Life Begins at 40
January 25, 2013 - Friday
For four decades, families have traveled over miles of wintry highways in the hope that their trips to Washington, D.C. will someday end--and with it, one of the darkest periods of American history. Until then, they continue their pilgrimage to protest a ruling now responsible for the slaughter of millions of unborn lives. Undeterred by ice or snow, this generation of abortion survivors has resolved to never let the nation forget the blood spilled in the name of "choice." Today, despite freezing temperatures and whipping winds, people came by the hundreds of thousands to fill the National Mall with a word the media won't even say--life.
In bundled-up babies to busloads of students, this year's March for Life was a powerful reminder that Americans have not forgotten the ugly legacy of Roe. As somber as the occasion was, I couldn't help but stand at the podium and marvel at all the young faces staring back at me. Looking out over the vast crowd, it was clear that in 40 years, our movement has not deteriorated but is thriving as never before in the passion of the next generation. These are children who grew up knowing nothing but a society of abortion-on-demand and witnessing the devastation it inflicts on women, families, and millions of their peers whom they will never have the opportunity to meet. They are the torch bearers of a movement that will build on the legacy of life in clinics, laboratories, classrooms, and legislatures. They are the ones who will live to see this grave injustice undone.
As I closed the rally in prayer, I thanked God for the hope these young people represent--not just to our movement, but to America. In the Old Testament, through God's servant Moses, He put before a new generation, the covenant that was over 1,000 years old. It was this new generation's time for choosing. God said, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days." May we not just be a nation that chooses life, but chooses abundant life in Jesus Christ.
You Can Fight This City's Hall
At Sen. Dianne Feinstein's gun control press conference, Rev. Gary Hall was supposed to offer the opening prayer. Instead, the Dean of the National Cathedral delivered a sermon--and not the kind most churchgoers expected. The self-described "left-wing Democrat" and head of "America's church," used his moment in the spotlight, not to ask wisdom for the debate, but to preach from the gospel of radicalism. Hall, who rankled plenty of churchgoers this month with his decision to host same-sex "marriages" at the National Cathedral, said he could "no longer justify a society that allowed ordinary citizens to keep and bear 'assault weapons.'" Everyone in this city, he said, "seems to live in the terror of the gun lobby. But I believe the gun lobby is no match for the cross lobby!"
Unfortunately for Rev. Hall, in many instances, the gun lobby is the cross lobby. Christians may not all agree on the particulars of gun policy, but most would tell you that parents have a moral obligation to protect their families. And stripping Americans of their fundamental means of self-defense is a gross overreach of our rights and the U.S. Constitution. What Rev. Hall means is that good Christians should support a tyrannical government--a suggestion that, given his own advocacy, drips with hypocrisy. Leaders like Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rev. Hall use kids as their motivation for gun bans, while they fight for other policies that contribute to the breakdown of the family and the murder of thousands of children a day. If faith should motivate people to action, where was Rev. Hall when unborn children needed protecting? Apparently, in Rev. Hall's world, religion should inform your opinions on everything but abortion and same-sex "marriage. It's a convenient argument, but not a biblical one.
In reality, Sen. Feinstein didn't want to open the meeting with prayer--she wanted to exploit the church to gain credibility for a bill sorely lacking it. Unfortunately for her, the Episcopal Church, which has turned its back on basic truths (and consequently shrunk its membership), no longer speaks for America's Bible-believing Christians. So when Rev. Hall prays to "bless our elected leaders with the wisdom and the courage needed to bring about the changes that the people demand," let's hope God answers. Because the change the people demand--and the change he demands--couldn't be more different.
Army Freedom in the Cross-hairs
Where does the members of the military find the time to fight wars, when they are so busy fighting for their own rights? Every single day it seems our troops are trying to fend off attacks on their faith from citizens of their own country. The latest is complaint from American Atheists that an Army base halfway around the world has a cross on its chapel. Apparently, an expression of Christianity isn't even safe from this organization's intolerance--even in a country 6,922 miles away. Instead of ignoring the atheists' complaint, which it had every legal right to do, the Pentagon agreed to sanitize the chapel and ordered the cross to come down. Why? To maintain an environment of "religious neutrality." Even the doors to the chapels, Fox News reports, were boarded up because of its cross-shaped windows.
"It inflames this Muslim versus Christian mentality," the group's president complained. "This is not a Muslim versus Christian war--but if the Army base has a large chapel on it that has been converted to Christian-only, it sends a message that could be interpreted as hostile to Islam."
Funny, "Muslim sensitivities" didn't seem to matter when the U.S. flew rainbow flags over an Afghanistan camp or hosted gay pride parties in the Baghdad embassy. Where was the concern for religious provocation then? These soldiers are thousands of miles from home sacrificing their time--and sometimes their lives--to defend the freedoms of people as misguided as American Atheists. The least we can do is respect the Constitution they're defending, and give these troops the same freedom that's been afforded every American for 230 years. This is not about imposing religion on a people we've freed from oppression--this is about American soldiers having the ability to practice their own faith. And if we aren't careful, that's a battle that even the world's most elite fighting force will lose.
** After this week's bombshell on women in combat, FRC's General Jerry Boykin had plenty to say--including a new column in USA Today, "Combat Shift Ignores Gender Realities." On Sunday morning, January 27, Gen. Boykin will continue the debate on "Fox News Sunday." Check your local station for air times, or watch the show when Fox News Channel rebroadcasts the program at 2:00 p.m. (ET) and 6:00 p.m. (ET).
*** If you missed this morning's ProLifeCon at FRC, watch the video on demand here. Also, in honor of today's March for Life, a number of FRC experts published pieces in tribute--including Bob Morrison's "The 1% of Abortions" in Human Events" and Jessica Prol's "March for Life Marks 40 Years of Abortion Law."