Light and Darkness

This Sunday’s readings again mention light and darkness: “The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom, a great light has shone.”  (Isaiah 8:26)   And, “The Lord is my Light and my salvation, whom should I fear?” (Psalm 27:1)   Matthew’s gospel (Matt 4:15) cites this quote from Isaiah at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  The darkness referred to in scripture is associated with turning away from God and living in a culture saturated by sin, to the extent that people can no longer perceive truth.  Sadly, we live in a time when our own culture is blind to many truths, even those revealed plainly in nature.

This past week marked the 41^st year since the passage of Roe v. Wade, in which the Supreme Court struck down the States’ right to regulate the abortion industry.  In doing so, they ushered in a culture of death that has taken the lives of more than 50 million babies, in the name of progress toward women’s rights and privacy.  Despite incontrovertible truth, supported by the latest neonatal science, people deny that a fetus is a human being.  The very same people who support heavy fines and imprisonment for the destruction of fertilized eagle or condor eggs, deny that a fertilized human egg has any value whatsoever.  Those who declare that denying abortion is a “war on women” are blind to the many serious consequences to abortion as well as contraception.  Despite numerous well-documented scientific studies documenting the connection of abortion and birth control to breast cancer, the spread of STDs, depression, and many other ill-effects, this information is suppressed and ignored, to the detriment of women everywhere. 

In perhaps the most egregious example of the real war on women, a coalition of non-profit agencies, assembled and led by Melinda Gates, has disseminated the contraceptive, Depo-Provera, to more than 120 million African women.  This is being done, despite a “black box warning” by the FDA on this injectable hormone-based contraceptive.   In 2004, the FDA mandated that Depo-Provera patients be counseled by health care professionals about the serious side effects of the drug which include: significant and irreversible bone loss; blood clots in the lungs, limbs and eyes; stroke; ectopic pregnancy; and significant weight gain.  Does this sound like a drug you would want your spouse or daughter to be taking?  The FDA also indicated that in no instance should a woman take this drug for more than 2 years (for the same reasons).  Separate studies published in Lancet and Cancer Research documented that use of this drug in Africa directly results in the spread of AIDS, and that it doubles the risk of an aggressive form of breast cancer.  For all these reasons, few if any, white or affluent women in America or Europe take Depo-Provera.  Nevertheless, the Gates Foundation, USAID, the Population Council, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Planned Parenthood, have formed a coalition that funds and disseminates Depo-Provera to African women on a massive scale.  At one point, they even gave it to approximately 9000 African women under the guise of general health care, without telling them what they were receiving, or any of the risks associated with it.  A class action lawsuit contending “non-consensual human experimentation” is currently in the works.   Despite all this, contraception is still widely promoted as “women’s health care,” and anyone who says otherwise is alleged to be waging a “war on women.”

The dictionary defines the term holocaust as, “wholesale or mass destruction, especially of human life.”  If the murder of 50 million American babies isn’t a holocaust, what is it?   Amazingly, our president and his appointees call it “women’s health,” and a basic right.  The Obama administration demands that every employer pay for chemical abortions (plan B) as well as contraception, and have sued the Little Sisters of the Poor for their refusal to sign the “accommodation” in which they are required to allow their health plan administrator to provide this coverage to the employees in their hospices and nursing homes.  It seems the President wants to make an example of the Little Sisters and grind them into submission.  Sounds to me like a “war on women.”

Clearly, our President and his supporters adamantly promote the culture of death in which millions of babies are murdered each year, many at the expense of taxpayers.   They are living in darkness so impenetrable that they cannot see or understand the truth of what they are doing.  Each human life is precious and unique.  Imagine the talent, energy, creativity, and productivity we’ve destroyed as a nation these past 41 years!   The truth they cannot perceive is that every life is an exquisite gift of God’s love, with boundless potential for good.  50 million lives have been destroyed, not to mention millions more chemical abortions, essentially because they were inconvenient, unplanned and/or unwanted.  This is intrinsically evil, and anyone who promotes or condones abortion is guilty of participation in this infanticide.  Politicians who advocate for abortion rights, and those who vote for them, are contributing to the culture of death and the darkness that pervades our nation.  They are blinded by this darkness, but no less culpable for its spread. 

Do not give up on overturning Roe v. Wade.  As dark as things seem to be right now, the Light of Christ will prevail, and we who call ourselves by His name, (Christians) are growing in number and influence.   It is up to us to demand that our leaders face the truth about abortion and about our government’s overt attempt to stifle religious freedom.  Abortion is not the only issue to consider when electing politicians, but it is THE most important issue, and trumps all others.  Christians who overlooked the abortion issue in the last presidential election must realize by now what a horrific mistake they have made.  Failure to respect the ‘right to life’ is an indicator that many other rights will also be violated by government bureaucrats who have no perception or respect for the truth.  The antidote for this veil of darkness is to reveal the truth, and that is only possible because the Light of Christ can and will penetrate and defeat this horrendous evil.  And when He does, “the people who live in darkness (will) have seen a great light.”  “The Lord is my Light and my salvation, whom should I fear?”