Personhood

Person (n): A human being
What makes you a human being? Your honest educated answer will reveal your world-view. At the core of your answer is whether or not you believe that God's final creative acts during the creation were to make man and woman, breathing into them His breath of life. He granted them the means to reproduce after their kind, human beings. Only mankind was created in God's image. Man is special among all the creatures. The Psalmist declares the relationship of the pre-born with God:

For You are He who took Me out of the womb, causing Me to trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast on You from the womb; You are My God from My mother's belly.
(Psalms 22:9-10 MKJV)

He also declares:

For You have possessed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are marvelous and my soul knows it very well.
(Psalms 139:13-14 MKJV)

Now what God has covered is precious! The same Hebrew word for “cover” is used to describe the protection of important objects and principles, as well as His protection and defense of his people. God holds the pre-born children in a very special place of protection. We should too!

From the time that you were conceived, all of the necessary information to form you was present to begin the development of your body. Recently, in one of my classes at St. Clair Correctional Facility, a student referred to the child at an early stage as a “blob of cells”. I interrupted my student to address that phrase. If he thinks that the baby is just a “blob of cells” then the student himself is still just a “blob of cells”. If the baby is just a blob of cells, then he/she is equivalent to any other growth within the body of the mother. This is an argument which has permitted the “Pro-Choice” folks to choose to eradicate those cells, even if the next day, those cells would have been born a “baby”.

Redefining “Pro-Choice”
The real choice is made before intercourse. “Pro-Choice” should be defined as the “choice” to proceed with intercourse knowing it may produce another person. In other words, make your “choice” before the life of another person is involved.

Moral Laws
From a recent online article, there was a picture of a woman holding a sign declaring “Keep your laws off ..." presumably "my body”. Does she really mean that? Without laws to protect her, she could more easily become the victim of rape, abuse, and murder. Moral laws are good. The moral laws of protecting a baby's rights are meant to protect mother as well. She will be protected from the mental anguish and guilt of an abortion, and she will be protected from the eternal consequences of choosing to destroy her own child.

The same picture showed another woman holding a sign, “I regret my abortion”. This is a deeply moving picture.

(Dueling South Dakota protesters after the 2006 abortion ban passed: AP.)

The horrible cases of rape and incest are usually brought up at this point. But following up one atrocity with another is not the right solution. The mother will be reminded of the tragedy that took place throughout the pregnancy, birth, and subsequent life of the child. But in reality, would the mother be any less tortured by the rape or incest while also feeling the guilt of having aborted the child? We must understand “forgiveness” and “hope” in order to proceed. But our culture has come to ignore these God-given entities. Rather some prefer to hold on to the hatred and bitterness. Some seek to find healing in death and destruction (abortion), rather than in forgiveness and hope. We can change as we look to Jesus’ example of forgiveness and follow Him.

We are not looking to place blame or cause guilt on persons for deeds from the past. Rather, we offer life-giving hope that will produce great rewards for individuals and our land.

Conflicting Laws
An inmate at St. Clair Correctional Facility handed me the laws of our land demonstrating a dual standard about the pre-born child. Currently, if a pregnant mother is murdered, the murderer can be charged with a double homicide, one for mother and one for pre-born child. At the same time, two people, mother and abortionist can plot and execute the murder of the unborn child via an abortion, legally. Premeditated murder is more severe an offense than one that is not. How is abortion different from a woman and her lover plotting to kill her husband? He is an inconvenience as well! This is despicable. The reader should be bothered severely at this contradiction. We need moral laws that are consistent in protecting the life of the pre-born child.

Illegal Abortions
In a recent discussion a person lamented that in the removal of legal abortion people would resort back to dangerous and illegal ways of ending their pregnancy. The laws would again indicate that such activity is on par with murder - abortion would be a criminal act. So we see that there is an urgent need to teach God's word concerning the value of human life. Without the mindset of the people being turned toward life, abortions will continue. Personhood is not just about ending abortion, but is also about educating people of God's promotion of life.

Alabama v. “Roe v. Wade”
The recorded words of the judges and lawyers in the 1973 Supreme Court decision known as “Roe v. Wade” indicate that if the unborn child was protected as a ‘Person’, then the case for legal abortion would have been very difficult to defend. We have gone nearly 40 years and have aborted over 50 million babies, making very little progress towards defending the lives of the pre-born. But now there is more hope. If we return to the pursuit of establishing these children as 'Persons' with the unalienable rights that you and I enjoy, we can protect them from destruction.

Such a pursuit is beginning in Alabama. The Constitution Party of Alabama hosted a small meeting in Birmingham in 2010 to share what was going on in other states in the “Personhood USA” movement. Then in February 2011, The Foundation for Moral Law (Honorable Roy S. Moore, President) hosted a meeting to ignite the effort in Alabama. I attended both meetings and met some wonderful people who are determined to share the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from person to person by means of promoting a proper knowledge of the preciousness of life in the pre-born. Cal Zastrow and others shared the vision of the 'Personhood USA' organization to help each state make law for the protection of the unborn as 'Persons' from the point of fertilization forward. This drive has two key elements. First, design and submit the correct wording for the Bill to account for the nuances of each state's existing laws. Second, gather the people's signed opinions (in other states, known as petitioning) to submit to the government leaders of the state, reinforcing the public opinion about the importance of protecting the pre-born children’s right to life.

This understanding of personhood needs to be taught in our homes, churches, schools and media. This country was established by the preaching of righteousness throughout America’s churches to the people, who then fought and gave their lives for our freedom. It is now our turn to fight for the freedom of our children.

Wake up Alabama! The South will rise again, but this time it will be in the humility and righteousness of calling our state, country, and world to acknowledge and protect the rights of the pre-born child.

Learn more at www.personhoodusa.com and sign the petition for your state!

"Holy, Holy, Holy" - Our Choice

Through the culmination of teaching Biblical Creation in the prison with the help of materials from the Institute for Creation Research (icr.org) and Answers in Genesis (answersingenesis.org), there is a path of interest that I wish to explore at the beginning of 2011.

Isaiah 6:3 declares, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

This proclamation was expressed by the seraphim with six wings, surrounding the Lord on His Throne. They were declaring the holiness of God, but they were saying that the earth is full of the result. So what might one expect to see on Earth as the result of the holiness of God?

I believe that one expression of the holiness of God on earth pertains to the detail of the creation. As we look around us, we see beauty. Just as God beheld His creation and declared it to be good, so we, made in His image have been granted a mind to reason the same. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? This verse points out that the glory of the Lord is on the earth despite how man beholds it. This logically leads to the question of how each man beholds the earth. One man beholds it with awe and gives glory to the Creator. In fact, the deeper he looks, the more he is compelled to give God more glory. Another man beholds it and does not give it much thought. Still another man beholds it and puts it in his unsatisfactory box. The latter seeks to add something else to the picture... his own imaginations or that of others... namely, in this age, Biological Macro-Evolution.

Sadly, this is a picture of our culture in the current day. There is a prevailing mentality that seems to pursue more and more in the imaginations of man's own heart without stopping to give thanks to God. Let me illustrate this with an example from science. Recently at an ICR event, Dr. Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D., gave an excellent presentation of the human reproductive system and the complex system that God created to make it possible for you and I to be born. Filled with awe, the crowd, in heart and with voice, declared praise to God. But for the evolutionist, this is just part of Grey's Anatomy, just another process that must exist as part of the Darwinian Evolution Imagination. The end result is the unknown, a god of evolution. The unknown is the draw. Once something is known, they stick it in the books and follow on to the next unknown. This process will continue indefinitely since they are in constant rejection of the truth... that behind all of the intricacies, all of the wonders of the unknown, is the Almighty Lord, maker of Heaven and Earth.

You can see the two paths of scientific discovery emerge. The Christian worships God for each discovery and how it shows the glory of God in the earth. He is inspired to continue the pursuit of the unknown, while seeking God's help. Why, because he knows that God knows. On the other hand, the evolutionist has the sense of man's conquering of knowledge... that somehow, he is unraveling the mystery to one day sit atop of it all. The result should be evident... The Christian worships God, while the evolutionist exalts mankind.

Here is the irony... in the end, it is the "foolish", by this worlds standards, those who choose to give God glory and to believe in Him, who will be lifted up to God. They will "know" as they are known by God. They will enjoy the Creator who they gave glory to and experience God's eternal presence. On the other hand, those who reject God will be given a place, where they can sit atop of what they gave glory to... the unknown and self. Possibly, they can worship self and the unknown forever, each by himself.

At the start of this new year, the choice is before us all. Who will we worship? Choose wisely.