Missing In the Buzz

In all the understandable buzz over the new president, it seems one action of the exiting president got little to no press: In one of his final acts before leaving office, President Bush designated January 18 as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. Didn’t hear about that did ya? Neither did I. Thank God for the Internet!!

In his declaration, Bush noted that “the most basic duty of the government is to protect the innocent.” And who among us is more innocent and more worthy of protection than the unborn? Frankly, one of the clearest signals that our nation has undergone a fundamental moral/spiritual sea change is the willingness of its citizens to ignore such an atrocity as infanticide, commonly called abortion. Sadly, all too many who claim the name of Jesus Christ join in this tragidy, largely because it is in their own personal self interest to do so. How else can you explain the unfettered support for our new president, in light of his unfettered support for abortion on demand? He will be the most abortion friendly president in our history, if his own statements are to be believed. Sadly, this is swept under the rug in the euphoria surrounding his ascendancy to the highest office of our land.

Ironically, on January 9 an ardent spokesman for the pro-life cause, Richard John Neuhaus, died. During the 1960s Neuhaus marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After the infamous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 legalized abortion, he gave himself tirelessly to see the unborn protected. Few spoke out more often or more effectively. Last July he delivered a powerful speech at the National Right to Life Convention, explaining why we cannot give in to the “culture of death.” In part he said:

“We shall not weary, we shall not rest, until every unborn child is protected in law and welcomed in life. We shall not weary, we shall not rest, until all the elderly who have run life’s course are protected against despair and abandonment, protected by the rule of law and the bonds of love. We shall not weary, we shall not rest, until every young woman is given the help she needs to recognize the problem of pregnancy as the gift of life. We shall not weary, we shall not rest, as we stand guard at the entrance gates and the exit gates of life, and at every step along the way of life, bearing witness in word and deed to the dignity of the human person—of every human person.

“Against the encroaching shadows of the culture of death, against forces commanding immense power and wealth, against the perverse doctrine that a woman’s dignity depends upon her right to destroy her child, against what St. Paul calls the principalities and powers of the present time, this convention renews our resolve that we shall not weary, we shall not rest, until the culture of life is reflected in the rule of law and lived in the law of love.”

That is truly “change we can believe in.”

Maranatha!