Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Are you Pro-Life???



I hear so many people claim they are pro-life, and then those same people tolerate so many anti-life behaviors. It’s time to call these people what they really are: Anti-Abortion, but NOT Pro-life!

What would a real Pro-Life person look like?

They would fight for the hungry. They would never tolerate their country denying food to those who cannot afford food on their own.

They would fight against war. When war is fought to defend the lives of the citizens of our country, then that may be necessary, but when was the last war fought, here in the U.S., defending Americans from harm?

They would demand the abolition of the death penalty. People claim it is “justice”, but it isn’t justice, it is revenge. And sadly, innocent men have been executed, even since DNA testing has become common. Not all cases have DNA evidence. Anyone who values life could not conscionably allow death sentences. If they are Jewish or Christian, what happened to “Thou shalt not murder”?  That’s what execution is! And when there is even the slightest chance that an innocent person might be killed, how can anyone who claims to be Pro-Life allow his to happen?  Once a person is executed, we cannot bring them back!

They would be against homelessness. Not in the sense that we should ban homelessness, but that something needs to be done to help those who cannot afford a place to live. Anyone who claims to be a Pro-Life person could not stand to know that people freeze to death in the winter and die from the heat in the summer because they have no place to live.

Pro-Lifers claim to be against abortions, and yet these same people cheer the government when they refuse to give birth control to women to help them from becoming pregnant. And any politician who claims IUDs are abortifacients, when the manufacturers assure us that is not what they do, how dare those politicians claim to be Pro-Life.

They would NEVER tolerate, or make excuses for our government violating the Geneva Convention by torturing prisoners. How can you claim to be Pro-Life, when you approve of torture that could easily end a person’s life, or at the best, make life intolerable?

They would demand universal healthcare for all, if they were truly Pro-Life. You cannot pick and choose who gets healthcare and claim that you value human life. Everyone deserves the same fighting chance.

They would not support lax gun laws that allow people to wander the streets with guns risking lives with their stupidity, mental health issues, or even homicidal thoughts. They would ask our government to keep guns out of the hands of people who are not mentally stable. They would want guns to stay out of the hands of those who have already shown violent tendencies.

They would not force a young girl to carry the seed of a man who raped her. They would understand that everyone has to live with their own decisions, and that it is not their place to make decisions for anyone without their permission

They would not tolerate churches who turn away the hungry and the homeless. The reason churches are tax exempt is so that they will use that money to help society. Not so that their pastors can live in mansions and fly on private jets.

A REAL Pro-Lifer would strive for EVERYONE to have a quality life. Not humdrum, not intolerable, not just surviving. A person who values life would not believe that “just barely surviving” was acceptable.


So, are you really a Pro-Life believer? 
Did you cheer when watching “The Sniper” when he killed women and children?
Do you feel “justified” when a prisoner is executed?
Do you approve or our Congress trying to prevent peaceful treaties with other countries?
Do you applaud when civilians are bombed?
Do you ignore starving children?
Do you turn away from the homeless and go about your business?
Do you think homelessness, hunger, poverty, and poor health are everyone else’s problem, but not yours?
Do you believe our laws should be so strongly against abortion that a young girl could die giving birth to a baby? Or, a woman who was raped should be forced to carry that child? Would you rather a woman kill herself, because it is the only way to avoid carrying a child that she knows she could never support?
Do you support countries who treat some of their citizens as second class, just because they are not the same color, religion, ethnicity, or sex?
Do you support laws that hold you higher than other citizens in our own country?
Do you believe there are people that are “beneath” you?
Do you only support those who follow your religion?
Do you hold grudges against others, and believe people only get one chance in this life to get things right?


If you said Yes, to any of the above questions, you aren’t Pro-Life. You are an uncaring individual. You do not hold life as sacred. You hold your beliefs as more important than others’ beliefs. And, if you are ‘well off’ and you have done nothing to help those less fortunate, you are the PROBLEM our society faces today.  You are disgraceful!










How's That Working for You?

A state congressman has been married for 25 years. He is about to celebrate his anniversary with his wife.

He makes reservations: and his wife spends hours getting ready for this special night. He looks at her, and smiles, thinking to himself that she is just as beautiful and he loves her just as much as he did the night he proposed.

They walk into the restaurant where he proposed to her 26 years ago

They get to the door of the restaurant and approach the Maitre D. He looks at them and frowns “Oh, we are so sorry, but we can’t seat you. Our religion will not allow us to serve you.”

“But, we made reservations! It’s our anniversary!”

“Well, you see, it is against our religion to serve men who have tattoos. The woman can stay, but you will have to leave”

“It’s our anniversary! We intend to eat together! Besides, this tattoo is from when I defended our country! I was wounded! It represents the sacrifice my platoon made for this country! What if I cover it?”

“I understand, sir, but you would not want us to violate our religious beliefs just so that you can eat, would you? Leviticus 19:28 says 'You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD”. We know you have the tattoo, so covering it would do no good. You are a sinner for having it. We simply cannot allow you in here.”

“Again, we are so sorry, but serving you would be against our religion, and the law allows us to do this.  Our customers don’t want to be around the likes of you, and we agree.  We are within our rights, so, if you want to eat tonight, I suggest you go find somewhere else to dine.  Goodnight”

They turn around and walk out, and look at each other.” Are they serious? I know the owner. He is a good Christian man. How could he turn us away?”

“Let’s try the little Bistro where we had our first date,” his wife suggests.

He drives the 9 miles to the Bistro. It is 8:30 now, and they are both getting hungry. They see the lights and activity of the restaurant, and some empty tables as they enter. Guests are smiling, and everyone seems to be enjoying their meals.

 They are greeted by a hostess, who looks surprised to see them.
“Table for Two” he says.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but you can’t eat here.”

“What?  Why not??”

“Well, you see - the woman, Sir. She is dressed inappropriately. Our religion adheres to the Bible, and 1Timothy 2-9-10 says, Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garment, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.”

“But this is how a classy, respectable woman dresses! There’s nothing wrong with her dress!”

“Sir, her hair is braided, she is wearing pearls, and her garment is obviously costly. There is nothing appropriate about her attire according to the Bible “Goodnight, Sir”

Huffing, he leaves the Bistro, and thinks, “Now what?”

He remembers there is a new upscale burger joint just a few blocks from here, so he decides to hurry over there.

The two of them walk into the burger joint. The place is hopping, with lots of people laughing, talking, and enjoying themselves. They see a table near the door and sit down. A waiter rushes to their table and says, “You can’t eat here!”

“Why not!”  he screeches. “You’re still open, aren’t you?”

“Well, Yes, we are open, but we cannot allow you to eat here. You will have to leave.

“Why? Do you know who I am? I am your congressman!”

“Well, then, Sir, you should know the law. You voted for it”

  “What? You don’t serve Christians?”

“No, Sir. Quite the contrary. You see, we try to follow Jesus, and Jesus says to love your neighbor, and your enemy. And though we love you, as Jesus would, we do not want our other patrons to feel uneasy because you are in the restaurant. It is our religious belief that those who do not show love to all are a hindrance to the ambiance of our restaurant. If people knew you were here, they would not feel welcome. We pledged to our customers that we would not allow anyone who is hateful and judgmental in here so that they would feel safe. Anyone with love in their heart is welcome, but Sir, your own actions have shown your hostility toward others and we simply cannot expose our customers to that kind of hate. We have no problems with Muslims, Atheists, LGBT, Jews, or Christians, but it would be against our religion to break the promise we made our patrons: that we would not allow hostile haters in this establishment. After all, Numbers 30:2 says If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

 “But it is almost 9:30!! Where are we going to find a place to eat? It’s our 25th anniversary!!”

The manager replies, “Sir, I understand your predicament, but you would not want us to violate our religious beliefs just so a sinner like yourself could stay and eat here. After all, it was your vote that gave us this right”

“I am a Christian!!  If you are Christian, too, how can you turn us away???”

“Sir, I told you, we are entitled to exercise our religious beliefs, and refuse service to anyone that is offensive to us, based on those beliefs. We swore an oath to our customers and we cannot break it.”

The Congressman argued, “Jesus regularly dined with thieves and prostitutes, but you’re telling me that you won’t serve me because I passed a law that allows discrimination?”
 
“Yes, Sir. The law says whatever we believe, not what you believe. It doesn’t say we have to follow the whole Bible. We can choose whatever we want from it to choose who our patrons will be. Of course, I don't have to tell you this, you helped write it. You see, you may think Jesus would allow you in here, but that would be Jesus, not us.  You might want to hurry. This is a Monday night, and most restaurants are closing soon. Good night”

As the congressman turns away, he grumbles, “What is this world coming to. I knew there was a war on Christians.”

His wife finally speaks:  “Sweetheart, will you listen to yourself? You just defended the idea that Jesus would have eaten with, or even served sinners. You voted for this law. Listening to all that has happened tonight, I just realized how stupid this whole “freedom to discriminate” really is.  No one has ever told us we cannot pray whenever we want. No one has ever turned us away because of the color of our skin or our religious beliefs. Your work allows you to attend church,
 I am beginning to see how Blacks felt when they had to go to the back of the bus or were refused service at the “whites only” counter.  It isn’t a war on Christianity. It is a war on decency! We just spent our anniversary night being turned away because of a law some “self-righteous”, spiteful human beings passed.
What am I going to do when I want to go out to lunch with my girlfriends? One of them is Black. Two of them are married to each other. One is a Muslim. And I hate to go out without my jewelry on. Is there any restaurant left in town that will take all of us?”

He turns to your wife, and sees tears starting to ruin her makeup. He puts his arm around her, and feels the sobs she is trying so hard to hide.

“You’re right, dear. This has gone too far. Here, I thought this law would protect us from gays, and others who are trying to force their beliefs on us. But, are they really? Maybe we’ve listened to the lies about a war on Christianity. Every one of these people that turned us away were Christian businesses!!!  Our anniversary was ruined because of a law that I supported, thinking that it would solve our problems. Then, I gave the very reason against the law that I should have thought about all along. Jesus would never have turned anyone away, just because they were a sinner. Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

His wife added, “ and Matthew 7:1-3 states “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?   Do you realize that means that our harsh judgment of others will bring harsher judgments on us??"
"Oh, Darling . . .  we have sinned far worse than those who you and your colleagues tried to hinder. And it turned out, it is hurting us just as much as it was intended to hurt others.”

“You’re right, dear. We were doing exactly what Jesus specifically told us not to do. Judgment is God’s job. Not ours.”

“I did not realize just how bad this has gotten. We, as Christians have been complaining that there is a war against us, whereas we are actually the ones fighting a war against the rest of the world, against everyone who isn’t exactly like us. We thought that young people were turning away from the church because of all the sinners in our country, because we took Bibles and prayer out of the schools. When, in reality, they were being turned away by what they were being taught in the churches.”

His wife nodded her head, “Christians are turning away the youth by being intolerant of those who do not believe the way we do. We have turned people away, judged them, and even tried to force them to follow our way, without giving them a good reason to do so. What kind of witnesses have we been for Christ, when we have only spread hate, fear, anger, and intolerance? Even our church has turned away Gays. Jesus would NEVER do such a thing! Oh, Dear, we have been the worst sinners of all! We know the Bible, and have refused to follow him. I cannot even imagine how heart-broken Jesus is, watching how badly Christians have been behaving . . . .  and in HIS NAME!!” 

He hangs his head as he says, “We could learn a lot from our young people. They have become tolerant of others. They are less judgmental. Maybe they HAVE been listening to the word of God, but also see that the congregations, OH, NO! And even our own pastors, are guilty of ignoring the teachings of Christ.
Remember, just last month, we were reading Acts.  Do you remember what 10:28 said?  “And he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.”

“Yes, and then James 2:9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. Or  1John 2:11 But the one who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going  because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

His wife looked into his eyes. “You know what you have to do, don’t you?”

He kissed her, and said, Yes. Thank you, dear. I now understand why you have been so quiet when I discussed this bill. Being a “submissive wife” you did not want to tell me I was wrong. But dear, please, from now on, I want you to be by my side in all things. If you do not agree with something I am considering, please let me know. I am so sorry our anniversary was ruined. It is my fault. I should have considered this law more thoughtfully. I should have read my Bible, and talked to my constituents before I voted. Not just my donors, but the people who would have to live with the law. Tomorrow, I will submit a bill to repeal this new law. I will share our experience, and remind my colleagues of the teachings we are ignoring.”

His wife hugged him, smiled up at him, and said, “I am so proud of you. I know this will not be easy, but it is the right thing to do. I will be there for you, backing you 100%. Please share what happened tonight, to help them see what a stupid law this really is.”

He took her hand and said, “Well, let’s hope Denny’s doesn’t turn us away. I am starving!”