GOD CREATED, THE DEVIL DESTORYS

Word from the Center
Written By Peter Scaer

Abortion is tragic, a deadly and heartbreaking deceit. No bond is more sacred, more profound, than that of a mother and child. Life’s journey begins in the womb, given by God as a safe space, a place for shelter, warmth and nurture. The umbilical cord is a miraculous lifeline through which oxygen and nutrients flow. This umbilical cord offers an image of what fundamentally makes for a good life: not autonomy and self-expression but dependence and interdependence on others.

Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and we rejoice. Yet abortion is still with us. This is because we need a change of heart. We are told to be all we can be, to reach for the stars. Parents want their children to be happy and successful in the things most valued by the world. Many young people seek out life experiences, which may include trips to exotic places, perhaps a hike in the Himalayas, a visit to the pyramids or, closer to home, a visit to all 50 states. Our world today is most concerned with self-fulfillment and self-expression.

Satan, the father of all lies, has deceived our culture into focusing on our own self-fulfillment and self-expression. Consider how our fallen culture encourages us to think of children as obstacles, of pregnancy as a medical condition and of abortion as health care. Abortion has become an emancipation that allows a woman to pursue her dreams. Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, was fond of saying, “No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body.”

The child who lives in the womb has a body all her own. And yet, abortion culture treats children as expendable, leading us to think that our own worth depends on whether or not we fit into the plans of others. Those who defend abortion must dehumanize little children, even calling them parasites and intruders. They treat children as things that inhibit our personal, bodily autonomy.

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The Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer is chairman and professor of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.

 

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Peter Scaer
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