One
of the most basic and magnificent foundation stones upon which this country
was built has been eloquently described in the phrase that all citizens
of this country are "endowed by their Creator" with the
right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
This core truth regarding the dignity and worth of human life, captured so simply
in the words of the Declaration of Independence, dovetails perfectly with the law
-- and the very nature -- of God. This basic right to life is so far
above any other right afforded by our country's founders to American citizens
-- such as the right to privacy, the right to vote, et cetera -- that it truly
occupies a niche of its own. Without a basic respect for life, all
law, all order, any blueprint for our country's success, is rendered hollow
and meaningless. Simply put, if our country's laws do not protect
human life, fashioned by the hands of God, there is something terribly amiss
within this land.
For
many generations in our country's history, leading up to the Civil War era and
the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, millions of Americans were somehow blind
to the starkly obvious fact that African-Americans are human beings.
If it was not for the cold reality of our own history, we might find it
hard to comprehend that only a few generations ago men, women and children
were being bought and sold on auction blocks, where they stood as pieces of
property, naked and open for inspection at the hands of potential
buyers.
If
not for the record of history, we might find it impossible to fathom that Supreme
Court Judge Roger Taney ruled in 1857 that the black man "has no rights which
a white man is bound to respect," paving the way for the 1857 Dred
Scott decision by the Court, which, as in the 1973 Roe vs. Wade
decision regarding abortion, missed a golden opportunity to protect life
through the law.
Despite the arguments of leaders such as Judge Taney, common sense and a pure
conscience told millions of God-fearing citizens of that era that black men
and women, like members of any race, were human beings, deserving of the same
rights granted to any other member of this country. Yet, for many
years those advocating the abolition of slavery were the targets of
flaming, hateful language, and were marginalized as zealots and religious
fanatics who were bent upon imposing their own narrow view of morality upon a
pluralistic nation that was founded on the precious principle of freedom of
personal choice.
In
the same manner as current pro-choicers, those who advocated the continued
practice of slavery in that era basically used as their weapon of logic the
following argument:
"This is America, and I am a citizen of America. We are free here.
I can live as I choose to live, and you can live as you choose to live.
I am not trying to impose my belief in slavery upon you; I am willing to let
you live your life in peace. Please extend to me the same courtesy.
But DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO OR CAN'T DO WITH MY OWN
PROPERTY!"
Lost in this kind of logic was the obvious fact that a precious, God-created
human life was involved in the issue. Lost in the present-day
pro-choice argument is the fact that an innocent human baby is being
coldly and clinically slaughtered.
Each unborn boy or girl who has met his or her death
through abortion in this country possessed its own unique DNA code,
personality, hair and eye color. Ultrasounds show us that babies
have identifiable habits and traits even in the womb. For example, some
babies tend to wiggle more; some tend to raise their thumbs to their little
mouths, et cetera. In the case of all pre-borns, the heart begins
to beat mere weeks following the miracle of conception, and fingers and
toes are perfectly formed very early in development. Life exists
from the very moment of conception, and unless interrupted by the procedure of
abortion or an abortifacient medication (which some birth control pills are),
the masterpiece of human life that is tucked so quietly into the womb will
flourish 40 weeks later into a full-term baby. Yet, a one-day-old pre-born
carries with him or her all that is needed for life. From the moment of
conception onward, nothing more is needed at any point along the line to bring
life about; it has already come about, and all that must be done from
conception forward is to let it develop in peace.
In
the days of slavery, citizens who wished not to offend their neighbors,
friends and employers -- to not shake the boat of the status quo -- tended to
soft-pedal the whole slavery issue. Theirs was often a squishy, vague,
pro-life position in regards to black individuals. By default, their
muddied position, characterized by timidity and apathy, allowed the
practice of selling, buying, raping, whipping and even killing these people to
continue for years.
Ironically, it took the stirring words of a simple, yet fearless, woman,
Harriet Beecher Stowe, and her hauntingly disturbing classic, Uncle Tom's
Cabin, to begin to spark a change in our country's collective conscience
regarding the practice of owning other human beings. At the time when
she penned this book, women were still more than a half-century away from
enjoying the right to vote. Yet, through her clear-eyed and tenacious
adherence to the plain fact that human life deserves legalized
protection, she produced a work that sparked a flame of national repentance
among many of our country's citizens, a change of heart that ultimately
divided our country starkly and unwaveringly into two camps -- pro-life and
pro-choice -- on the issue of slavery.
The
parallels between the slavery and abortion issues are stunning. In both
cases, the "Live and let live" argument was used by pro-choicers --
in a way that cleverly masked the crux of the issue, which was the
reality that a human life existed at the heart of the argument. In
both situations -- slavery and abortion -- the practice had become a part of
our nation's economy and political network. Just as slaveholders grew
wealthy generations ago, doctors performing abortions are paid handsomely
today. Just as politicians wishing to garner votes among
pro-slavery interest groups had to declare themselves to be in favor
of the practice, countless office-seekers and office-holders today must do the
same on the abortion issue.
An
added fact of human nature is that once mired in a habit or
practice, most people do not like to be told that that habit or practice
should be rendered illegal. There are issues of human pride,
greed, indifference, comfort and self-will all at play here.
In
the mid-1800s, President Lincoln reacted to a groundswell of pro-life
sentiment when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The reality of
politics is that many politicians, even some of the greatest ones, do not
boldly lead their citizens as much as react to the public mood of the moment.
If there is to be a change in our country's laws regarding the protection of
pre-born infants, the prairie fire of passion for their cause will probably
have to come from within the fabric of the culture itself, leaping forth from
individuals and families and churches and communities.
The
most potent force available for touching hearts and changing minds on this
core issue can be found in the broad spectrum of media that we have
available in this day and age. This website is a small part of the
groundswell of pro-life sentiment that still resides within this country.
As in the days of Civil-War-era slavery, we stand at a crossroads within
this nation. We risk forfeiting the ongoing blessing of God upon this
bountiful land if we continue to allow 4,000 of our most innocent citizens to
face extermination every day. Add to this the barbaric and
horrific practice of partial birth abortion, and it is not easy to see that
our country is tottering dangerously toward a place of no return.
Recently, national television carried a rather long news feature regarding the
rescue of a helpless kitten that had somehow managed to lodge its tiny
head into a manhole grate. With cameras recording the event for an
international audience, sympathetic firemen rescued the little creature.
Other news features, documentaries and movies sensitize us to the plight of
endangered owls, whales, redwood trees, rainforests and even tiny,
invisible-to-the-naked-eye microbes. Hollywood stars raise millions of
dollars for the above-mentioned causes, but often speak harshly against those
wishing to extend the same sensitivity and kindness toward little humans.
Celebrities advocating the protection of lobsters from seafood lovers are
lionized and revered as noble and enlightened; common-sense Americans who dare
to suggest that infants ought not be killed receive a steady stream
of harsh rhetoric, and are branded as right-wing nuts, dangerous Christian
fanatics and the like.
Those who are pro-life within this country need to confidently and resolutely
take charge of this issue, and not shrink back in timidity. Each of us must find his or her own voice, in the same way that a
humble female author did in the middle of the 19th century by
painting, through her words, an indelible description of life within a
family of human beings bound by slavery's chains.
Each of us has as much right -- and responsibility -- as anyone else to set
the tone within our country regarding this crucial question. If we wait
for our leaders to take the proverbial bull by the horns, we may
wait endlessly.
A
sobering reality is that new generation after new generation is being born and
coming of age without ever recalling a time when protection of babies was the
law, and was a clear and sacred principle. Citizens of our
country already live in a land saturated by major media outlets that have
rarely, if ever, within the 30 years that have passed since Roe versus Wade,
dared to show in all its horror the actual reality of an abortion.
We are treated to an endless flow of crude movies and hyper-sexualized
television fare, but should anyone attempt to place before viewers' eyes even
one second of video footage taken of an aborted infant, censors seem to crawl
out of the woodwork and immediately squash the idea.
When is the last time that any major media organization has even dared to
show us photos or video footage taken of unborn babies NOT being aborted?
We see a constant dose of reality TV of every imaginable kind; yet, how often
are we given a glimpse of the miracle of pre-born life?
Why
would those in the media not offer us more glimpses into the womb? One
obvious answer: If these images were ever to be objectively displayed on
a routine basis by Hollywood and our major media, the collective sympathy of
our country's many good citizens would transfer immediately away from threatened
species of birds and dolphins (as wonderful as these creatures are) and
toward the priority of bringing about legalized protection for endangered
humans. In short, the media has managed to condition us for
years, massaging our natural sympathy for those who are vulnerable, and
carefully directing our compassion away from little humans and toward a host
of many other admittedly noble, but far less important, issues.
When is the last time a Hollywood movie or television show has used its clout
to sensitize viewers to the fact that unborn babies are priceless human
beings, and that their right to protection supersedes the right of a woman to
end the life she carries within her womb? What movie, magazine or
television show has conditioned us to see unborn babies as human beings completely separate
from their mothers, possessing unique DNA codes, personality traits, and in
many cases, blood types?
Pro-life Americans are people who think for themselves, and keep their eyes
on common-sense truth, not upon whatever mood happens to be raging within the
culture at a given moment. Millions of people who know in
their hearts that human life, from womb to tomb, deserves to be cherished and
protected have somehow been led to believe that they are part of a narrow
minority, a fringe element that has radical, self-righteous views. It is
time to shake off the shame, the embarrassment, the timidity that we often
allow to be foisted upon us, and to stand up and lead the way on this issue!
The
practice of selling blacks had a hammerlock on this country for two
centuries; yet, here we are, only a few generations removed from the era of
slavery, and the great-great-grandchildren of slaves have become interwoven
into the fabric of our country at every level, from athletics to politics to
the media. The same 180-degree turnaround can occur on the issue
of abortion if we who revere life will move calmly forward and plainly
speak out for those who are voiceless.
Rick
Arndt (Dad) |
