You Don’t Have To Be Pro-Choice To Kill A Human Being
Things tend to change when you see the humanity in another person. This is particularly true when you have to deal with someone you don’t care for that much.
I had a boss that I had a hard time getting along with. I’ll admit it was difficult to like him. We never argued or fought or anything. He had one of those difficult personalities that was hard for me to interact with. Whenever he did something that upset me I had to restrain from showing my anger. It was also hard to be cordial with him in conversation sometimes.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because even though there were times when I found it difficult to interact with him there were other times where it was pretty easy. So what changed? I decided to look past his problems to the essence of who God created him to be: a human being. Things tend to change when you see the humanity in another person.
When God created us, he created us with intrinsic value. Intrinsic value is the value that you have that is innate to who you are. No one can or never will give you intrinsic value. The only reason you have intrinsic value is because God created you. Because the most Supreme Being in the universe created you, you have a value that is far greater than anything else in God’s created order.
Perhaps an example will help you to better understand what I am talking about. A lot of people are crazy about Apple, the company that makes really cool computers and other electronic products. Rightfully so in some instances. Regardless of whether or not you are a Mac or a PC you have to admit they have some cool looking devices. So it’s no wonder so many people are fans of their products. But there is a problem. As nice as those products are, they come at a high price. Why? Because of the name that is placed on them. You can find other products that are just as equal in quality but are significantly cheaper because they do not have the Apple logo on them. The iPod has high value simply because it has the Apple logo on it. No one else can give the iPod its value but its creator, Apple.
What’s true for the iPod is true for us as well. Because God created you, you automatically have high value that no one else can give you. Not only can they not give it to you, they also cannot take it away from you. This theological concept is critical for us. So many of us go into relationships seeking other people to give us the value God has already given us. For some reason we think that our value is determined by the people in our lives and the stuff we accumulate. So faulty thinking in this area causes our relationships to significantly flawed.
But there is another area of deep concern that this theological idea that our value is given to us by God is often forgotten, with devastating effects on our society. Abortion. A story ran in the associated press last week about n 18-year old girl in Florida who went to a clinic to abort her 23-week old baby.
The doctor was not in the office yet but they went ahead and started the procedure by medicating her and dilating her cervix. But the doctor didn’t arrive in time. She went into labor and delivered a live baby girl. According to the AP:
What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic’s owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant’s umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out. Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.
Yes. You read the correctly. She put a live baby in a bag and threw her in the trash. It gets worse:
The complaint says one of the clinic owners, Belkis Gonzalez came in and cut the umbilical cord with scissors, then placed the baby in a plastic bag, and the bag in a trash can.
Williams’ lawsuit offers a cruder account: She says Gonzalez knocked the baby off the recliner chair where she had given birth, onto the floor. The baby’s umbilical cord was not clamped, allowing her to bleed out. Gonzalez scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.
Amazing! According to the lawyer representing the mother, the mother apparently had a change of mind when she saw her baby:
"She came face to face with a human being," Pennekamp said. "And that changed everything."
Things tend to change when you see the humanity of another person. There is something about understanding that another person is made in the image of God, and possess intrinsic value, that changes the way you see them. This baby was not just an object to her mother. Perhaps before she was born, she was. But when she saw her she realized that was inside her was not an object, but a live human being.
This is just one of many reasons why our understanding of theology is so important. I just don’t quite understand why so many people are so dead set on believing that theology is irrelevant and that we don’t really need to know it. I’ll be the first to admit that I would not want to sit through an hour long sermon listening to someone drag on about the hypostatic union. But that does not mean theology is not necessary.
As tragic as this story is, I cannot help but think that it would have turned out different if the mother had a better understanding of humanity. This story illustrates clearly the connection between bad theology and our behavior. If you don’t take the time to learn about the importance of our humanity and what the Bible teaches there’s no telling what you could end up doing.
Robert
I love theology and the challenge of making deep teachings non-boring. Let's face it, most of the time we hear theological teaching, it really is boring. Does it really have to be that way? Nope.
