The World According to Steve

It has been awhile since I last wrote, but given the circumstances the past couple of days it seems appropriate. On Sunday May 31st, a well-known physician in the world of abortion was killed as he attended a church service in his home state of Kansas. The entire story has been tragic regardless your stance on the issue. As details continue to poor in throughout media outlets, stomachs continue to churn. So many questions like...

1) How could someone violently attack another person to the point of murder? 2) How could a well-educated individual justify such a graphic procedure so late in a pregnancy and feel as though he was doing a service to an entire community? 3) How does a church base their teachings on biblical principles, yet justify such actions against so many defenseless children? So many questions, so few answers. Anyone that knows me clearly is aware of my stance on the issue of abortion. Also, most of my entries are cynical in nature; however this is not one of them. So look away if you must. Here are my answers.

1) Wrath - We all have the potential in our lives to become consumed with a topic, person, hobby, or other issue to the point that it becomes unhealthy. My gut is that is what happened here. The gentleman in this case that committed the crime probably started off like many of us, engaged in a debate on "right vs wrong" with the hot-button this time belonging to abortion. Concern led to disdain. Disdain led to anger. Anger led to hate. Hate bred murder. No one has the right to take an innocent person's life. No one. Even though many people feel those who commit abortions are far from innocent, retaliating murder with murder is wrong. Now he must be held accountable.

2) Greed - If you believe that the first few weeks after conception a clump of cells is not a human...you probably have little problem with an abortion. If you think a child at the age of 25-weeks after conception still is not a human life...you must be kidding yourself. My mama always told me - "A rose by any other name..." or how about "If it looks like a duck and talks like a duck...it probably isn't a fetus". Well the last part she didn't really say, but you get the point. So why justify it? Five thousand dollars a pop sounds pretty convincing if your willing to sell out for the right price. And apparently that was the rumored amount for this physicians late term procedures. This same physician had an employee of his investigated in June 2008 for the stabbing death of a child after an abortion was botched because the victim was born alive. How do you justify those actions? Some people can convince themselves anything is admirable, if they are motivated well enough to do so.

3) Envy - I have no idea the foundation of the church in Kansas where this incident occurred, but with careful study I did unearth that the Lutheran Church does hold specific tenants like most denominations that are protestant including...the bible is the infallible written word of God. It appears protesters gathered outside this church often to protest against a pro-choice stance. I only assume that the church must be sympathetic to this belief (again, I only assume). If that is true...why? The same reason many churches have changed their beliefs that clearly go against that biblical tenants...to keep up with the Joneses. If the church down the street is getting bigger, how do we stay 'competitive'? I know, appeal to the masses. Is that what happened here? I don't know, just a thought. I do know that it does seem to be happening elsewhere, but this entry isn't long enough for that discussion.

Many more questions to be asked, along with many answers sought. In the end, the whole situation has added up to nothing short of 'losers all around'. A wife lost her husband. A man lost his freedom. A community lost their innocence. A church lost their sense of security. A movement lost some of its credibility. And above all...once again...a child somewhere has lost his voice and will never regain it. No matter how you try and sell it, abortion produces nothing but losers. More poignantly it produces nothing but death. Whether it be a doctor that performs these procedures or the child that would have been if not for the procedure - death is the only certain byproduct of this awful phenomena.

So it will continue - 1.2 to 1.5 million a year in this country and 40-50 million worldwide. Maybe at some point we will learn that the shedding of innocent blood is not the answer to the question of 'what am I going to do now'?

---By the way...the picture at the top is 16-weeks after conception. Look like a baby to you?---