Sunday is Sanctity of Life Sunday. I always used to think that good Christians should take a pro-life stance and that we should defend the rights of the unborn when it came to abortion and the like. Two influences have since come into my life that have greatly challenged my views on this issue.In the past few years I have become of devotee of the Mars Hill Audio Journal (a bimonthly audio magazine of contemporary culture and Christian conviction). Ken Myers has, over the years, interviewed many guests who have raised my awareness that abortion is only the beginning of the crisis facing our culture when it comes to the value of life. He has interviewed the likes of Richard John Neuhas, Nigel Cameron (a regular guest), Carlos Gomez, Michael Uhlman, C. Ben Mitchell, Joel James Shuman and others about issues like stem cell research, the relation of God's nature and purposes to our approach to sickness and medicine, the vocation of medicine, the meaning of human life, issues of suicide and euthanasia and many related topics. The take-away that continually resonates in my mind and heart is that the church by and large is behind the times on the variegated issues that surround sanctity of life. In an age of assisted suicide, genetic counseling, eugenics, fertility specialists, a lack of moral moorings, the Church needs to be educated and needs to stand up and fulfill its prophetic role in our culture.
Besides being stirred intellectually regarding these issues, we have faced them personally and deeply in raising a child with special needs. Our oldest son, David, was born with Cornelia deLange Syndrome resulting in small stature, global developmental delay and physical abnormalities. The conventional wisdom in the medical community today seems to be that testing should be performed during pregnancy to investigate the health of the "fetus" (I had a professor at Fresno State who once commented that pregnant soccer moms never have tee shirts that read "Fetus" with an arrow to their tummys!). While it might seem these good people in white lab coats want the best for your "fetus," unfortunately they are more often than not investigating whether they need to counsel termination of a pregnancy gone wrong. "In light of modern medicine, it is ridiculous that anyone should be born today with genetic disorders" is a sentiment I come across often, whether from the likes of Peter Singer or from doctors interviewed in Newsweek and on such programs as 60 Minutes. They don't mean that modern medicine can heal. David and his classmates at Chris Jesperson, in many such people's opinions, should never have been born. They're "quality of life" lacks too much and the financial outlay to our society costs too much. Yet, as I have watched my son over the past 41/2 years, it is offensive that anyone would dare to rob him of his opportunity at life. This kid is full of joy, determination and love. He brings joy to those who get to know him and has challenged many people (including me!) in the way they see others. Beyond that, the Lord, the Creator of life itself, speaks directly to this issue in Psalm 139:
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
The God of the Bible revealed in Jesus of Nazareth invented life. He is the giver of life. He sovereignly superintends every dimension of our lives.
There are a ton of great resources out there to learn more about the issues facing our culture on the issue of Sanctity of life. I want to recommend just a couple. After David was born someone gave Lisa a copy of Choosing Naia which she found extremely helpful. It is a book about a couple, Greg and Tierney Fairchild, a happily married, interracial professional couple who went for the usual prenatal screenings and came away with some very bad news: the fetus carried
a major heart defect that could signal Down syndrome. The Fairchild's are not believers to my knowledge and begin as a couple who are not particularly pro-life. This is the story of their journey coming face to face with these issues in their daughter Naia.I would also recommend Bioethics: A Primer For Christians by Gilbert Meilaender. As one review on Amazon puts it, Meilaender comes to the point early: "I have tried to say what we Christians ought to say in order to be faithful to the truth that has claimed us in Jesus." Recommended on Mars Hill, I plan to read this book this year to continue my own education on this issue.
1 comment:
Steve, I just came across this post because Brianna Heldt posted a link to it in her recent blog. Thank you so much for bringing up this topic. It's very important to me. Mike and I have always wanted to adopted and have considered adopting a special needs child. I've always been drawn to people with disabilities, particularily down syndrome (I've had some experience working with students with down syndrome and other mental disabilities in high school). Your comments, and comments like them, always put butterflies in my heart and encourage me to continue to pray for God's leading in that area. It's kind of funny because as I started to read your blog, I thought to myself, "I wonder how I can find more information about raising a child with Down's Syndrome," and then you mentioned _Choosing Naia_. Funny how God works. On a side note, we were actually on the path to adopt when we finally became pregnant with Zeb. Then came Nehemiah. I told Mike we're going to have to be not pregnant long enough to get the idea it's time to adopt.
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