Quoting Satan

Have you ever seen this bumper sticker?

Well, I'm reading Paradise Lost right now and I keep thinking that this quote is going to pop up somewhere. Satan gets way more words in Paradise Lost than he does in the Bible, so if it was going to be anywhere I would guess that it would be in Milton's work.

I imagine the quote going something like this:

"Whence and what are thou, execrable Shape,
That dar'st, through grim and terrible, advance
Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates? Through them I mean to vote pro-choice,
That be assured, without leave asked of thee."

Of course in this passage "vote pro-choice" is a simple indicative, not the imperative that the bumper sticker would have you believe. But I think that the people who thought up the bumper sticker aren't all that concerned with context.

Oh, and I don't think that any pro-choicers are going to be dissuaded of their current position because someone's car was garnished with a made-up quote from Satan designed to lambaste their beliefs. That's just silly.

Don't Waste Your Super-Bowl Ad

Well, here is my first blog post of 2010. I was going to put it off, but I can't.

Who saw the over-hyped, completely missable Tim Tebow/Focus on the Family "pro-life" ad? Yeah; me neither.

Well, here it is:

The clock is ticking, Focus on the Family. I don't know if you've noticed, but our nation has entered into a post-Christian age where mandolin music and white, middle-class people telling watered-down anecdotes isn't going to cut it when addressing one of the greatest crimes against humanity in history.

When it comes to abortion, we need the facts; we do not need heart-warming stories detached from valuable information while thousands of babies' lives hang in the balance.

An opportunity like a 30 second Super-Bowl ad is not going to be an excessive commodity in the future for the evangelical community in America. Focus on the Family spilled some of the precious water in the dirt with last night's TV spot. And we don't know how many more draws we can get before the well is dry.

Water and Choice

Here is an article my wife pointed out to me entitled "Too Much Water Nearly Kills Infant."

In short, the article discusses a mother who watered down the formula for her baby causing the child to be malnourished, suffer a seizure, and cease breathing. The baby is recovering after being rushed to the hospital.

In another news (but not in the St. Petersburg Times or any other periodical for that matter), choice kills approximately 1.25 million infants each year in the United States.

Why is it that a mother is ostracized for making the mistake of watering down her baby's formula while another mother is praised for exercising her right to choose? Only one of these results in a dead baby and unfortunately it is the one that is ignored.

Abort73

Since a few of my recent posts have focused on abortion, here is an excellent resource in the fight against the biggest injustice in the United States: Abort73.

Also check out Randy Alcorn's blog, which I quoted in an earlier post, Eternal Perspectives.

California Propositions

California had some interesting propositions on their ballot this election season. Prop 2 was concerned with the treatment of farm animals. Prop 4 required a waiting period and parental notification prior to the termination of the pregnancy of a minor. Prop 8 limited marriage to a man and a woman.

Prop 2 passed. Congratulations farm animals. You can turn around in your cage.

Prop 8 passed. Partially because religious groups poured millions of dollars into making sure that it did, including many Christian groups like this one:

This has been hailed as a great victory by the religious community. Opponents of Prop 8 have shown their outrage. With Prop 2 in mind, I read a political cartoon that showed an animal in a large cage and then two gay men in smaller cages. The caption read "what California will do with all the unused cages."

But Prop 4 failed. $35.8 million was poured into ensuring a "yes" vote on Prop 8. $2.6 million was scraped in for a "yes" vote on Prop 4.

While I am an advocate for traditional, biblical marriage, I will not be excited about a Prop 8 success considering a Prop 4 failure.

Resident Thorns poet and frequent dinner guest, Jordan, explains exactly why:

Prop 2 creates a new state statute that prohibits the confinement of farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.

Prop 4 would prohibit abortion for unemancipated minors until 48 hours after physician notifies minor’s parent, legal guardian or, if parental abuse has been reported, an alternative adult family member.

Prop 2 passed and prop 4 failed. Go figure.

I understand that there are details to each proposition that I'm overlooking. But consider with me the principle. Compassion for animals is championed while technicalities are questioned over the murdering of humans. Has anyone realized that aborted children are killed before even getting a chance to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs?

Or are we to count limbs fully extended when they go limp?

This is incredible. It's horrific, I know, and I can't stand it anymore.

Gay marriage never killed anyone. The failure of Prop 4 will.

Election Day, One Final Consideration

I have cast my ballot and made my decisions; however, I can't ignore one of the comments left on my last post.

The comment referred to an argument against the Republican party and their views on abortion. The cited article, from the Fargo Forum, entitled "Republicans Pro-birth, Not Pro-life," makes the case that, while the Republican party is viciously pro-life, once birth happens life is very much taken for granted. The author puts it this way:

Looking at the abortion issue through the actions of Republican lawmakers, one must change the term “pro-life” to “pro-birth.” They want to make sure a fetus makes it from the womb to the delivery room, but beyond that, they generally walk away.

If you believe life begins at conception, you must believe it does not cease at birth. Nor does a child cease to exist at age 3, 10 or 17. All too frequently, a child born into poverty – an almost certain circumstance for single mothers – is ignored, vilified, even despised by those who sought that baby’s full-term birth.

Indeed this is an issue. Personally I do not necessarily feel that it is the role of the government to make sure life is always cherished, but I do think it is a direct result of a failure within conservative Christianity, which--as much as I hate to admit it--is represented imperfectly by the Republican party.

There is a theological argument that needs to be explored here. Jesus says a lot about the rich and the poor. Jesus also did not look to government to fix that problem. As Christians we need to be following that example and acting on behalf of the unborn and on the behalf of the poverty stricken.

While I do not entirely agree that this is the reason we should not vote in favor of the Republican party, I do think the argument could be used to support a third party vote.

My final thought is that abortion, unfortunate as it is, has become a government issue. It must be fought on a legislative or judicial level; a level on which our individual vote matters. Poverty needs to be fought on a community level, with our churches leading the way; a level on which our individual action matters. That thought is why I would not let this particular argument, valid as it is, sway my vote.

Why I Would Not Vote Third Party

It is the night before the election and I still have not entirely decided which way I will cast my vote in the morning. I am still considering third party, but there is a looming issue that is keeping me from diving head first into that plan.

Abortion.

I hate the idea that I may be voting for a single issue; however, I hate murder all the more. For this point I simply turn to Randy Alcorn's blog Eternal Perspectives. Here is a snippet from his post "Why I'm Voting for 98% Pro-life John McCain rather than 100% Pro-legal-abortion Barack Obama."

One of the commenters on my last blog said, “God didn't call us to win. He called us to do what is right.” Well, to me this has never been about us winning. I don’t even know who us is. To me, it’s certainly not about Republicans winning, or John McCain winning. My concern is whether unborn babies will be protected. Sure, I want to be able to sleep at night because I did the right thing. But I also want millions of babies to sleep (or cry) at night, because my vote actually helped them live. That, I believe, is the right thing for me to do—not to vote for an ideal unelectable candidate, but to do what I can to help children live even if I have to vote for a flawed candidate to do so.

I don't see casting a vote on the level of unqualified absolute endorsement… All of us become pragmatic (choosing one imperfect candidate over a more imperfect one) at some point or we never vote at all, which some of my prolife friends never do. I give them consistency, but I wonder if they ever choose a less than perfect pastor, insurance program, or loaf of bread.

In my opinion, that is a good reason to forgo my third party argument. Maybe I will...