Tag Archives: human-rights

Mar 5 2013

Dilation and Evacuation: Raw, Real and Evil

I am beginning to devote a considerable portion of Delight in Truth to the Pro Life cause because the Spirit of life, the One who raised Jesus from the grave, the One who gives life (Romans 8:11) to our mortal bodies is Pro Life.

I am posting in the video below the testimony of Dr. Anthony Levatino, a board certified Ob-Gyn who used to perform abortions and who became Pro Life after his daughter was struck and killed by a car.

He said: “If you haven’t gone through that kind of tragedy, you don’t have a clue. You may think you can imagine it, but trust me: You have no idea what it’s like to lose a child, in any way.”

Seeing his daughter die was so traumatic for him, that he began seeing abortion as the violent death of someone’s son or daughter, and he became a Pro Life activist.

The video contains a short clinical description of what a dilation and evacuation around minute 2:45.

The ending is bound to leave a mark in your soul.

Mar 4 2013

Chinese Propaganda… in Our Christian Media!

I had written a post (here) about the online magazine Christianity Today, questioning whether it can be called Christian based on some the articles, editorials, and opinion pieces they publish.

So, it was not surprising to see an article in Christianity Today entitled “China Isn’t Trying to Wipe Out Christianity” which is basically an apologetic piece on the claim that persecution is really not that bad in China.

Having lived in communist Romania until age 13, and having seen the persecution methods employed by that government against my local church, I can testify that what I read in this article was a message influenced by communist propaganda.  The communist Romanians had freedom of speech, religion and assembly as part of their core values.  Allegedly. And theoretically.  But they were vehemently persecuting the existing ne0-Protestant churches for their FAITH under the banner of national security.  Any prayer meeting was seen as a national threat.  Every church was suspected of being a potential western ally.  Every faithful Christian was a potential revolutionary.  All of these to cover the real motive which was religious persecution.

They used the seemingly legitimate national defense excuse to accomplish their atheistic goals of suppressing the truth and stamping out religious practice.

And the propaganda disseminated in this article by Christianity Today follows some of the same old techniques we have seen in the former eastern communist bloc.  For example:

1. The government is really not after those practicing their faith in house churches.  Oh no.  They are after anti-government elements that pose a national threat… So I ask… National threat from whom?  Is the US or western Europe about to go to war with China? How ridiculous does that sound? Are they afraid that individual house cell meetings for prayer are going to topple a massive totalitarian government?  Even that is highly improbable!

2. The Chinese government is not persecuting the faith, they are trying to suppress protests which can be embarrassing.  So I ask… Why are Christians trying to protest in the first place if they are not persecuted for their faith?

3. The Chinese government is not persecuting Christians… only the ones who are trying to publicize human rights violations.  Again, when freedom of religion is suppressed, that is a human rights violation translating into religion persecution.

Quote from the article: “The point here is not in any way to minimize the seriousness of these cases, but simply to point out that these believers were not persecuted for their faith or even for belonging to a house church…”  This is exactly what the propaganda is!  That the persecution has nothing to do with faith but with anti-government activity.  We have seen this cover story time and time again in Romania.

This is an old trick and we are not going to fall for it!

Can we now see how ridiculous it is to blame Christian “trouble makers” to divert attention from the real underlying impetus of the atheist Chinese government, their real motive being the  persecution of the Christian faith? And Christianity Today is buying it despite multiple other reports and assessments with respect to the intense persecution of the faithful in China!

Even though Christianity Today may not (want to) discern the truth, we know that our brothers and sisters in China are suffering at the hands of an atheist totalitarian regime which wants to inhibit their faith in God.  We will continue to pray for these Christians and remember Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

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Feb 5 2013

Proposition to Solve the Abortion Dilemma

The following is a satirical essay by Delight in Truth friend and follower Matt.  Originally written in High School, it brilliantly shames our society into realizing the grave sin and injustice of aborting millions of unborn babies.

My Humble Proposition

 There is an issue which has divided our nation for far too long.  It is an issue that angers many Americans against each other, and I would like to offer my humble proposition to permanently resolve the issue in a way that is both acceptable and beneficial to all.  I propose a solution that would also serve to strengthen our country.  I offer my humble proposition to resolve the issue of abortion.

 First and foremost we would outlaw abortions immediately.  This should assuage the concerns of even the most extreme opponents of abortion.  In conjunction with this we would create a national database for unwanted unborn children.  Any woman who is pregnant and does not want the child would be required to register her child as unwanted.  This can be done any time up to the ninth month of pregnancy or even after birth up to a reasonable age, such as one year.  This does require the woman to carry the child for 9 months, but in exchange it allows her a one year trial with the child after birth to determine if the child is wanted or not.  This is a tremendous benefit over the current abortion-based system because it would allow her to assess the personality of this child in a way she can’t currently because the decision must be made before birth.  Under this program, once the child is declared unwanted, the government would cover all expenses of medical and child care.  Further if the child is declared unwanted after birth she would still be eligible for reimbursement of medical expenses and reasonable child care expenses.

 The next step is, of course, the management of the unwanted children, which I will hereafter refer to simply as Unwanteds.  Certainly there is an expense to U.S. taxpayers for delivering and raising the Unwanteds, but with foresight it should be easy to see the benefits of this system.  The Unwanteds can serve untold benefit to our society.  Education of the Unwanteds can be minimal as they will primarily be working at hard labor and jobs valuable Americans don’t want.  Further their living conditions and food can be kept at minimal levels.  I estimate that by age 12 they can begin to earn their keep in various forms of labor.  It should be possible to create a program in which a percentage of the value generated by the Unwanteds can be provided to their birth mothers as an income source long-term.  This would help compensate the mother for the 9 months of carrying the Unwanted.

 Currently, the military has roughly 1.5 million active members, and 1.5 million reserve members.  Currently there are also roughly 1.5 million abortions annually in the U.S.  You can see that only two years of Unwanteds could populate our entire military.  This would prevent the loss of valuable American lives in any future conflict. The remaining Unwanteds can perform other hazardous or undesirable jobs.  They can provide low-cost factory labor to compete with countries like China.  Those who demonstrate exceptional ability and attitude could be rented for private service to valuable Americans.  Because they are not citizens we need not be concerned with things like a minimum wage, or excessively comfortable working conditions. 

 Perhaps there will be a few who feel this is unfair treatment of the Unwanteds.  One would logically expect, however, that they will in fact be grateful both to their nation and to their birth mothers who offered them the opportunity to live and contribute to their mothers and their nation.  If an Unwanted made the illogical decision that death would in fact have been better, they can always be provided the opportunity to make this decision for themselves.  It might even be possible to create a program in which an Unwanted, of exceptional talent and work ethic, could eventually purchase a Wanted status and become a valued member of American society.  In this scenario it would even be possible to allow a reunion between the grateful Unwanted and the potentially proud birth mother if both parties agreed.

 I believe this solution provides a resolution to the abortion issue that is satisfying for all parties.  We prevent the abortions as opponents desire, but we also create a system in which the mothers are able to convert their Unwanted pregnancies into a much-needed income stream.  This seems to be a benefit to all involved. 

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Jan 26 2013

The Pro Life Movement as a Civil Rights Movement

The Pro Life movement has been invigorated in recent years like never before.  It is now moving in the direction of the Civil Rights movement, that is a Right to Life cause, despite the fact that abortion legality is here to stay.

The line has been drawn in the sand 40 years ago, but as the Bible tells us, in the last days we are seeing an increasing separation between good and evil.  The contrast has never been greater on the issue of the unborn, primarily because many young people are beginning to see the evil of abortion that their parents ignored.

Many of the staunched feminists of the Roe v Wade era have passed, and the new wave of abortionist feminism is not nearly as dedicated to their cause as the previous generation.  The recent TIME Magazine article on this topic explains the reasons for it.

But the mainstream media will not let you hear of it.

At the superficially covered ‘March for Life’ event in Washington this week where 500,000 pro lifers participated, there was a higher percentage of young people compared to previous marches.  These Christians have made their stand for the fundamental right to life.  And all the pro-life websites are taking notice.

So are the politicians.

Senator Rand Paul (Presbyterian) spoke at the rally and said:

“I have a question for those who don’t respect and won’t protect life: Can a nation long endure that does not respect the sanctity of life?”

“Can a nation conceived in liberty carry its head high if it denies protection to the youngest and most vulnerable of its citizens? Can a country founded on God-given rights continue to thrive without understanding that life is a precious gift from our Creator?”

He called for this new generation to be part of a great “revival” for the country centered on justice and compassion, seeing the present state of the nation as being in moral peril.

I have seen this polarization in my medical career.  I have NEVER met a doctor in my generation who specializes in abortion.  All the abortion doctors I know are from the previous generation, and they are about to retire.  In fact many of them are way past the retiring age because the system NEEDS them and will not let them retire.

New doctors coming out of med school do not want to do abortions.  Many find it morally wrong, but most find it absolutely hideous.  The idea is absolutely physically repulsive and is in stark contrast with our committment to healing.  We will not become a tool of the abortionist activist movement.

There is a song by Jesus Culture ( 😉 ) called ‘Break Every Chain’ that talks about an army rising up in the name of Jesus to proclaim the power that is in the name of Jesus.  This young generation of believers may be the ones to finally match the abortionist’s activism… but do it in the name of Jesus.

Roe v Wade will not be overturned.  But the fight to limit it at the state and federal level is intensifying.  On the spiritual front the fight is the fiercest it has ever been.

Could we be seeing the beginning of a new spiritual revival… possibly the last one before Christ’s return?

image credit: Drew Angerer/The New York Times

Dec 26 2012

In Our Season of Joy We Pray for Nigerian Christians

We live in a country where we can still freely worship God without having to worry about losing our physical life, unlike the early Christians and many Christians across the Globe.

In Nigeria, having the courage and fortitude to proclaim the Christian faith means one may ultimately pay with his or her life for such proclamation, especially during major Christian holidays.  Such was the case for two Christmas seasons now.  Last year 44 Christians were killed while attending church service (report), and two days ago 12 Christians were massacred in two separate church attacks (report).  Muslim extremists have made it their life mission and service to their god to accomplish such carnage as directed by their scripture:

9:123 “Believers, fight the unbelievers who are near you. Let them find firmness in you.”  

2:193-“Fight against them (unbelievers) until there is no dissension, and the religion is for Allah. Fight until no other religion exists but Islam.”

These facts stand uncontested and we cannot understand their gravity until we put ourselves in the position of these Christian martyrs and their families.  Can you imagine singing “Silent Night” during the Christmas Eve service, and all of a sudden having full automatic fire ravaging the audience of worshipers? Or a car bomb blowing up the church?  These are daily fears for Nigerian Christians.  When they confess Christ as God Incarnate, and His death and resurrection as the only way to salvation, they understand they signed up for possible martyrdom.

They read, understand, and take God’s Word at face value in John 16:2 “a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.”  They understand this verse as none of us can because their neighbors are killing them as a service to Allah.

They understand martyrdom just like Peter understood his upcoming martyrdom.  The Lord hinted at this in John 21 when He told Peter:

18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he [Peter] was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Just like Peter glorified God with his death by upside down crucifixion, so these Nigerian martyrs glorify God with their last breath.  And so year after year, Christmas after Christmas, Easter after Easter, they continue to go to church and worship the God of their salvation despite the threats and possibility of death.

These stories will not make the front page on CNN or Fox News sites.  This become the norm in many African and South East Asian countries… it is not extraordinary enough to be worthy of prime time coverage and discussion.

But we know about them.  We pray for them and the families left behind.  We know they are now with the Lord “and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:17)

In our season of joy, we must pray for these Christian martyrs and their families.