The Gosnell Case: Awareness is Never Enough

If you still haven’t seen a post about the Kermit Gosnell case, click here for an accurate, though graphic, description of what has been coined the “house of horrors”.  When I first read about Gosnell’s clinic I began to feel sick at the filth and murder, but what really got my stomach churning was the irreverent testimonies about snapping photos of babies delivered because of failed abortions, jokes about their size, and having playtime with them before offing them with a pair of scissors.

I am glad that people are taking to social media outlets to try to spread the word about this case, since the news media have intentionally suppressed any reporting on what is a sure moneymaker of an expose piece about racism, exploitation of women, embezzlement, and murder–which every newspaper with half a wit would certainly grab ahold of regardless of their political positions (newpaper profits are lower than they were in the 1950s).

However, I fear that after this trial concludes and “Dr.” Gosnell is sentenced, the frenzy will dissipate.  You see, raising awareness will never defeat the Kingdom of Darkness.  Do you realize that we are talking about a pet project that Satan has been working on since the dawn of creation?  Ever since God declared, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel,” Satan has had a special agenda against the “seed of the woman”.  The Bible is rife with accounts just like the Gosnell case.  Consider Pharaoh’s execution of the Israelite infants in Exodus 1.  Do you realize that the Israelites were simply following the customs of the people around them when they offered their babies as burnt offerings to the god Molech (Deut. 12:29-31)?  And what about Herod’s massacre in Bethlehem?  Are these all unrelated events?  Let us not be so naive!

This is why you cannot allow yourself to be satisfied with posting a few articles on Facebook out of righteous indignation.  Awareness will never accomplish anything on its own to defeat the powers of sin and death.  We have to take action.

Think about this, Christian: what kind of statement do you make about children in your life?  The only difference between many Christian marriages and secular marriages is the fact that the Christians never goof up their contraceptives and have moral convictions that prevent them from aborting an unplanned pregnancy.  However, both the Christian and non-Christian are saying the same thing: “Children are an unwanted inconvenience.”  Increasingly, Christian couples are choosing to delay having children because…well, they get in the way (and they do, especially while you are trying to make dinner!).  They interrupt our climb to success.  They interrupt adult conversation.  They make messes.  They are great, but I need to get my life in place before they can fit in to what I am doing.

If we are going to defeat Satan at a game he has been playing for thousands of years, we are going to have to start cherishing children as blessings from God in our marriages.  One of the only mandates God gave Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply.  Why is it no surprise then that Satan has convinced the majority of the Christian community that what God meant as an amazingly blessed result of love and sex is actually a quite unfortunate curse?  Perhaps this means a child will interrupt your schooling–praise the Lord!  Maybe the new baby means you have to put your professional aspirations on hold–praise the Lord!  Maybe having a child in the house means you and your wife only get a date night once every millennium–to God be the glory!

You see, our culture hears us saying, “Life has value from conception,” but they don’t see us welcoming that life into our marriages.  Our message and our practice are not lining up.  If we expect non-Christians to value life in the womb, we must first.

Also, I especially challenge fathers to fight for their children.  This world needs men who would take up a pair of scissors, not to execute their child, but to execute anyone who would dare come against their child.  Fathers need to fight for their children, especially against the powers of darkness.  Are we spending time teaching them God’s Word?  Are we even spending time with them?  We claim that their lives are precious in the womb, but once they are born we can’t seem to find the time for them.

I would also encourage you to find a crisis pregnancy center to serve in nearby (Praise God–we have just opened one here in Newberry!).  The love of Christ must reach pregnant mothers and expectant fathers before it can reach the children in their womb.  Rather than clinics that exploit and harm, women in crisis need a place where they will find the love and acceptance of the gospel.  Support adoption wherever it may be found–monetarily, with your prayers, and in your families.  As you embark on this struggle, understand that you are entering a battlefield that is as old as time.  The fight will not be easy.

Don’t be content to be aware.  Do something about it.  For, “even the demons are aware–and shudder” (James 2:19).