7 JUN 08: THE CHOICE IS YOURS
(BLOGGER'S NOTE: You may find this item humorous, serious, or a little of both - but we offer these thoughts from time to time, as we keep a seventh-day Sabbath. And by the way, we'll have NO blog entry Sunday.)
"Don't get me started on abortion," the man told me as we watched an evening newscast together. "It's about a woman's choice, not about the government." Which makes you wonder about the women serving in government, who choose to think differently....
Our lives are filled with choices. That's even true for people who live in Communist countries. People in Cuba can listen to at least seven different national radio stations - which makes the four Columbus stations owned by Archway Broadcasting look sort of puny.
The question becomes which things in life should be a matter of choice. Of course, governments have put limits on those choices for a long time. You might choose to do what a man near Birmingham did early Friday -- but walking around naked claiming to be both Jesus Christ AND President Bush probably will get you arrested.
But when it comes to a touchy issue such as abortion, should it be a matter of choice? Believe it or not, I agree to some extent with that man -- but I believe the choices need to begin much earlier in the process. For instance, it's still OK to settle for a goodnight kiss to end a date.
Here's something else which might surprise you - I've concluded God is pro-choice. Really. If He wasn't, lightning bolts would have struck down a lot of seven-year-olds for lying to their parents about their homework.
Remember when the British pop band Wham! hit it big in 1984? Their first hit song with George Michael was "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" - which an Atlanta radio station turned into a song about its morning host: "Wake Me Up, McKee, You Bozo."
But what struck me about the video of that Wham! song was the T-shirts group members wore. They said in giant letters, "Choose Life." Yet I don't recall anyone making an issue about it, or any abortion rights group calling for a boycott of the band. Nowadays, those T-shirts would be the subject of extensive debates on Fox News Channel.
I don't know if George Michael realized it or not, but his 1984 T-shirt endorsed the view of the Bible. The book of Deuteronomy quotes Moses as saying: "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live...." Yet admittedly, conservatives who take this verse to oppose abortion don't seem to apply it to capital punishment.
Why are we supposed to choose life? Moses went on to explain: "....that you may love the Lord your God.... For the Lord is your life...." God wants people to have eternal life, and the book of Ezekiel says He takes no pleasure in people dying. Come to think of it, that seems to put God at odds with Dr. Jack Kevorkian....
In fact, God may have chosen YOU. His children are called "a chosen generation" in the book of I Peter. The big question may be whether you will choose Him, and choose to walk in a new.... uh, well.... a new "way of life." Let's face it: the way of death can be a real killer.
P.S. We decided on this topic well before we watched the Friday evening news - and heard about the killing of a seven-month pregnant woman on 23rd Street. Emergency crews were able to deliver her baby, which was alive last time we heard. If the crew went to that much trouble in behalf of life, and God went even further to provide you eternal life, what do you think the right choice really is?
SCHEDULED MONDAY: Where I found free hot dogs, cookies, Cracker Jack and more....
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