Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Worse than Thalidomide [Serge]

Two weeks ago the UK government issued a formal apology for the thalidomide disaster. Fifty years ago, some pregnant women in the UK were given Thalidomide in order to treat morning sickness. It was effective in treating the mother's symptoms, but we soon discovered that it had horrible effects on the mothers' unborn child. About 10,000 children were harmed while in the womb, resulting in a number of children born without limbs. There are about 400 "Thalidomiders" still alive today.

This was a true tragedy, and you may think that it could not happen today. You would be very wrong. What happens today is far worse.

Thalidomide accidentally caused harm to 10,000 unborn children. However, the UK as well as the US presently approves a medication that intentionally kills millions of unborn children. That medication is mifiprex or RU-486. Unlike thalidomide, the only reason that mifiprex is given is to intentionally kill an unborn child. If the unborn child survives after a woman takes mifiprex, it is considered a failure of the medication.

What does it say about our culture that we issue apologies for harming children in the past at the same time we market a medication that intentionally kills children? Instead of harming children, what if thalidomide was more effective in killing them? Would we still apologize?


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Freedom means what they say it means, Mr. Tebow [Jay]

Tim Tebow and his mother Pam in conjunction with private donors and Focus on the Family have legally purchased commercial air time during the Super Bowl to tell the story of how his mother was advised to abort him over medical concerns. Specifically, Pam had taken a high dose of antibiotics as part of treatment for amoebic dysentery and she was advised to terminate his life. The content of the ad has been reviewed and approved by the network as acceptable. The theme of the brief spot is “Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life.” And according to abortion supporters, supposedly obsessed with freedom and choice, you should not be allowed to see this spot.

Odd isn't it? Freedom, they cry! Liberty and equality for all and don't you attempt to force your view of morality on others. And yet it is that very same group that is now demanding that CBS not allow this perfectly legal and approved spot to air. Their desire for freedom is so specifically and narrowly defined as their own right to destroy inconvenient human life that the hypocrisy of this stance remains hidden from them. It is not freedom but fiat that they seek, and this fact is embarrassingly clear every time they seek to bully and quash the basic right to express contrary opinions.

See this excerpt for some of the clear thinking being exhibited from abortion supporters:

Terry O'Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, said she had respect for the private choices made by women such as Pam Tebow but condemned the planned ad as "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning."

"That's not being respectful of other people's lives," O'Neill said. "It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else's."


Wow. That is dumb on so many levels. My brain is on fire with a desire to take her to task for that self defeating idiotic last sentence and I must force myself to stay on the point of this post. It is “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning” for Pam Tebow to share the story of how she was advised to abort her son because she was unhealthy and when she refused he was born and ultimately became one the 3 or 4 greatest college football players in history. Simple dissent from the NOW organizational stance on abortion is “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.”

I love this gem of a statement:

"An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year -- an event designed to bring Americans together," said Jemhu Greene, president of the New York-based Women's Media Center.

I know that feminist groups are usually very vocal about their love of sports and especially football. I can't tell you how encouraging it has been to see the abortion advocacy groups out in force at the Falcon's games here in Atlanta just cheering like crazy for the home team. And any fan that has ever experienced the joy of sitting in the midst of Philadelphia Eagle fans will certainly attest to the warm fuzzy ability of football to unite us in love and harmony. The Georgia/Georgia Tech game is a true demonstration every year of the uniting nature of football as it sows the seeds of peace throughout our beautiful state. YIKES!!

I applaud Tim Tebow. I have recently been talking and writing about the need for people like him to come forward and bring the issue of abortion into the popular culture through the simple expression of heartfelt beliefs. As a Georgia fan it is painful for me that God gave Tebow to Florida, but as a pro-life Christian I am thrilled that he is using the celebrity that accompanied his success to serve the weakest and most vulnerable among us. He is to be commended and supported.

He is also going to be educated. There are few groups so ugly and hateful as those that protect the right to destroy innocent life through abortion under the guise of freedom. Tim just tossed his hat into the ring as a high profile public figure that is willing to say in the most public venue imaginable that life is worth protecting. Tim said, "I know some people won't agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe.” Lesson number one, Mr. Tebow, they certainly will not.

Somehow after watching Tim run roughshod over SEC linebackers for four years, I don't think this little resistance will stop him. And thank God for that.


*As a post script, and entirely because I am in a bad mood this morning I want to take one last shot at something in this article:

A national columnist for CBSSports.com, Gregg Doyel, also objected to the CBS decision to show the ad, specifically because it would air on Super Sunday.

"If you're a sports fan, and I am, that's the holiest day of the year," he wrote. "It's not a day to discuss abortion. For it, against it, I don't care what you are. On Super Sunday, I don't care what I am. Feb. 7 is simply not the day to have that discussion."

Gregg, its a game. Grow up. There are more important things in the world and the destruction of innocent life is one of them. I hate it for you that brutality and suffering won't take the day off for you to immerse yourself in the high holy day of the truly vacuous but that is life. Sheesh. In the words of Bugs Bunny, “What a maroon.”


**In the original post I mistakenly said that Tim was at risk. I have corrected the error to accurately note that Pam was actually ill.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Some personal reflections..."To be human" [Megan]

We are reminded this day what it is to be a human being. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. got it. He got that to be human goes further than skin color, further than any physical attribute. He got that injustices were taking place against fellow human beings, and stood on Truth to shed light on their wrongness. He worked with his resources — his God-given communication skills and his connections — to bring that injustice to light, disturbances beneath the water’s surface raised to ripple that surface for all to see. His words and actions turned the world on its head, a glimmer of the One from whom he took his cues.

To be human is so much more than the best human beings can “do.” It is more than easy smiles that lift spirits, the sparkle in the eyes of a laughing child. It is more than a face wet with tears dried by a warm, gentile breeze. It is more than a compassionate touch that soothes, or a lover’s embrace that shimmers and sizzles. It is more than the best moments shared between friends.

To be human surpasses mere physicality.

To be human is to bear the mark of your maker. In this case, every single human being who has ever come into existence has been branded — the seal of God placed upon their immaterial selves, irremovable, irreplaceable, impossibly awesome. Whether we human beings are aware of it or not, we have in our very making — the unfathomable depths of the “us” that we can’t see, and can only “know” — essences, reflections of who God is. We were created as beautiful reflections of Him for Him, always for Him.

But sin shattered the reflective surface, a stone hurled at the mirror. Now, when we “look at” one another we see fractured reproductions, marred masterpieces, hopelessly flawed canvases, the only hope of which is to be added to the stack that lies beneath the One who remained totally intact, the One whose flawless reflection covers those pieced back together with the glue of grace.

To be human is to have been created in the image of God. Everyone qualifies. No matter where they are, how tiny or large they may be. No matter if they’re missing some physical parts or functions — or developing them. No matter if they must be fed through a tube, be it natural or manufactured. 

To be human is a right granted by God, not by man. After all, without Him, there would be no “man,” and certainly no “rights.” The qualifications usurp anything that can be defined in judicial chambers. “Humanity” is the term assigned and defined by human rationality, and where did that come from?

Sadly, as the celebration of human equality ensues, it remains that there is a struggle for exactly that still taking place. Sadly, there are countless who are unaware of the injustices happening, the devastating daily extermination of unborn human lives.

Sadly, until citizens and lawmakers understand the disastrous consequences of wrong ideas… 

To be human is not enough.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

LTI Podcast #24 - The "Cool"cast Part 2 [Serge]

Jay Watts, Megan Almon, and Brett Kunkle of Stand to Reason continue their conversation on "coolness" and how it relates to the pro-life message. See how Brett somehow keeps it a family show and yet still describes how to have the best sex of your life.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Website coming soon!!

I would like to apologize to everyone that we are a few days behind schedule on the new website. I can only plead guilty as a death in my wife's family set back my pre-holiday schedule and that pushed everything back a few days. We are almost done and it will be up this week.

Thank you for your patience, and I apologize again for missing this deadline.

Sincerely,
Jay Watts
VP of Development and Communications