This article is a modified text version of Cedar Reform’s podcast episode. As such, some wording has been modified to better flow in a written format. You can check out Cedar Reform over on YouTube.
Hello, and welcome to Cedar Reform. Because this issue was mentioned in chapel recently, I felt the need to throw some thoughts into the mix before the deadline to register to vote. This issue is, of course, the pending bill for the legalization of the mass slaughtering of the unborn in Ohio. You might know that practice by another term, but I will refrain from doing anything but naming the evil for what it is.
If you are a Follower of Christ, there is a serious disconnect of Biblical application if you are not in support of protecting life. It seems that the one of many unifying factors amongst followers of Christ, whether male or female, bond or free, Jew or Greek, is that we understand that we are all created in the image of God, born and unborn alike. This being so, I won’t be preaching to the choir on the egregious sin of (unborn) child murder and secular sacrifice for personal comfort and convenience. We know that God considers us as people even while He’s forming us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5). That case has been made and is well-established.
No, what I would like to do is address the reasons why people choose not to be culturally and politically involved in this issue. There has been nothing like it since the Civil War. The tensions rose for war then because the states were able to vote on the issue of slavery. If they voted against it, they were Free States. If they voted for it, they were Slave States. Everyone had to choose a side. Now, we are in a similar place. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which tossed the issue back to the states, we are now able to vote to protect the unborn. If we vote against the upcoming bill, we will be a Life State. If we vote for it, we will be a Blood State. Which side will we choose?
The deadline to register to vote is October 11th. We must get out there, register to vote, and vote for the protection of life and against the slaughter. If you live out of State, keep up the good fight wherever you call home. We must rid ourselves of this scourge from sea to shining sea once and for all.
Some may object to this. Are Christians really supposed to interact in politics? Wouldn’t that be enforcing our morality on others? “You can’t legislate morality,” you would say. We should just evangelize and change hearts so they don’t want to slaughter in the first place. Leave politics out of it, we must separate Church and State.
Bravo! Bravo! How smart, how selflessly intellectual you are, to be personally against murder, but alas, you must separate your faith from your politics or else transgress that most ancient commandment: thou shalt separate Church and State.
Where do we Christians even get these ideas, to be as tolerant as King Ahab? Tell me, oh great philosopher: where does the Constitution mention this “wall of separation”? Tell me, oh high priest of that wall, where does the Bible mention such a concept?
Think it through: we are worried about transgressing our neighbor by prohibiting them from acting out on their beliefs. It is true that passing a law will not get people to believe a certain way. That’s not the purpose of law, though.
For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
Romans 13:3-4
The purpose of government is to punish the wrongdoer. If you have done wrong, you should be afraid. If you have not done wrong, no harm should come to you.
Who gets to decide the definition of wrongdoing? Well, we’re Christians, aren’t we? God does. What about in a democracy where not everyone is a Christian? God still does. Democracy or vox populi is not our god. Rulers are to punish the wicked on God’s behalf according to God’s definition of right and wrong. Is slaughtering an unborn child not wicked? Then it should be punished.
Are we going against someone’s conscience in outlawing this slaughter? Tell me this, Christian Pilgrim: are we going against a murderer’s conscience when we outlaw his practice? Or a thief’s? They both get punished, though they certainly believe they ought to be allowed to do what they did. Are we enforcing our morality on them? No, we are enforcing God’s morality on them, as is the purpose of government.
What about the Gospel? Shouldn’t Christians be more involved in changing hearts instead of worrying about government? Are we not making an idol out of politics? Voting only obligates one day out of the entire year, and sometimes not every year. If we spend more time voting than we do spreading the Gospel, an idol of politics is the least of our worries.
Obviously we should be more engaged in the Gospel, but tell me why that reasoning doesn’t also apply for murder, thievery, or rape? And if you come back to me saying that those crimes harm more than just the individual, tell me how that reasoning doesn’t also go for the unborn human being that is murdered. Do you secretly harbor the worldly way of thinking, that the unborn are not human life? It really is just murder. It really is that simple. As John Wayne would say, “If everything isn’t black and white, I say, why the [heck] not?”
But how about we pretend it isn’t black and white. Let’s have some nuance, let’s light our pipes and be intellectual for a moment. Say forcing the consciences of the slaughterers was indeed an evil. What would be the worse evil? Violating the precious convictions of certain citizens, or saving millions of children from having the first light of day stolen from them? If both are indeed evil, and we have to choose between the lesser evils, is it really a difficult decision to make?
But wait, you puff. Aren’t we dealing with a false dichotomy? Who says I have to choose between two evils in the first place? I can just choose not to vote. Pilgrim, not voting is about as nonsensical as sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich and pretending like there is no danger just because you can’t see it. You’re safe as long as you personally don’t vote, you tell yourself. God can judge me, myself alone, for what I choose to do.
God doesn’t operate like that, though. God judges individuals, but He also judges nations.
The oracle concerning Egypt.
Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt;
Isaiah 19:1
The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence,
And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians,
Jeremiah 50:1
Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
Exodus 12:29
Ever wonder why God judged the Egyptian people along with Pharaoh, if only Pharaoh’s heart was the one being hardened? Or, don’t you think there might have been some Babylonians who weren’t entirely hostile to the Hebrews? Why did God judge them also? Because they were Egyptians and they were Babylonians, and God judged the nation as a whole. When the nation as a whole is wicked, God judges the wicked nation. This is why Abraham bargains with God over Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”
Genesis 18:23-26
God is going to judge the whole of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins committed in those lands. Abraham argues with God on how high the percentage of wickedness has to be before God is willing to judge the nation, wicked and righteous, alike. All wicked but 50, Lord? All wicked but 40? 30? 20? 10? If you remember the story, not even 10 were found, and we know this because God went through with His judgment on the nations of Sodom and Gomorrah.
What does that say about you, sticking your head in the sand and refusing to be involved? Will you escape judgment if the slaughter is made legal? You may escape personal condemnation specifically, but you will be condemned as an American and as an Ohioan generally. Whom do you fear more, God or man? Are you afraid of what people might think of you for outlawing the slaughter, or are you afraid of how God will see you if you don’t stand against the slaughter?
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28
Perhaps you don’t want to vote because the system is rigged, controlled opposition, and you put no faith in your vote anyway. Great, neither do I. I put my faith in God, not votes, politicians, or laws. Don’t trust your vote to do anything, trust God to do everything. Did God not use people to get enough justices on the court, who overturned Roe v. Wade in the first place? How long have we been praying, hoping, and striving for the slightest possibility to end the slaughter in our land, and God brought victory! Let the sound of church bells be heard every June 24th, when the righteous scored a victory against the wicked! God used a President like Trump to overturn Roe v. Wade. If God can raise up men like him, He can use your vote.
This decision is before us. Will Ohio be a Life State or a Death State? “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live,” (Deuteronomy 30:19). It’s time to Stand for Life.