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! 

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