiveness and eternal life!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

When "Coma" comes to life...

“Is human dignity and human life so cheap that the rights protecting it can be traded away to appease the appetite for intimidation and prejudice of a vicious and self-centered group - for whatever reason, power, politics, nationalism, or unity?”  Christina Engela

  Sometimes I feel so naïve. Sometimes I don’t want to know. Too many times, I just wish I didn’t know. In 1977, popular author, Robin Cook, wrote a suspenseful science fiction book, Coma which was later made into a movie. It was one of the most frightening movies I’ve ever seen.

  Coma is the story of a third year medical student working as a trainee at Boston Memorial Hospital. When patients begin mysteriously going into comas and disappearing, she begins to investigate, only to discover they’re being kept alive until their healthy organs can be harvested.

  Welcome to the new brave new world! Coma is no longer fiction. Lifenews.com recently reported (09/22-16) that religious minorities and political dissidents are being imprisoned in China, sometimes without reason. While imprisoned some are taken to surgical facilities where their organs are harvested while they’re still alive. Tragically, this takes place in other countries (Iran, Philippines), but China, unlike anywhere else in the world, is the only nation where systematic forced organ harvesting occurs on a mass, state-sanctioned level.

  The foundation of this atrocity, of course, is worldview. The Chinese Communist Party believe that people’s very bodies are in the domain of the state. Whether it’s forcing women to abort babies or forcibly harvesting organs, the Chinese government believes it “owns” people, including their very bodies and internal organs. It’s a culture of death.

  But it’s not just China. If someone says, I have “eternal gratefulness,” one would think they were talking about something spiritual…someone saving their life, or at least something truly wonderful. The last thing you’d think they were talking about is an abortion. Yet, that’s the phraseology Andy Richter, Conan O’Brien’s longtime sidekick, used as he bragged about the abortion his then girlfriend and later wife had when he spoke at a recent fundraiser for Planned Parenthood. Richter went on to credit her abortion back in 1992 with allowing them to live the lives they wanted. His justification: “My girlfriend knew that she was not ready for motherhood, and I knew that I was in no way prepared to be a father.” But who is ready to be a parent?

  The Richters have two other children. As their living children grow and become adults, will this choice make sense to them? An obvious question for them would be: “If I’d been conceived earlier, maybe I would have been aborted…because Dad and Mom weren’t prepared to be parents.”

  I appreciate the Richters at least acknowledge they had some remorse for their decision and were sad about it. Tragically, they only saw a temporary circumstance and made permanent decisions.

  Where are we as a culture when we see a baby as “ruining your future?” Aren’t there other options? Abortion permanently ruined the chance for that child to ever have an opportunity at life. It’s something no one should be “eternally grateful” for. It’s a culture of death.

  Last July, Betsy Davis, had a euthanasia party, celebrating her decision to take her own life, becoming one of the first people under California’s assisted suicide law to kill herself with a lethal cocktail. It’s a culture of death. Disability rights groups, many in the medical community, are upset by the new law because of the potential for horrendous abuses of human life. One primary concern is that doctors aren’t required to be present when the patient takes the deadly medicine, so there’s no way of knowing whether the person is taking the poison of their own free will.

  The culture of death for a hopeless world is becoming normative and there are potential ramifications which are horrifying. For example, on average 50% of healthcare costs occur during the last 6 months of life. From an economical perspective, what’s an obvious way to cut costs, particularly if your worldview is contaminated by a culture of death? Cut out or at least dramatically reduce that last six months.

  Phraseology like “good death,” “death with dignity” or “quality of life” erode our upholding of the sanctity of life. The Bible calls death “the last enemy.” There is no such thing as a “good death.” Consider this, does world renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking, truly have “quality of life”? Not according to the accepted standard in the culture of death.

  A Coma world can be overwhelming. You and I though can make a difference – we must not just accept the status quo.

  There are 700,000 abortions annually in the United States alone and well over a million couples waiting to adopt each year. Add to that, there are another 500,000 children trapped in the foster care system. Do the math.  There’s no need to murder a baby. If anything, there is a wonderful opportunity for a greater good and the gift of great joy in giving that baby up for adoption to a desperate couple longing for a child. Many in foster care should be given a chance at life and be allowed to be adopted.

  Our broken system protects horrible parents at the expense of innocent children. Give those children a chance at a fulfilling life! They should have the right to a future. Parents who demonstrate continued irresponsibility should lose their parental rights and children. Scripture teaches people are accountable for their choices, so let’s hold them accountable.

  The Bible does make provision for birth control. When an unplanned child is conceived, that baby is never unwanted. Abortion needs to end.

  The US must stop worshiping at the altar of economics and cease doing business with countries who butcher their citizens, like China. At the very least, products should be labeled showing where they’re manufactured. Pro-life consumers could choose to buy products from nations who don’t murder their citizens. “Distributed by Bensenville, AR” just doesn’t cut it. 

  As Christians and churches, we must be pro-active in support of those at the beginning of life and those at the end of life. The early church believed that. Those early believers also lived in a culture of death. They sacrificed and gave of themselves to preserve life so they could share the message of eternal life. May we have their same love and commitment! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.