Advocate For Life

I believe that for the most part I am an optimistic person.  Probably most of you feel this way about yourselves as well, we all like to see the good not only in others but ourselves as well.  This optimism leads me to believe/know that the vast majority of people in the world are well intention-ed people.  Being optimistic also makes it difficult for me to discuss the topic for this installment: evil.   

As much as we would like to think not, evil does exist, it is real and for the purpose of this blog it must be discussed.  Who among us today would not believe that human slavery is and was not evil?  Anyone?  I doubt it.  Looking back it is so easy to see the cruelty, the indignation, brutality and dehumanization we placed on our fellow man.  The question here is, did the people of the new America see this evil?  Many millions did, their voice could not be silenced and many literally fought to their death to end the evil. 

Millions more did not see the evil of slavery, owning slaves was a life style that they were born into, inherited from many generations past it was a part of who they were.  For these people enslaving others was the societal norm.  They believed that their slaves were beneath them, slaves were not human.  These people also believed it was no one’s business what they did with their ‘property.’  Many of these people fought to the death to protect their legal right to own slaves.

If you have followed the blog this far you know what is coming next.  Do we today see the great evil that lies right before us?   Do we today see the cruelty, the indignation, brutality and dehumanization we place on our unborn through abortion?  Millions do, Millions do not.

This is the hard part of this discussion and I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers.  Knowing what is evil seems easy, explaining how something is evil is difficult.  Do I believe the people that have had or participated in an abortion are evil?  Certainly not, my answer is a resounding no!  Do I believe the people who promote abortion as ‘healthcare’ and profit from it are evil?  My answer can only be that I pray for their hearts conversion to the only power that has the authority to decide, God Almighty.  Lincoln addresses this issue much more elegantly than I when he said:  “The slave-breeders and slave-traders are a small, odious and detested class, among you, and yet in politics, they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters, as you are the master of your own Negroes.”  

In today’s world it is a common phrase to ask; “What would Jesus do?”  We hear this asked about issues great and small.  I can’t think of any issue greater in today’s world than the choice of abortion, and just what would Jesus do?  Once again I think Lincoln’s answer to this issue might replicate his answer about slavery; “The will of God prevails.  In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God.  Both may be, and one must be wrong.  God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.”   

“God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.”   Like Lincoln, I don’t think Jesus was much one to sit on a fence.

So just what is evil? This is what Google and Wikipedia say.

 Evil-adjective

1. Profoundly immoral and malevolent—“his evil deeds”
2. Synonyms: wicked, bad, wrong, immoral, sinful, foul, vile, dishonorable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, reprobate, villainous, nefarious, vicious, malicious:

“The world is stalked by relentless evil.”  Noun

Wikipedia

Killing is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil.  And what is the root of evil?  Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

Illusion;  il-lu-sion—noun   A thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses.

       “The world is stalked by relentless evil.”  I do not know who wrote this quote that is used by Google to show how the word evil can be used as a noun in a sentence.  Whomever penned it though is absolutely correct.  Evil is real, it is powerful, and it is never ending.  Evil has existed in this world since the beginning of time and will remain with us until the end.

     Just like many other things, evil can take on different forms and comes in varying degrees.  But evil also has constants; it is sly, it is devious, it is manipulative, and it is cunning, often times turning souls without them knowing.  Another constant of evil is that no one of mankind is exempt from its power, no man or woman is without sin.  Evil is evil.

       Whether or not you have a religious faith as I do, Roman Catholic, or are agnostic, or atheist, every man, woman and child has a conscious guiding their actions.   Evil goes to battle with good inside that conscious in a constant struggle for control concerning issues small and large.

       My faith tells me that the ‘good’ in this struggle is the Holy Spirit, living inside me and doing daily battle against a dark and sinister spirit, yes, the Devil, and I believe it so.   No matter what or who you believe the ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are, doing battle inside you, you know something is there, your conscious tells you so.

       Legendary country music artist George Jones had a #1 hit song in 1999 called ‘Choices’ and the chorus goes like this; I’ve had choices since the day that I was born.   There were voices, that told me right from wrong.   If I had listened, no I wouldn’t be here today living and dying with the choices I’ve made.   

       We all hear the voices that tell us right from wrong, good vs evil, and we all have choices.

      Today my choice is life.   I encourage the millions more that hear the same voice, and we know you are out there, to join us and speak out against today’s great evil as well.  God Bless.

Bringing a tough discussion to the fore

Hi, welcome back, and thank you for joining us again with our continuing discussion.

A point I would like to make right away is that I am fully aware of the difficulty that is involved in the choices of this discussion.  I have nothing but compassion for those whose lives have been effected by this topic.                                  

In my first installment I made a point of comparing two contentious issues, one past and one present, slavery and abortion, on an equal scale.  Some may protest against that and argue that they are not the same.  In some respects there is some variance, but they definitely have many common characteristics and that will be a theme throughout this blog.  One characteristic is that both issues involve one group of people or one individual deciding the fate of another individual or individuals.  In both cases, neither the enslaved nor the aborted had or have a voice in the matter.

 Another common characteristic, and I believe it too be the most striking, is how closely aligned the arguments used by the pro slavery advocates of yesterday and the pro-choice advocates of today are.  Along those same lines it is also true how much the arguments against slavery sound much like today’s arguments against abortion.  Pointing out these similarities will be another theme throughout.

Of course the greatest voice against slavery, aside from the enslaved themselves, was that of Abraham Lincoln.  Lincoln’s arguments to abolish slavery were powerful and could be used today to help abolish abortion.  You will see how his argument remains as solid today as it did yesterday.   There will also be many other notable quotes from prominent citizens of yesterday and today to help build the case against abortion.

Many will, and have said, that it is none of my business what others may do.   And they will, and have said, that because I am a man I have no authority to speak at all on this subject. Judge Stephen Douglas, of the Lincoln Douglas debates, and a staunch supporter of the right to slave ownership may have had similar thoughts.  This is what Lincoln said about all that; “Now what is Judge Douglas popular sovereignty?  It is, as a principle no other than that, if one man choses to make a slave of another man, neither that other man nor anybody else has a right to object.”   I choose to object.

I used a shortened version of a Lincoln quote about slavery in my first post and will use the extended version here.  “Even Judge Douglas admits it to be an evil, and evil can’t stand discussion.  In discussing it we have taught a great many thousands of people to hate it who had never given it a thought before.  What kills the skunk is the publicity it gives itself.  What a skunk wants to do is to keep snug under the barn in the day time, when men are around with shotguns.”

Yes abortion is a tough discussion, but let’s drag it out from under the barn and into the daylight and give it the publicity it deserves.

 Again thanks for following along and please feel free to leave your comments, pro or con.  More coming soon.  Take care, God Bless.

Two moral and political issues that parallel time

      The United States of America isn’t so united but rather, sharply divided.  A great moral and political issue that won’t go away tears at her seams. In the middle of this atmosphere the POTUS is running for a second term and to some the chances of him winning appear dim.  His supporters love him, his opponents HATE him.  Some in his own political party rise up and speak out against him.    

        The issue dividing the country isn’t new, having been around for years it flares up during election cycles.  The opposing sides of the issue pitch their tents and the combatants dig in.  There are words of insult slung in all directions and skirmishes breakout in the streets.  The conflict makes headlines daily.  

        Arguments for and against are fueled with passion from both sides.  On one side the people argue; they are not really human beings, maybe subhuman.  The other side counters; they are human, every bit as much as you and I.  A third camp sits on the fence remaining silent.  The subjects of this debate have no voice.

       The one side opines; changing the law will tank our economy.  with all these unwanted beings dumped onto the system, how could we ever afford them?  Another voice offers; every person has a purpose and can contribute in some way.  The third group sits.  The subjects of discussion again have no voice.

        One camp claims; It is ‘MY’ body, I own it, stay out of it.  Those opposed to that argument are not believing it; they argue otherwise; it is not ‘YOUR’ body, you can never ‘own’ another.  The third camp sits on the fence.  Those in question again are voiceless.

        What year is it?  It is 1864 and Abraham Lincoln is soon to be re- elected President of the United States of America.  At issue is legalized slavery and Lincoln strongly opposes it.  Lincoln’s supporters love him, his detractors loathe him, and many others are on the fence.  As has been the case for hundreds of years it is this great multitude of people, those that sit on the fence, which allows the evil of slave ownership to survive.  A few months later after Lincoln is re-elected and slavery is no longer legal in the United States, a group of Lincoln haters conspire and assassinate him.

        One hundred fifty plus years later in 2020 it is hard for us living today to imagine how such an atrocity could have been allowed to occur for a moment let alone hundreds of years.  It is difficult to imagine how mankind could have turned their back on their own brothers and sisters, reducing them to mere property to be bought and sold by the highest bidder.  And yet today we are presented by some with the exact same arguments promoting another moral and political issue, legal abortion, a medical procedure that reduces our own brothers and sisters to nothing at all.  Abortion my friends is today’s ‘great issue’ that won’t go away without an ‘all hands on deck’ effort to end it.   

      Prayerfully we can end abortion sooner than later.  If enough voices come down from there fences and rise to this occasion legal abortion, along with slavery, will one day be a sad chapter of this great nation’s history instead of its current nightmare.  We can only pray it won’t take hundreds of years or a civil war to turn the tide.  We can pray.

       We can succeed in ending this malice by educating, informing, and persistence.  Just as slavery was one hundred fifty years ago, abortion today is a tough discussion, but discuss it we must.  Lincoln said of slavery, “In discussing it we have taught a great many thousands of people to hate it who had never given it a thought before.”          

       Lincoln also knew that when a hard fought victory came it would take compassion and understanding of and for those who opposed his position for the nation to unite as one and heal the wounds of division.  In his second inaugural address, before the battle was won, he said, “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nations wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”                

To borrow a phrase from Patrick Henry; ‘our brethren are already in the field, why stand we here idle?’  Let us join our brothers and sisters fighting the good fight.  Let us lend our voices to the ever growing chorus seeking to end this stain on our great nation’s history.   Please visit me again for future posts and feel free to add constructive commentary.  God Bless.      

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Hi, my name is Lloyd and I would like to welcome you to my blog, Advocating for Life.  Who am I?  I am not a scientist, a doctor, a politician or a celebrity in any way.  I don’t have a college degree and I don’t watch reality TV.  My only qualifications for writing this blog are a deep understanding of and a calling from above to speak out in defense of, and for those who cannot help themselves. 

       I was born to devout Catholic parents and along with four siblings raised on a very small farm/ranch located on the High Plains of northeastern Colorado. I have had diversified careers as a farmer, carpenter, salesman and am currently a locomotive engineer.  I live with my lovely wife in Colorado.  We are the proud parents of four adult children and have been blessed with four granddaughters.

      I hope you will follow along as we delve into and discuss what I believe to be today’s most challenging issue in American society and the world as a whole. I sincerely hope you will add your views through constructive commentary, and pray that you will join the growing numbers of millions who seek to end one of the saddest chapters in American history—the era of legalized abortion.