The Works of God

Al Mohler helpfully addressed an incredible editorial by Antonia Senior in The Times of London: Yes, Abortion is Killing. But It’s the Lesser Evil.

Antonia Senior believes the discussion about abortion is nuanced:

As ever, when an issue we thought was black and white becomes more nuanced, the answer lies in choosing the lesser evil.

She argues that killing a baby is the lesser evil.  The greater evil would be limiting “complete control over her own fertility.”

Dr. Mohler framed it well:

Moral earthquakes, like earthquakes of the geophysical variety, most often occur suddenly and without warning. At one moment, the moral argument is framed in conventional and familiar ways. Just an instant later, all is changed. An article that appears in the June 30, 2010 edition of The Times [London] represents a moral earthquake that resets an entire issue — and that issue is abortion. This chilling essay is hard to read, but impossible to ignore. To read it is to feel the moral ground shift under your feet.

I agree we are seeing a rapid shift in the discussion about unborn life.  I am not surprised, though, because the framework for Antonia Senior’s argument has been developing for decades, particularly in academic circles.

But something greater will replace this shift.  I don’t know when, but I know it is more certain than where the argument about abortion is going.

Jesus is coming back.

In my devotions for today from Isaiah 63, it described how he is coming back:

Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”

Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

“I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption had come.
I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

Isaiah 63:1-6

The ESV study bible illuminates these verses with this stunning statement:  “The Messiah comes in final vengeance.”

He will not let this evil of abortion stand.  It will end someday, preferably before he returns.  But if not, certainly when he returns.

Thus, ours is not just a cause to protect our unborn babies with disabilities until that day; we have a call to warn those who would destroy them that Jesus is coming back.  And that he offers a glorious answer!

We need to tell them now.  Because when he returns, all evils – lesser and greater – will be dealt with.

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Related to Tuesday’s post, I found another journal dedicated to philosophy and medicine, appropriately titled Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine.  Kudos to them for making their content freely available online.

And even more happily, I found an article supporting a philosophical defense of the unborn, Revisiting the argument from fetal potential, by Bertha Alvarez Manninen:

One of the most famous, and most derided, arguments against the morality of abortion is the argument from potential, which maintains that the fetus’ potential to become a person and enjoy the valuable life common to persons, entails that its destruction is prima facie morally impermissible.  In this paper, I will revisit and offer a defense of the argument from potential.

A defense of an argument that abortion is morally impermissible – great start!

Unfortunately, all moral high ground is completely ceded when the topic of disability, particularly cognitive disability, enters the discussion.  In fact, the article serves the cause of those who would kill our unborn children with disabilities:

The fact that we usually regard the killing of healthy infants as murder, and the fact that we seem to have no moral qualms or objections against bestowing medical treatment upon infants so that they can continue living their lives and realizing their potential, illustrates that potential does matter. At least when it comes to infants, their potential to become persons certainly influences their current welfare interest in continued existence, which, in turn, grounds an interest in medical care and leads to the moral (and legal) judgment of infanticide as a form of murder.

Notice the qualifier of ‘healthy’ before infants in the first sentence.  Dr. Manninen is arguing that there is a difference between the ‘normally’ developing or healthy child and the one who may have a serious medical issue.

But she clarifies in a horrible way what she means, as a parenthetical statement (emphases in bold are mine):

(There does seem to be a problem with this claim (that infants are potential persons) when we consider whether or not a mentally disabled infant, who will never really grow to have the robust mental capacities of a person, has an interest in continued existence. My claim does seem to, prima facie, entail that they lack such an interest, and this may indeed pose a problem given that mentally disabled individuals who are not persons, nevertheless, may experience a life of subjective, although perhaps rudimentary, pleasures. The best response I have for this problem, at the moment, is the following. It is the case that mental disabilities come in degrees, and some individuals with mental disabilities approximate personhood more than others. The strength of the interest in continued existence that a disabled infant possesses may run parallel to how closely she can approximate personhood in the future. As abovementioned, if she has a disease that rendered her unable to ever surpass the mental age of a few months old, her interest in continued existence would seem to be much weaker than the interest in continued existence that a healthy infant possesses. . . )

Remember, the writer of this article supports a pro-life position.  But not for a baby with a cognitive disability that is one degree short of personhood or the ability to approximate personhood.  Whatever that is, of course.

I saw this coming, though I hoped it would not.  The warning about how she thinks about disability was in the very first paragraph:

It is important to note here that the term “person” is used here in the strict philosophical sense; it is not meant to denote any and all human beings, as it is normatively used, but rather any being, human or nonhuman, that has the mental capacity to be rational, self-conscious, autonomous, and a moral agent.

These qualifiers as to who is and who is not a person mirror the strategy of abortionists who refuse to identify a fetus as a human being.

In the end, her position is barely discernible from those who support abortion.  At least those who argue that a mother has greater rights than her unborn child have the intellectual integrity to acknowledge there are two parties with rights.  Dr. Manninen will not even grant ‘personhood’ on these children with cognitive disabilities.

If you are tempted to believe that the strong and intelligent have the authority and right to destroy the weak – no matter the reason – consider these words from God:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:25-29

God not only has special care for the weak and foolish, God chooses them to bring down the strong and wise of this world.

And consider Christ’s example:

For he (Christ) was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. 2 Corinthians 13:4

And God has power beyond the ability of any person:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

There is no one stronger or wiser than God.  In terms of intelligence and capacity, the smartest person in the world is equal with the most profoundly cognitively-impaired human when compared to the infinite measure of God’s strength and wisdom.

Yet Christ was crucified in weakness – and those ‘strong,’ pride-filled, hard-hearted sinners who have been called from death to life by God into faith in Jesus have been counted as righteous because of Jesus.  Amazing!

And that same God has said,“Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11)

This God made those babies with cognitive disabilities for his glory and for our good.  Let them live.

And don’t, under the banner of making an argument against abortion, give the enemies of unborn babies another reason to kill them.  Any of them.

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God sent three brilliant warning flares across my sky the past two days.

The first was reading a stunningly self-centered, self-justifying and self-righteous communication on a long-resolved issue.  Even the language that attempted at god-talk pointed back to the person writing it.  I had not seen anything like that for a long time.

The person writing it had experienced suffering of a kind.  But in letting his own sense of reality govern everything, unanchored to anything except his own, finite understanding of events, almost everything he had experienced was turned into a personal affront, virtually every perceived hurt a rationale for sin.

He is stuck in his own head, and surrounded by people ready to help him stay there rather than fight it.  Our culture celebrates such self-justifying behavior.

Yet, it was not so far from where my heart wants to go.  I understand that desire to be “right.”  I know how ready I am to justify my actions.

I need something – or rather, someone – bigger, stronger, and better than me to keep me from going in that direction.

The second was in watching the young couple I mentioned on Friday keep themselves anchored to something much bigger than they are.  Watching their son struggle in his discomfort, knowing he had a major surgery coming in a few hours, I remembered the temptation to despair.  Yet, they did not despair.  The young dad referenced or quoted scripture.  The young mom talked of God and his goodness in making their son just the way he is.  And the tears came.  “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” is no contradiction.

The third flare came in my one-year Bible reading for Saturday, from Psalm 119:97-104.  See how many times the writer of this section references something other than himself:

Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.

I know my heart is prone to sin, so I am grateful that God sent these three warnings to help me:

• I do not want to be governed by my sinful heart; the example I saw was entirely ugly and hopeless.
• I was encouraged by a younger couple remembering the promises of God.
• And I was reminded by the Psalmist that it is God who provides, protects, guides and teaches.

All for God’s glory, and for my good.

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Disability manifests itself in a thousand different ways.  Sometimes a child matures as he should physically, but cognitively never develops.  Sometimes a child’s mind thinks clearly, but her body has significant physical differences.  And some children experience both.

My boy is one who will never develop either physically or cognitively.  Things can be hard for him at times.  He can’t tell us where things hurt when he’s sick, or why he’s frustrated.  We frequently don’t know why he’s laughing, either.  For some reason, spontaneous laughter doesn’t rise up temptations to worry like other behaviors do!

And God, in his kindness, lets me be comforted by his word at unexpected moments.

On Friday, Dr. Mark Struck used this passage from Matthew 11:25-30 in his devotions with Desiring God’s staff.  Jesus is talking to the Father, and we get the help and encouragement:

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

It was a sweet word for me.  Jesus knows it all.  Jesus has ALWAYS known it all.  ALL things have been handed over to Jesus by the Father.  Jesus promises rest for ALL he has chosen.

My boy is known completely, and he has been from before creation.  Jesus knew what he was doing when my Paul’s life was prepared, for God’s glory and for the good of God’s church.

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As we approach Father’s Day weekend, some of the verses that mention fathers and disability close together seem to become more obvious.  Consider this series of verses from Deuteronomy 27:

“‘Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

“‘Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

“‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deuteronomy 27:16-19

A curse is a serious thing.  It leads to eternal destruction!  It is kind that God warns those who might be tempted to abuse someone with a disability – a curse will fall upon you from God himself!  And it is a grace for those who live with disability – God sees everything and justice will come.

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A 2 1/2 minute video from Andrea Bocelli, internationally acclaimed tenor and blind since the age of 12, on a choice his mother faced.

I am glad to use this famous singer’s testimony about his mother to encourage more women “in those moments when life is complicated” to let their babies live.

Of course, things have turned out pretty well for Mr. Bocelli.  Most of us won’t experience that, or even close to it.  Doctors know that.  Mothers-to-be know that.

So we should cling to something better – the righteousness of Jesus Christ:

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Colossians 1:11-18

Yes, disability is included in the ‘all things!’

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