Christian Philosophy: Everyone Has a Philosophy. It's The Lens Through Which They View The World and Make Decisions. (26 page)

• Partner violence is 44 times greater among lesbians and 300 times greater among homosexual men

• Homosexuals are at least 50% more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, and substance abuse

• The risk of suicide is 200% greater for homosexuals

• Homosexuals are twice as likely to contract AIDS

• Life expectancy is reduced by 20 years among homosexuals

• Homosexual men are twice as likely to have been diagnosed with cancer

• Lesbians are at a higher risk for breast cancer

• Lesbians are twice as likely to be obese

The Surgeon General puts warnings on cigarettes because they have been shown to reduce life expectancy by ten years. Homosexuality is twice as deadly as cigarettes, by those standards. It is not the normal, healthy lifestyle that the gay lobby wants everyone to believe it is. If people were not “Politically Correct phobic,” they would put warnings out about the dangers of homosexuality.

As these statistics show, homosexuality isn’t just morally wrong—it is a hugely destructive behavior. God doesn’t want people getting hurt or destroying their lives by getting caught up in this. It is important to talk about the dangers because homosexuality is a choice, and you can avoid the consequences by avoiding the behavior. I’m not being hateful by applying my Christian philosophy to point out the dangers of the homosexual lifestyle any more than the Surgeon General is being mean by putting warning labels on cigarettes. I’m trying to save people from being deceived and from getting hurt. The good news is that anyone practicing homosexuality can get out of that lifestyle. No one is destined to be gay.

I have had people working in my ministry and attending my Bible college who have been delivered from the homosexual lifestyle. By their own testimony, they had serious problems at one time, but now they are completely free. They are happier than they have ever been, and they are totally liberated from homosexual tendencies. Contrary to what many people have been told, homosexuality is not genetic. It is not the way God made you. No matter how trapped you might feel, Jesus can save you out of that lifestyle.

It is not only okay for Christians to employ their Christian philosophy and speak out against homosexuality, it is imperative that we do, because the truth is what sets people free (John 8:32). Scripture is clear that no one engaging in a homosexual lifestyle will inherit the kingdom of God, and homosexuals won’t know that God has a better, healthier, and more fulfilling plan for their lives unless someone tells them. You shouldn’t be mean about it; truth shouldn’t be used like a club to beat people into submission. But as long as your motivation is love, I encourage you to speak the truth and not to be afraid of being criticized.

O
n a Monday morning in July, when the Colorado House of Representatives was celebrating the 90
^th
anniversary of Planned Parenthood, a young woman took the floor to sing the national anthem. As an advocate for people with cerebral palsy, the House was honored to have her sing for them. The woman’s emotionally engaging performance had the entire chamber singing along with her at one point. After a stirring round of applause, one of the representatives stood to tell the young woman’s story—and the mood in the chamber suddenly changed.

The young woman was Gianna Jessen, survivor of a saline abortion performed at a Planned Parenthood clinic in California, and her cerebral palsy was caused by the saline injected into her mother’s womb. She was invited, the representative said, to put a face on the celebration of Planned Parenthood. The majority leader behind the celebration felt like they had been manipulated, and was later quoted as saying, “I think it was amazingly rude to use a human being as an example of personal politics.”
⁶⁰
Yet abortion is precisely about human beings, not politics. It’s about all the people who never get a chance to live and to sing.

The medical professionals who perform the abortions have billions of dollars worth of incentives to harden their hearts against the human crisis that plays out before them every day. But if those choosing abortion could see the human pain, suffering and death they are causing, any rational person would realize this is wrong.

Many who support abortion try to dehumanize babies living in their mothers’ wombs by pretending that babies are just a mass of tissue until the moment of birth, but we know that isn’t true. Everything needed for life is already present in our reproductive cells, and human development begins immediately after the male and female reproductive cells meet. In other words, babies are living human beings from the moment of conception. In the Psalms it says,

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

The NIV translates these verses as, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

The Amplified Bible says, “For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will confess
and
praise You
for You are fearful and wonderful and
for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately
and
curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery]. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them.”

God knows unborn children while they are still in their mothers’ wombs. He knows us long before we are completely developed; while we are still a developing cell being “made in secret.” God knows everything about how you will look when you are just an embryo. He knows your hair color, your eye color, how tall you will be. He knows absolutely everything, and He has already recorded everything about you in His book.

When someone has an abortion, they aren’t just destroying a hunk of tissue. Abortion kills a living person known by God, a person whose features and characteristics have already been written down by God. Abortion destroys human beings into whom God has breathed life.

Abortion isn’t a matter of “
choice
,” as pro-abortionists want to spin it. No one has the right to kill an infant. Abortion is murder, and it’s wrong. I’m not saying this to hurt anyone, but you can’t fix a problem until you identify it, so we need to be clear about the abortion crisis in our society. God has already provided forgiveness for anyone who has had an abortion, so I’m not reproaching anyone. I’m condemning the practice of abortion. No one should be given the freedom to kill a child. It’s not right, and we need to stand against it.

The story behind Roe v. Wade, the famous Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in 1973, is an interesting one. The real name of the woman called “Jane Roe” in the case is Norma McCorvey. In 1973, she had one small child and was pregnant with her second when she was chosen to be the plaintiff in the suit. She says she was worried about being able to take care of two small children and wanted to get a legal abortion, but Norma never actually had an abortion. In fact, today, she is the mother of three daughters and is a pro-life activist who says her involvement in Roe v. Wade was the worst mistake of her life.

Roe v. Wade was based on a “woman’s personal right to privacy and to choice.” The justices rationalized their decision by saying that an unborn child is not a living person, and so the child doesn’t have legal rights that are protected by the state (like the right to life). This is not true—it’s just the only logic they could come up with to legally justify abortion. We all know that an unborn child is a living human being, and science has since proven it.

In 1973, there wasn’t definite scientific proof that an embryo was a child. People hadn’t questioned whether that was so. It was just commonly accepted that an unborn child was human. But in the absence of “scientific” research on this matter, the Supreme Court ruled that an unborn child was not a separate human and therefore, the woman had a right to choose what to do with her own body. Although science has since proven that argument wrong, the practice continues.

Abortion shouldn’t be about a woman’s privacy or her right to control her future. It’s about the life of an unborn child—life that should be protected. No one has the right to take the life of another; especially the innocent life of a child.

Scripture clearly shows that unborn babies are living human beings. After the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary went to visit her older cousin Elisabeth who was also pregnant at the time. Elisabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist, and Scripture says he leapt for joy in Elisabeth’s womb when Mary entered the room—which means that he was experiencing emotion as an unborn six-month-old baby.

…when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

Luke 1:41-44

Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit comes upon us and He never leaves us, but it was exceptional to be filled with the Holy Spirit before Jesus ascended into heaven and the Father sent the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever. The Holy Spirit would come upon people to help them perform a specific task, but He didn’t dwell in them continuously.

However, it was prophesied that John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15), and the scripture above records the moment it happened—when he was still an unborn baby. The key point here is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t fill inanimate tissue. He only fills living human beings. For John the Baptist to be filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother’s womb proves that unborn babies are distinct human beings in God’s eyes.

The relative maturity of a baby doesn’t determine whether or not he or she is a living human person. A baby doesn’t have to be ready to care for herself outside of the womb in order to be considered “alive.” God designed babies to grow and mature in the womb. Even after babies are born, you still have to feed and care for them. You have to protect babies, feed them, and provide them with the right environment and temperature. Infants can’t survive outside the womb on their own because it takes several years for children to mature enough to be able to take care of themselves.

Developmental stages are just measurements of maturity—they don’t indicate the beginning of life—whether the person is one day, fourteen months, or thirty years old. A baby’s life doesn’t begin at some arbitrary stage of development—babies are living people from the very moment of conception.

Jeremiah was ordained to be a prophet from his mother’s womb, as was Isaiah. This truth was only highlighted in scripture for a few individuals, but God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). He treats us all the same, which means that God knows everyone from the earliest stages of development. Even when you were being formed in the womb, God knew you and had already fashioned a purpose for you.

Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Jeremiah 1:4-5

Here again, this scripture says that God “knew” Jeremiah when he was still in the womb, which shows that God views a fetus as a person—not mere tissue. (I hate to use the term “fetus” to refer to an unborn human being, but I want to make sure those who do use that term get the point that what they call a “fetus” is a living human being.) The Apostle Paul also said that he was separated to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ when he was still in his mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15). These examples demonstrate how the Lord knows each of us from the earliest stages of development, and He puts gifts and life-purpose in us long before we are born.

Even though unborn babies are dependent upon their mothers while they are developing in the womb during pregnancy, God views babies as unique persons from the moment of conception. In God’s eyes, a fetus is a living human being, and taking the life of an unborn baby is no different than taking the life of any other human being. The majority of society may not view it that way, and the United States Supreme Court may not agree, but Scripture says, “let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). In other words, it really doesn’t matter what everyone else is saying. God says babies are living human beings from the moment of conception, and His Word is true.