Rabbi’s Reflections – Sunday, January 12, 2020
Shavuah Tov,
Many thanks to senator and doctor Raymond Finney for yet another excellent RR. His submission allows me to rest on Shabbat. Enjoy reading his message titled…
Life Is A Wondrous Gift from God (Part 2)
WARNING: This subject matter may disturb some readers.
INTRODUCTION: In the January 5 RR, I discussed this year’s Sanctity of Life Sunday (scheduled for January 19, 2020). On that Sunday, many American Believers will mourn two January 22, 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Shameful decisions in Roe vs Wade and Doe vs Bolton have permitted more than 60-million unborn babies to be killed legally in America’s abortuaries.
Many have criticized these decisions on legal grounds. Pro-abortion activist judges, members of Congress, and the media, as well as lackadaisical Believers/ Christians, have protected the decisions. Pro-life President Trump is changing the makeup of federal courts. Two-hundred and seven (207) members of Congress have recently petitioned the courts to review abortion case law, claiming it is “radically unsettled” and should be fundamentally reconsidered (see https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/02/congressional-brief-overturn-roe/ ).
In today’s RR, I will mention eight consequences of these court decisions. More consequences could be discussed, but there is insufficient space to do so.
CONSEQUENCE 1 – ABORTION AS THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN AMERICA: Mark Twain cautioned the validity of statistics (which should also apply to political polls), when he said: “There are lies, damned lies and statistics.” Federal government data (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for leading causes of Americans’ death for 2017 follow. (I cannot readily locate data for 2018, but the data for 2017 and 2018 should be similar.)
First cause is said to be heart disease: 647,457 deaths || second, cancer: 599,108 deaths || third, accidents: 169,936 deaths || and so forth. See full list at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm.
This list is misleading (researchers’ prejudice). Heart disease is not the first cause of death, but second. The first cause of death is abortion (approximately 862,320 abortions, with more deaths than this due to twins and triplets aborted, but counted only as one baby). Prejudice– regarding abortion as a medical procedure (honorable “right to privacy”) and disregarding an unborn baby as a human person (only a clump of cells) – makes a lie out of mortality statistics.
Abortion deaths are not just an American problem. Worldometers statistics indicate that abortion is the leading cause of death in the world. (The estimated worldwide number of abortions in 2019 = 42.3-million abortions. The worldwide death toll from all causes, excluding abortions = 58.6-million deaths.)
CONSEQUENCE 2 – WHERE HAVE ALL THE BABIES GONE? In the 1960s, there was a popular anti-war folk song, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” We might sing today, “Where Have All the Babies Gone?” The population of the United States is approximately 330-million persons. More than 60-million unborn babies have died by abortion since 1973. We have disposed of approximately one person in five to six now-living persons through elective abortions.
CONSEQUENCE 3 – IF TWENTY-SIX STATES HAD DISAPPEARED: How can we understand the death of more than 60-million Americans since 1973? The population of twenty-six of the United States’ least populated states is approximately 60-million. These states are Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, Rhode Island, Montana, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Idaho, West Virginia, Nebraska, New Mexico, Kansas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nevada, Iowa, Utah, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Oregon, Kentucky, and Louisiana. If an “epidemic” started in 1973 and killed all persons in these twenty-six states, would the government, the media, and the rest of the nation be alarmed? Would there be attempts to stop the spread of this “epidemic” to the rest of the nation? Since 1973, abortion on demand has conservatively killed more than 60-million American unborn babies, but the government, media, and most citizens remain silent. Some even rejoice at this enlightened approach to population control.
CONSEQUENCE 4 – A 9/11 LOSS EVERY DAY: On September 11, 2001 (9/11), terrorists flew four airliners into the Twin Towers (New York City), the Pentagon (Washington, D.C.), and a field, but believed to be headed for the White House (Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania). Officially, 2,977 people died (excluding the Islamic terrorists). The official estimate of abortions in the United States is approximately 3,000 per day. More babies than this actually die because aborted pregnancies involving twins or triplets are counted as only one death. We still mourn the 9/11 tragedy, and rightly so. We take extraordinary measures to prevent another 9/11 attack. But, every day’s death toll from abortion is greater than the 9/11 single day’s death toll. Few mourn the abortion tragedy. Some Americans even applaud, encourage, and protect more abortions, whereas most Americans remain silent.
CONSEQUENCE 5 – AMERICA’S WAR CASUALTIES: From the Revolutionary War to the present, America has lost approximately 1.12-million soldiers. The greatest number of casualties was in the Civil War (498,332 casualties, both North and South), followed by World War II (407,316 casualties). We rightfully remember the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our liberty. The number of casualties in all of America’s wars (1.12-million) is surpassed many times over by America’s War on Our Unborn Babies (more than 60-million casualties). I am “addicted” to the music of Scotland and Ireland. A beautiful, sad Scotch-Irish song, “Green Fields of France,” has the chorus: “Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly, did they sound the death march as they lowered you down, did the band play the last post and chorus, did the pipes play the ‘Flowers of the Forest?'” We honor and remember our war casualties. But, we put the remains of our aborted children in red plastic bags, incinerate them, and act as if nothing happened. The dead soldier in this song, Willie McBride, is unknown and forgotten, as are too many of our aborted babies. (In a search engine, enter: “youtube green fields of france” for multiple options to hear this haunting song. It’s worth your time!)
CONSEQUENCE 6 – HOLOCAUSTS IN NAZI GERMANY AND AMERICA: A holocaust is destruction of life (slaughter) on a mass scale.
Rabbi’s note: In every case of genocide, the perpetrators have to declare that the victims are not really human. This is exactly the pattern in the genocide of abortion. End Rabbi’s note.
The world is familiar with the Jewish Holocaust inflicted by Nazi Germany on European Jews and other “undesirables” slightly before and during World War II. There is a Fetal Holocaust in America that is far worse than anything the Nazis ever imagined. Are you proud that America’s Holocaust is far deadlier than the holocaust prosecuted by Adolf Hitler? Compare and contrast these two holocausts:
** GOVERNMENTAL SANCTION:
… Nazi Holocaust: Yes. Killing of Jews was sanctioned by Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.
… American Holocaust: Yes. Killing of unborn babies is sanctioned by all three federal government Branches (Supreme Court, Congress, some presidents).
** CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT:
… Nazi Holocaust: Mostly tolerated and accepted by apathetic German citizens; only a small number of Germans actually participated in the killing.
… American Holocaust: Mostly tolerated and accepted by apathetic American citizens; only a small number of Americans actually participate in the killing.
** VICTIMS:
… Nazi Holocaust: Innocent Jews and other “undesirables” (such as, the Romani [Gypsies], homosexuals, and the physically and mentally handicapped).
… American Holocaust: Innocent unborn babies.
** LEGAL CHARGES LODGED AGAINST VICTIMS BEFORE EXECUTION:
… Nazi Holocaust: None.
… American Holocaust: None.
** PRE-EXECUTION LEGAL PROCEEDINGS, PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS:
… Nazi Holocaust: None. (No attorney, court appearance, judge/ jury verdict, appeal opportunity. All civil rights abolished.)
… American Holocaust: None. (No attorney, court appearance, judge/ jury verdict, appeal opportunity. All civil rights abolished.)
** KILLING PLACE:
… Nazi Holocaust: Usually in concentration camps (Auschwitz, Treblinka, etc.).
… American Holocaust: Abortion clinics and some hospitals throughout the United States. Planned Parenthood is a major abortion provider.
** METHOD OF KILLING:
… Nazi Holocaust: Gas suffocation, shooting, starvation.
… American Holocaust: Ripping apart babies’ bodies (“surgical” procedure), chemical poisoning, oral RU-486.
** REASON FOR KILLING:
… Nazi Holocaust: Jews (and others) unwanted and burdensome. Few or no allies– especially in authority– to speak on their behalf.
… American Holocaust: Unborn babies unwanted and burdensome. Few or no allies– especially in authority– to speak on their behalf.
** RESULTS:
… Nazi Holocaust: Approximately six-million (6,000,000) Jews were killed, in addition to other “undesirables.”
… American Holocaust: More than sixty-million (60,000,000) unborn babies have been killed.
** DATE HOLOCAUST KILLINGS STOPPED:
… Nazi Holocaust: Killing of Jews and others stopped in1945.
… American Holocaust: Killing of unborn babies continues to this day, and into the next day, and the next day, and …. No end to the killing is in sight.
** REPENTANCE:
… Nazi Holocaust: Yes. Repentance has occurred. Germany has closed the killing camps. No more Jews are being exterminated.
… American Holocaust: No. Repentance has not occurred. Many Americans defiantly, boastfully support abortion on demand. Abortuaries are operated throughout America. The federal government zealously guards access to these clinics. Just one provider, Planned Parenthood (PP), may receive 500-million dollars annually in federal tax dollars (for “medical services only,” of course). Trying to resolve taxpayer dollars received by PP seems confusing to me. Few Americans and few pastors bother to speak out against abortion on demand. Americans apparently are comfortable with abortion, as long as no one thinks about the details. God’s views on life are ignored, because most Americans do not study God’s Word and most Americans do not fear God.
SIDELIGHT: Is it an accident that there are similarities in these two holocausts? Margaret Sanger, a eugenicist, argued that birth control should be used to create a pure, superior race (her ideal society), devoid of “stupid, moronic, diseased, and unfit” persons. Her views founded Planned Parenthood. A big fan of Sanger was Adolf Hitler, who practiced his version of eugenics (“The Final Solution of the Jewish Question”) in the Third Reich. Read Margaret Sanger quotes: https://tfpstudentaction.org/blog/margaret-sanger-quotes . Incidentally, Hillary Clinton, who came close to becoming America’s president in 2016, won Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Award in 2016. Hillary professed her admiration of Sanger and desire to continue Sanger’s policies. End of sidelight.
CONSEQUENCE 7 – ROE vs WADE MAKES A LIE OF AMERICA’S FOUNDING DOCUMENTS: The United States is founded on three documents– the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (first ten amendments to the Constitution). On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court mocked these founding documents. Consider provisions of these documents:
** Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Truth: We abolish these self-evident, Creator-endowed rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, when we kill an unborn baby merely because he/ she lives in his/ her mother’s womb.
** The Constitution, Article V of the Bill of Rights: “No person… [shall] be deprived of life…, without due process of law….” Truth: Abortion removes from an unborn baby all constitutional protections. The worst child rapist-murderer or mass terrorist-murderer is afforded many millions of dollars worth of legal representation and lengthy proceedings to make certain that all due processes of the law have been fulfilled. An unborn baby is given no benefit of the law.
** The Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1: “… [No state shall] deprive any person of life,… without the due process of law; nor deny to any person… the equal protection of the laws.” Truth: Due process and equal protection of laws would provide any person a trial, attorney representation, and appeals. No legal protections are afforded unborn babies before they are killed.
CONSEQUENCE 8 – FILLING THE VACUUM: Aristotle (384–322 BC) observed, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” We Believers/ Christians create a vacuum when we fail to fight for God’s Word. We sat back in 1973 (and years following), saying virtually nothing about Roe vs Wade. (I include myself in the “we” pronoun.) A spiritual vacuum existed, and enemies of our God and Yeshua happily filled that vacuum with abortion on demand. We are leaving other gaps in our faith (other vacuums), and they are being filled by Satan and his minions. In a couple of weeks, I plan to write a RR about fighting for God.
ASSISTANCE: Through this RR series, I desire to help you, not hurt you. If you or someone you know is experiencing a difficult time dealing with an unplanned pregnancy or grief (guilt) following an abortion, there is help for you:
** Pray to your Heavenly Father. Ask Him to minister to your needs through the Holy Spirit. Remember that Yeshua promised to help you carry your burden, whenever you need Him (Matthew 11:28-30): [Yeshua said] “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
** For prayer and counseling, call Rabbi Michael Weiner of Shomair Yisrael Synagogue, Knoxville: (865) 414.4527.
** Numerous grief counselors and counseling centers are available. Look in your telephone directory’s yellow pages or Internet search engine (search “grief counselor in [city, state]”). You can find a counselor who purports to be a Christian at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/christian ||
or, https://findchristiancounselor.com/?msclkid=d8105f61b52718f6783502a46d235554 .
** If you experience extreme grief and may be contemplating suicide, contact: http://www.suicidehotlines.com/tennessee.html:
… National Suicide Hotline: 1.800.SUICIDE (1.800.784.2433) || or, text: 741741
… National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1.800.273.TALK (1.800.273.8255)
……In Spanish (Ayuda En Espanol): 1.888.628.9454 || or, https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/en-espanol/
……For deaf or hard of hearing: 1.800.799.3889 (or, https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/help-yourself/for-deaf-hard-of-hearing/ )
….. For veterans: 1.800.273.8255; then, press 1 || or, text: 838255 (or, https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/)
… Statewide (Tennessee) Crisis Hotline: 1.855.CRISIS.1 or 1.855.274.7471
** Grief following abortion (post-abortion syndrome) may be severe. Pregnancy loss– whether natural (miscarriage) or elective (abortion) – may be devastating. Many cities have a crisis pregnancy center staffed by women who are Believers and some of whom have had abortions themselves. Find a center near you in your telephone directory’s yellow pages or through OptionLine at https://optionline.org/center-locator/ . In the Knox County area, call:
… Knox County: Hope Resource Center – (865) 236.0350;
… Blount County: Pregnancy Resource Center – (865) 977.8378;
… Sevier County: Women’s Care Center – (865) 428.4673;
… Anderson County: Choices Resource Center – (865) 483.0099;
… Jefferson County: Life Outreach Center – (865) 471.0510; or
… Loudon County or Monroe County: served by Pregnancy Resource Center of Blount County – (865) 977.8378.
In the RR next Sunday (January 19), I will present a sample of Scripture passages about Creator God’s views on life. Shalom and Maranatha.