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Is Abortion the Issue that Determines Everything Else?

We must ask, “What is God’s role in human life?” And the answer has far-reaching consequences.

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I will confess.

I have never been a huge pro-life activist. I have never donated to pro-life causes. I have never been to a pro-life march. Yes, I have always been pro-life but never understood not only the importance of the issue in and of itself, but how the position one takes – or society takes – will determine your position on almost everything else.

That has changed, and while I am late to the movement, it is better late than never.

Perhaps you are the same way that I was. Perhaps you are pro-life but do not yet understand how important the issue is. If so, I would like to challenge you to think this through with me.

There is one premise we must agree upon, because if we don’t then it would make sense that one would be pro-abortion. The premise?

God. Pro-life is in the domain of God. If there is no God, then abortion is entirely fine. Survival of the fittest, right? Kill or be killed. Whoever is powerful will make decisions, including decisions on who lives and who dies, even if it is the life inside of you.

I am reminded of a debate I got into in college with a secularist professor. I usually sat in the front row of the huge auditorium where he regularly badmouthed Christians and Christianity (ironic considering this was a “Christian” school. There is a difference between a Christian school and a “church” school), and repeatedly declared that there is no God. One day, however, I was late and found myself sitting in the very last row at the top of the auditorium. The professor was talking about how evil animal testing was, particularly using monkeys for testing.

Soon my hand was raised and the professor called on me. “Yes?” he asked.

“You can’t take the position of being against animal testing given your worldview.”

“Why not,” he prodded.

“Because you don’t believe in God. If there is no God, then it is just survival of the fittest, most powerful animal gets to do what it wants. The Frog eats the fly, the lion eats the antelope, and humans can eat – or test – whatever they want. We’re just lucky to be at the top of the food chain. However, if you were a Christian, then you could be against animal testing – or could at least make an argument against it – because God makes us stewards of the earth and we would have to deal with the ethics of animal testing. Concern for anything is predicated on a belief in God.”

The class was silent, waiting to hear what he would say in return. What could he say though? It is an airtight argument and he was in the corner because of it.

“Point well taken,” he said and quickly moved on to another topic.

If there is a God and if God is involved in the affairs of humans, as orthodox Christian teaching teaches, then we must ask, “What is God’s role in human life?” And the answer has far-reaching consequences.

Christianity teaches that God creates life. Conception is not merely a biological function. When sperm collides with egg, God infuses it with life.

See where we are? If you don’t believe in God, then abort the cluster of cells. Survival of the fittest. If you do believe in God, then abortion is a rejection of His work and the life that He created.

Think through with me some of the scriptures that teach us about God and life:

Psalm 139:13-15 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.”

God created us.

He knit us together – that’s active.

We were made and woven together.

Galatians 1:15: “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace.”

Before we were born He had set His plan in place for us.

Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;”

He formed us.

He consecrated us.

Now, I imagine that most of us here agree with much if not all of the above, but what about my main contention that everything else stems from one’s position on life?

Let’s start with this. Remember the phrase from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

What can we derive from this simple statement? What are the facts we can take away?

The truths are self evident. Anyone who doesn’t see them is not looking at reality.

All men are created equal. “Men” is obviously being used her like one would use “mankind,” as a word for everyone. This includes, well, everyone, including the unborn life.

We have unalienable rights. They cannot be taken away or removed. The dictionary defines unalienable as “Not to be separated, given away, or taken away.”

These rights are granted to us by God Himself. The government does not determine our rights. They protect our rights that are given to us by God.

The three rights listed here are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

So I ask, is it possible that these three are listed, in that order, for a reason? Of course it is. If you don’t have life, you cannot have liberty and if you do not have liberty, there can be no pursuit of happiness. That’s obvious. But again, what of my contention that what you believe about life is how you will believe about anything – or everything.

In order to be pro-abortion you have to get rid of a few things:

God.

Unalienable rights.

The right to life.

My question is this: If you can reject God, deny unalienable rights, and kill a child in a womb that God created, what would you not do? Where do you possibly go from there?

Well, you can imprison people for anything you want to. You can support the Chinese even when the have millions of slaves and political prisoners. You can engage in free sex (which is never really free), resulting in unwanted pregnancies that you simply get an abortion for. You deny the idea of absolute truth, allowing you you to foist almost any idea you want on a public that now rejects God and absolute truth.

Yes, once you cross the line, there are no more lines that can’t be crossed. When you do not respect and honor the very basic premise of the value of life, there is no value left at all.

Yes, they will try to use mental gymnastics to make sense of it, but if you are grounded in truth, it makes no sense at all. How about this one? Why is it that if a woman goes into an abortion clinic four months pregnant and terminate her pregnancy, it is totally fine for society, but if that same woman were walking into a bank at four months pregnant and a bank robber was leaving the bank and shot her and killed both her and the baby, she would be charged with two murders? This is completely and totally intellectually disingenuous. The only difference for the baby is who killed it. Either way it is dead, yet one person – the mom – is lauded for her “choice,” while the other – the robber – is sent to prison.

So, I challenge you to think through these things. If you have already been fighting for life, I applaud you and I apologize for being late to the movement. If you are like I have been in the past, join me in thinking – and praying – about this issue that is the foundation for everything else.

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Chris is the Founder of PolitiCrossing, one of the World's Top 50 Speakers and a member of the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame. He considers it a privilege to be able to speak to people, help them lead successful lives, become extraordinary leaders and, masterful salespeople. Chris has authored twenty-three books with three million copies in print in 14 languages and over 450 articles on success, leadership, sales and motivation.



 
 
 

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Elections

Let’s Reclaim America’s Optimism Advantage

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On this New Year’s Day, America needs more than a parade and great football games; our people need renewed optimism in living our American Dream. Instead of looking for government fixes or some magical new president who will make things right, we need a kick in the pants to get busy making America work no matter what obstacles we face.

At the 1992 Republican Convention, Ronald Reagan shared what he considered the secret of his success as our President: “I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence, rather than your doubts.”

Oh, how we need leadership like that in America today. As we start this year, too many people feel powerless. Inflation may be coming down, but high fuel and food prices have taken their toll on far too many Americans. Watching the invasion on our Southern border means too many of our cities are being overwhelmed with no end in sight. We wonder if there is anything we can do but watch. The sense of despair and helplessness is contagious, but so is optimism. What attitude do you spread?

There is more than you think within your control. Every day, you make choices to make your situation better or worse. Studies of optimism find that optimism comes from a track record of overcoming obstacles. If you have had obstacles the last few years and are still making it work, pat yourself on the back. Be a proud survivor, not a victim so many seem to take pride in claiming to be.

Make each day count by starting your day doing one thing to make your situation better. Find one way to cut expenses. Find a way to increase your resources. Make a call or visit to nurture your network of colleagues and friends. Learn from your mistakes and celebrate your successes, both big and small. Nurture your faith realizing that God gave you gifts and give thanks every day for the blessings you have. Lest you forget, you’re blessed to live in America. People risk everything to come here, and few want to leave.

Yes, this is an election year, and it would sure be a gift to have a leader who would nurture the hope and optimism of all our citizens. So as the campaigns progresses and you listen to potential leaders vying for your support, ask yourself a few key questions:

Do they want to control your choices or ensure your freedoms?

Do they want to make you more or less dependent on government?

Do they want to increase the size of government and entitlements and the taxes needed to fund them or decrease them?

Do they want to force your children to go to public schools that don’t’ get the results your children deserve, or are they willing to give you the freedom to pick the schools your children need?

Do they disagree with their opponents and state why, or do they demean them and call them names?

Do they want to grow the size of government and its debt, or do they want to decrease both?

Do they believe in the citizens they represent, or do they convey that they are the answer to America’s future?

Do they take responsibility for their mistakes and actions or quickly deny responsibility and blame others?

No President is perfect. It’s easy to promise and a lot harder to deliver. Reagan focused on three things: an optimism based on free-enterprise innovation, smaller government, and lower taxes. He delivered on all but smaller government. As Reagan advisor Arnold Laffer confessed, “When it came to cutting welfare payments and school lunch,…it was very hard. Someone would come over and say, ‘How can you cut school lunches?’ Reagan would reply, ‘I guess you’re right; I’ll tell them not to cut that one.’”

The pressure to keep growing government is tempting and easy to understand, but it is not what America was created for. America’s form of government was designed to protect citizens from an over-controlling, over-taxing government. We need to reclaim that passion for freedom and self-reliance. Our founding citizens wanted the opportunity to pursue happiness, not happiness given to them at the expense of other taxpayers.

The election is months away. So I’m going to borrow on the optimism of Ronald Reagan to inspire us all on this first day of 2024: “I’m not taking your time…to ask you to trust me. Instead, I ask you to trust yourself. That is what America is all about… It’s the power of millions of people like you who will determine what will make America great again.”

Reagan wouldn’t want us to wait for the next election. We’ve had enough of eloquent politicians who think they have all the answers. We need to believe in ourselves and get busy living our own dreams. Then, in November, let’s elect a leader who will stay out of our way and give “We the People” freedom again—freedom to fail, succeed, and thrive in our own American Dream!
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Faith

Three Cheers for Christian America

Thank you for safeguarding the public and private expressions of others

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Considering all the nations in the world and the dominating religions within those nations, Christianity is the most beneficial. When Christians are in the majority, it is good for everyone who resides there.

Christians during the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, and up to the mid-20th century contributed to much of the world’s turmoil. In recent decades, however, they have been the most accommodating, accepting, and peaceful group. I’m glad I live in a Christian nation and, given the options globally, would not have it any other way.

Best of the Best

Particularly in America, Christians today are tolerant, acknowledging the rights of others. They recognize the right of Israel to exist. They fully embrace Israel’s strategic role in the Middle East.

Too many people on the left who regard themselves as the arbiters of what is right and true, in minor and major ways have been persecuting Christians for decades. They do not want public displays of Christianity anywhere in America. Their agenda is to remove all vestiges of religion in America. They contend that America would be a better, more egalitarian nation.

Just the opposite is true. Those who want to stamp out religion in America don’t understand that our origins and 250-year history is based on Judeo-Christian principles. The cancel culture left seek to reject the U.S. Constitution out-of-hand.

We have encountered leftist groups who shatter statues and historic symbols they deem to be oppressive and part of an old regime that was illegitimate from the outset. Many of these perpetrators hide behind ski masks while regarding themselves as heroes. In reality, they are fascists, seeking to control us.

Leftist enforcers have no idea how intolerant they are and that they are no better than those they seek to diminish. In the U.S., people of all faiths are free to celebrate their faith. If one particular faith, Christianity, was predominant from inception, to today, that does not preclude other religious groups from celebrating.

Congress: Hands Off

Leftists make erroneous statements about the “separation of church and state.” The phrase simply is not contained in the Constitution or any founding document. It appeared in a letter that President Thomas Jefferson sent to a Baptist congregation in Danbury, Connecticut. His note to them was designed to reaffirm that the government would not make dictates related to the church.

The First Amendment to the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So, when it comes to religion, Congress must keep its hand off.

As a nonreligious person, I have nothing against seeing a religious display on public or private property. Indeed, America shorn of religious symbology would be a dismal place. The Ten Commandments on a public plaque? Fine. Christmas trees in the town square? Flip on the lights! A mosque being built in America? Why not?

As long as everyone is tolerant of other religions, such developments represent no threat to anyone. It is those who operate in secret who represent a threat, as are those who wish to vanquish the rights of others to publicly exhibit symbology.

The Option to Sing Along

When I attended grammar school, I was exposed to the annual Christmas pageant. I had the choice to skip the assembly. In each case, however, I chose to enjoy the merriment of the festivities, but not sing along. My young classmates did not require me to capitulate. Nor did I expect them to modify their festival to accommodate me. Would any aware American who moved to another country expect that country to diminish their celebrations to accommodate the newbie?

I’ve had the opportunity to visit 46 of the 50 states, and 73 countries. I have walked through hallowed halls of shrines, mosques, churches, and ashrams. While Christians are being persecuted in many countries around the world, I don’t know of a single instance today where people feel unsafe in a Christian majority country.

So, I say to you, if you are a Christian, in America, please know that large numbers of us support your right to practice your religion.

For All You Do

Thank you for safeguarding the public and private expressions of others. Thank you for helping to establish a climate where non-Christians and others can feel welcome. Thank you for becoming a peaceful, tolerant religion that rightfully serves as a model for others around the globe.

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