Monday, January 21, 2008

Worse than Carthage

35th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade January 22nd

"Sanctity of Human Life
Every human being, from the time of his conception, is a creature and child of God, made in His image and likeness, an infinitely precious soul; and that the unjustifiable or inexcusable taking of life is always sinful." -from The Affirmation of St. Louis

"
Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon." -II Kings 24:3,4

On this day, in 1973, the worst decision of the Supreme Court of the United States since the Dred Scott decision, was handed down. This is an evil anniversary, like the Day of Infamy on Dec.7th, or like September 11th. Continuing Anglicans do not share the moral ambiguity of the Episcopal Church, but rather, as the quotation from our founding document shows, we denounce the evil of legalized abortion. It is murder, and the Pro-Life argument requires no verification beyond that of the Ten Commandments. Any members of our churches who call themselves "pro-choice" have but one option: Repent. The "pro-choice" position is a pro-murder position. To hold such a view is, itself, sinful and heretical. Any members of our churches who support abortion, any who give money to Planned Parenthood or other outlets of this evil, must be excommunicated immediately. I pray that we have no one who is so bent on evil.

Our western society, with the United States leading the way, is far more evil than the ancient Pagan societies. The pagans thought that the gods required human sacrifice, and so they offered their children to Baal (Molech) to prevent the gods from destroying the whole tribe or people by drought or famine. The Aztecs slaughtered countless millions over several centuries in daily sacrifice so that the gods would not put out the Sun, and so destroy all life on earth forever. This agonized killing seemed to them a necessary evil, being blinded by the darkness of Satanic cruelty. In its wisdom, the Church built on the former sacred space of pagans, in this way carrying out the missionary command of the Law of Moses, to destroy their altars and tear down their groves. It was charity, and the result was civilization.

In our Post-Christian West, children are not murdered as offerings to appease the powerful gods, sacrifices offered by the noble instincts of tortured parents to preserve the human race. They are simply slaughtered for convenience. It is not fair to the slaves of Molech to compare our selfish murder of helpless infants to their painful sacrifices, done from ignorance of the true God. Our modern western guilt is greater than the guilt of Carthage and of the Aztecs.
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No one I know is more heroic than Diane, my wife, in the pro-life cause. Apart from the priestly ministry at the Lord's altar, I have no higher honor in this world than being father of her children- all of them, including one by adoption. See this article I posted last year.


12 comments:

Wonders for Oyarsa said...

Surely you don't suppose the ancient pagans failed to practice abortion (and infant exposure) for the very same reasons we do?

Anonymous said...

Roe v. Wade is the linchpin issue in the moral decay of our country.

An interesting side point is that a purportedly Roman Catholic Justice (Kennedy) has been instrumental in preserving Roe v. Wade as precedent. Yet, I have not heard his Bishop or Archbishop (or the Bishop of Rome with his universal Ordinary jurisdiction) publicly rebuke or discipline him, even though he is one of the nine most powerful jurists in the free world.

Must all the authentic Catholic witness against Roe v. Wade's betrayal of fundamental Christian morals be left to the laity?

Fr. Robert Hart said...

Surely you don't suppose the ancient pagans failed to practice abortion (and infant exposure) for the very same reasons we do?

Indeed. But, the usual comparison people make is to the human sacrifices. Murder for convenience seems worse than slavery to fearful and malevolent deities.

Anonymous said...

An old friend (now departed) described abortion as 'killing off your inconvenient relatives'. After observation and reflection, it appears to me that the poor unborn innocents must be slaughtered because their existence is an infringement on the human right that the secular West holds most dear: the right to free nookie, by which I mean indulgence of one's sexual appetites without consequence.

poetreader said...

Actually, Sandra, I think "free nookie" 1s only a symptom of the real problem. We moderns have increasingly come to the place of wanting to have free an unlimited choice in all areas, woithout consequences. We have declared our independence of God and seized the right to make it all up for ourselves. It doesn't work. Adam and Eve found that out, but humanity never learns. The more we take it upon ourselves to decide whether God is correct in His demands, the more everything gets out of whack. I have no problem with the opposition arrogating to themselves the label "pro-choice", as that marks just exactly where it is they have gone wrong. Choice, when it is choosing other than God has chosen, may be considered to be the fount of all evils.

ed

Anonymous said...

It is good that you remind us that it is possible that those who slaughter their children now are worse than those who came before. It is easy to moralize the ancients as uncivil barbarians and see ourselves as far more enlightened.

Anonymous said...

I e-mailed Fr Hart to ask how this sad anniversary would be noted. Continuum did not disappoint me; thanks for two splendid postings.
Check out the RC blog "What Does the Prayer Really Say" to learn what a pagan Roman poet, Publius Ovidius Naso, knew instinctively about the barbarous practice. Also, do not fail to notice the deafening silence today on the part of the so-called "Reasserter" blogs, SFIF, T19, VOL, MCJ.
Laurence K. Wells

Fr. Robert Hart said...

I was told that Justice David Souter belongs to a Continuing Church. If so, someone needs to sit him down and read the Riot Act. Upholding Roe v. Wade should be grounds for excommunication for a Supreme Court Justice who does not repent.

Anonymous said...

Some critics have suggested that we have the ideological feminist movement to thank for the quadrivium of (1) Title VII, (2) no-fault divorce, (3) non-marital birth control, and (4) the fail-safe of abortion on demand -- these three being essential to the "liberation" of womankind from the "malefic" sex-role implications of "unconquered" biology.

Of course, hard-core feminism doesn't deserve all the credit. Indeed, when combined with the restoration the pagan "culture of death," Roe v. Wade has proven extremely difficult to dislodge.

We live in a strange, new world (or perhaps pagan redux) in which all those fortunate to survive infancy are legally entitled to dispose of "inconvenient relations" so long as the relation are vulnerable, weak, and helpless.

Anonymous said...

"Justice" David Souter did belong to an Episcopal Church located near his home in New Hampshire. It was reported that he usually attended the eight o'clock and took the offering. If he in fact does now belong to a Continuing Church in New Hampshire it would almost certainly be an ACA parish.
A long time former resident of New "Hampsha".
Joseph DeHart, ACC priest.

poetreader said...

I'm a NH member of ACA, and have not encountered Justice Souter in our circles. I dimly recall him as having become involved in a Network congregation somewhere in midstate, but have no more infoirmation than that. I would tend to be a little doubtful of even that, as he was never thought of as being especially either AC or Evangelical. Until I hear otherwise, I'll assume that he is still with TEC.

Now that could come from confusion with another political figure, the foremer Senator Gordon Humphrey, who does indeed attend an ACA parish.

ed

Fr. Robert Hart said...

If what I heard is accurate then 1) Justice Souter would in a church closer to me than his home state, since his work is in Washington D.C.; and 2) if true, I hope it means he has turned away from the kind of religion taught in TEC, that is, turned to the Lord. But, if so, his next chance to shoot down Roe v. Wade would tell us what is in his heart. Continued support for any excuse is inexcusable.