Disabled newborns are being killed LEGALLY in The Netherlands – LifeSiteNews.com

Disabled newborns are being killed LEGALLY in The Netherlands: here’s the proof | LifeSiteNews.com.

This chilling but not surprising news item was sent to me this week (dated May 14, 2013). In it Peter Saunders reports on the rise of the murder of babies with disabilities in both Belgium and the Netherlands since the Netherlands passed its euthanasia laws. This is indeed another example of the “slippery slope”, since any departure from God’s clear commandments sends one rushing downward into greater darkness and depravity. May God yet turn our “motherland” back to His Word and ways. Otherwise she will receive the just reward for her deeds.

Here is the fiurst part of the report; read the rest at the LifeSiteNews link above.

In an interview this morning on BBC Five Live on the Paul Lamb case I was asked by the presenter Nicky Campbell about evidence for a slippery slope following the legalisation of euthanasia in other jurisdictions.

In my answer I mentioned the steady escalation in numbers of cases in Belgium and the Netherlands (see here and here) and said that one third of nurses had carried out euthanasia illegally in Belgium and that one third of cases in some parts of Belgium had been involuntary, although the law did not allow this.

I also mentioned the ‘Groningen Protocol’ under which disabled babies had been given lethal injections in the Netherlands.

Campbell appeared not to know about this and asked me on air to email him information about it to which I agreed. Another BBC journalist phoned me after the interview to check my sources.

I sent her a link to the original paper on the ‘Groningen Protocol’ from the New England Medical Journal in 2005.

The full reference is ‘Verhagen E, Sauer P. “The Groningen Protocol—Euthenasia in Severely Ill Newborns.” New England Journal of Medicine 2005; 352(10):959-62’

It says that ‘Twenty-two cases of euthanasia in newborns have been reported to district attorneys’ offices in the Netherlands during the past seven years’ but also highlights underreporting:

‘Given that the national survey indicated that such procedures are performed in 15 to 20 newborns per year, the fact that an average of three cases were reported annually suggests that most cases are simply not being reported.’

Peter Saunders is the CEO of Christian Medical Fellowship, a UK-based organisation with 4,500 UK doctors and 1,000 medical students as members.

Geneva College Lawsuit Against Obamacare Reinstated

Court Reinstates Christian College’s Obamacare Lawsuit | CNS News.

I have in the past noted several of these cases involving Christian organizations/businesses fighting the immoral impositions of Obamacare on contraception (Hobby Lobby, Crossway, e.g.,). On Thursday, May 9, 2013,  this case involving Geneva College was noted by CNS News and others (World magazine also carried the story). Geneva College (Beaver Falls, PA – 35 mi. northwest of Pittsburgh) is tied to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (in the conservative family of Reformed churches in this country) and our churches have had students attend this college in the past. We need not only to watch these cases carefully but also to pray for faithfulness to God and His Word on the part of those Christians engaged in these significant legal battles.

Here is a portion of the story. Read all of it at the link above, as well as at the World Magazine link provided above.

A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Wednesday reinstated Geneva College’s lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.

The Christian college, which “prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society,” objects to the administration’s requirement that it include coverage for abortion-producing products and contraceptives as well as sterilization procedures.

Geneva’s original lawsuit, filed in February, was dismissed a few weeks later “for lack of ripeness,” based partly on the Obama administration’s announcement that it was offering accommodation to religious entities such as Geneva that do not fit Obamacare’s definition of a “religious employer.” 

But in its motion to reconsider, Geneva College called the “accommodation” a “smoke and mirrors” approach that would still require the college to provide and pay for a plan that allows employees access to the objectionable services.

Resolution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church-US Concerning Same Sex Marriage

Resolution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church-US Concerning Same Sex Marriage.

This news item was part of the weekly “Aquila Report” summary I receive each week ( I have referenced this before and encouraged you to subscribe. It is a good source for news on Reformed and Presbyterian churches, colleges, etc.). This resolution recently adopted by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America is faithful to Scripture and powerful in its witness to the truth of God on sexuality and marriage.

I will give you the “AR” introduction (below) and urge you to read this entire resolution at the link above. And now, I also ask you, Is it time for our churches through its Synod also to address this matter to our government? Do we not even have the duty before God to do so? We have made statements before on Sabbath observance and union membership. Why not on this pressing issue of our day?

I am simply thinking out loud. Why would we not?! I know the arguments we have mustered in the past about doing this kind of thing (It’s not ecclesiastical business; it’s a matter of private citizenship, not public church pronouncement, etc.), but are these really true and justifiable? Is not the church the conscience of the nation? Does she not speak publicly from her pulpit every week (And now, through the Internet more openly and farther and wider than ever before!)? Why then not publicly to our government by way of letter?

I also understand the question of where to draw the line, if one starts to do this. Shall we then also draft letters on abortion, other marriage issues, as well other social evils? These are not easy questions to answer, and I do not pretend to have the answers. I do believe, however, that we have “privatized” our united, ecclesiastical and public faith too much.

In any case, here is the Aquila Report introduction to the resolution:

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the U.S., at it meeting on April 19, 2013, adopted a statement concerning Homosexuality and Same Sex marriage. They intentionally included positions from the Presbyterian Church in America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church with the hope that they would once again join in making a prophetic statement to those in civil authority that the fear and judgment of God may at least move enough legislators and judges not to approve of or support legalizing “same sex marriage.” Their desire is that the whole Christian, and especially the Reformed church, should protest this matter.

And here is the first part of the resolution. Read the rest here:

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States being of more recent origin than the Presbyterian Church in America does at this date adopt the position of the Presbyterian Church in America on Homosexuality adopted at the 5th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, 1977, 5-49, 4, p. 67 and 8, p. 68:

Whereas, God has plainly spoken of homosexuality in his Word, denouncing both the,  act and the desire as sin, condemning this perversion as unnatural, a degrading,  passion, an indecent act, an error, an abomination and hence worthy of death  (Lev. 18:22, Rom. 1:26-32); and

Whereas, we recognize, that God’s righteous judgment is upon those who approve of  such detestable acts, as well as those who practice them; and

Moreover, whereas God has clearly stated that the condoning of homosexuals along  with murderers, immoral men, kidnappers, liars, perjurers and all other  unrighteousness is contrary to sound teaching (1 Timothy 1:11, 2 Peter 3:14-18);

Therefore, be it resolved that the General Assembly encourage Christians to recognize  their responsibility to petition the powers that be that such men and women who  practice, approve, or condone any of these activities not be invested with the authority to teach in schools or be in a position where they can influence our  nation, which professes “In God we trust.”

The World Wide Web Became Free 20 Years Ago Today!

The World Wide Web Became Free 20 Years Ago Today | Observations, Scientific American Blog Network.

Not much time to post today, but can’t pass up this notice from Scientific American. Happy birthday WWW! Think of how far this technology has developed in those 20 years! Astounding! The WWW is an integral part of our lives now, including libraries. Ponder for a moment all the free information – and now free ebooks, emags, etc! – available to us via the Web! Obviously it has been a powerful tool for good in our lives; but it has also been a powerful tool for evil. May God give us wisdom to discern the difference and to use it wisely, for our good and for His glory.

Read the rest of this news item at the link above, along with some interesting links that tell the rest of the story.

You and I can access billions of Web pages, post blogs, write code for our own killer apps—in short, do anything we want on the Web—all for free! And we’ve enjoyed free reign because 20 years ago, today, Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and his employer, the CERN physics lab in Geneva, published a statement that made the nascent “World Wide Web” technology available to every person, company and institution with no royalty or restriction.

Berners-Lee proposed the Web in 1989 and had a working version in Dec 1990. But by 1993 certain user groups were positioning themselves to try to monopolize the Web as a commercial product. Chief among them was the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, which had developed a browser called Mosaic that would later become Netscape. So Berners-Lee and CERN decided to release the code for the Web, believing that software development by hundreds of Web enthusiasts at the time, and millions of people in the future, would always stay one step ahead of any company that tried to control the Web or force people to pay to use it. The decision came at a very tense time that could have ruined the Web’s primary goal as a ubiquitous, open communications platform.

“Abortion” – Randy Alcorn

Abortion by Randy Alcorn | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

Yesterday I read the final main feature article in the April 2013 Tabletalk, which is on the theme “Defining Personhood” (See my previous Monday posts this month.). This article is simply titled “Abortion”, and is written by Randy Alcorn, who has also penned a book on this subject as well as numerous articles.

Alcorn begins with a strong Biblical defense of the personhood of the unborn and shows that the Word of God clearly counts abortion as murder. He also points out the proper perspective we must take of children, viz., that they are “a gift and blessing from the Lord”. He also addresses the line of argument from the pro-abortion camp that abortion is a necessity because of rape and incest (1% of actual abortions). He includes here some powerful quotes from other sources.

Again, there may be some statements and points with which we would differ with Alcorn, but on the whole this is a very profitable article, and I encourage you to read all of it at the Ligonier link above. Below are a few paragraphs to get you started.

Some “pro-choice” advocates claim to base their beliefs on the Bible. They maintain that Scripture does not prohibit abortion. They are wrong. The Bible does, in fact, emphatically prohibit the killing of innocent people (Ex. 20:13) and clearly considers the unborn to be human beings worthy of protection (21:22–25).

Job graphically described the way God created him before he was born (Job 10:8–12). That which was in his mother’s womb was not something that might become Job, but someone who was Job—the same man, only younger. To the prophet Isaiah, God says, “Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you” (Isa. 44:2). What each person is, not merely what he might become, was present in his mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:13–16 paints a vivid picture of God’s intimate involvement with a preborn person. God created David’s “inward parts” not at birth, but before birth. David says to his Creator, “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (v. 13). Each person, regardless of his parentage or handicap, has not been manufactured on a cosmic assembly line, but personally formed by God. All the days of his life are planned out by God before any come to be (v. 16).

Meredith Kline observes: “The most significant thing about abortion legislation in Biblical law is that there is none. It was so unthinkable that an Israelite woman should desire an abortion that there was no need to mention this offense in the criminal code.” All that was necessary to prohibit an abortion was the command, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13). Every Israelite knew that the preborn child was a child. So do we, if we are honest. We all know a pregnant woman is “carrying a child.”

Pentagon Blocks Access to Southern Baptist Website

Pentagon Blocks Access to Southern Baptist Website.

This disturbing news report was just released today by Fox News (April 27, 2013) – and follows on the heels of an even more disturbing report involving our military a few weeks ago (See this story: http://theaquilareport.com/an-extreme-position-on-extremism/ ).

Here is the latest to be reported about religious discrimination and censor (I.e., against Christians) in our military:

The U.S. Military has blocked access to the Southern Baptist Convention’s website on an unknown number of military bases because it contains “hostile content” — just weeks after an Army briefing labeled Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics as examples of religious extremism, Fox News has learned.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination known for its support of the pro-life movement and its strong belief in traditional marriage.

Southern Baptist chaplains reported that SBC.net had been blocked at military installations around the nation. An Air Force officer told Fox News that when he tried to log on to the website he received a message that his Internet usage was being logged and monitored for trying to access a blocked site.

The censorship was made public after an Army officer tried to log onto the denomination’s website and instead — received a warning message.

 

I don’t think we fully realize how quickly our constitutionally-protected freedoms  (I don’t like the much-abused term “rights”, since everything we have is a gift and a privilege, not a “right”.-cjt) are being taken away from us and how anti-Christian our current administration and society are becoming. We need to pray for our government leaders (As 1 Tim.2:1-6 instructs us, along with how and why) and for the church of Christ, that she would be faithful and uncompromising in the face of increasing persecution. Are we?

 

“The Ethics of Personhood” – Justin Holcomb

The Ethics of Personhood by Justin Holcomb | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

The third feature article on the theme of this month’s Tabletalk (“Defining Personhood”) is the above-linked article by pastor Justin Holcomb. Holcomb covers the spectrum of Biblical ethics relating to human personhood. He starts with the Biblical view and its implications (before the Fall), goes on to treat unbiblical view of personhood and its consequences (after the Fall), and ends with the gospel’s call to justice and mercy. I do not know this pastor/author, and his reference to “shalom” early in the article made my Reformed attennae perk up, but overall this was a profitable article. Here are a couple of paragraphs from it; read the rest at the Ligonier link above.

Unbiblical Views of Personhood

Genesis 3 records the terrible day when humanity fell and shalom was violated. Adam and Eve violated their relationship with God by rebelling against His command. This was cosmic treason. Instead of trusting God’s wise and good word, they trusted the Serpent’s crafty and deceitful words. In response, the Creator cursed humanity with futility and death. God’s royal image fell into the severe ignobility we all experience.

This tragic fall plunged humanity into a relational abyss. After the fall, humanity was enslaved to idolatry (hatred for God) and violence (hatred for each other). Sin inverts love for God, which in turn becomes idolatry, and inverts love for neighbor, which becomes exploitation of others.

The fallen human heart finds ways to justify its hatred of other people and its desire to exploit them. The result is the multitude of unbiblical views of personhood found throughout human history that dehumanize and exclude people who are made in God’s image. There have been several major non-Christian views of the nature of humanity, such as the rationalistic dualism of Plato, the materialist economic determinism of Karl Marx, the psychic determinism of Sigmund Freud, and the environmental conditioning determinism of B.F. Skinner. Myriad other unbiblical ideologies of personhood have existed, such as tribalism, Social Darwinism, racism, Nazism, and views of superior personhood based on religion, wealth, gender, age, intellect, heredity, and many other factors.

But from there Holcomb takes us to the gospel of God in Christ, ending with this point:

At its best, the church has been known for love and sacrificial service to the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. Such service has been a powerful apologetic for the gospel. By upholding the dignity of all people as the image of God and tangibly expressing the biblical ethic of personhood flowing from it, the church can be a light to the nations and participate in God’s mission by welcoming the weak and powerless to find grace, mercy, and rest in Jesus Christ.

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror – K.Powers

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror: Column.

The MSM (main stream media) has largely and significantly (though not surpisingly) been silent on this story of the trial of Philadephia murderer-abortionist Kermit Gosnell. But Kirsten Powers, a Fox News political analyst, writing in USA Today (April 11, 2013), calls her fellow journalists to task and expresses outrage over this silence and over the murderous actions of this doctor of death. Here is a portion of what she wrote:

Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven’t heard about these sickening accusations?

It’s not your fault. Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page. The revolting revelations of Gosnell’s former staff, who have been testifying to what they witnessed and did during late-term abortions, should shock anyone with a heart.

NBC-10 Philadelphia reported that, Stephen Massof, a former Gosnell worker, “described how he snipped the spinal cords of babies, calling it, ‘literally a beheading. It is separating the brain from the body.” One former worker, Adrienne Moton, testified that Gosnell taught her his “snipping” technique to use on infants born alive.

The actions of this doctor are revolting to the mind, heart and stomach. I cannot begin to imagine how this man could do such things to tiny infants and function in other areas of life. I cannot imagine the horrors of working in such an environment of killing.

And yet Dr.Gosnell’s actions are the logical working out of the principles to which those in the abortion industry and those who support it are committed. If unborn babies are not real persons in their estimation, then what difference does it make if you kill them before or after they are born? In fact, what difference does it make if you kill a person in his/her 40′s or 80′s by euthanasia (so-called “mercy killing) or if you take his/her life at birth?

It doesn’t, because principles always work through. This is what we are seeing in our day. Horrifying? Indeed! Logical? Yes, given the rejection of God’s principles for life and loving Him and the neighbor. And maybe that’s why the MSM ignores this story. Because it isn’t really gruesome news to them anyway. It’s all quite normal.

“Blood in the Streets” – R.C. Sproul Jr.

Blood in the Streets by R.C. Sproul Jr. | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

In connection with the theme of this month’s Tabletalk and under his usual rubric “Seek Ye First” R.C.Sproul, Jr. wrote the above-linked hard-hitting piece on our calling to defend the lives of the unborn. As Sproul points out, we have become too comfortable in our Christian lives and too complacent about the plight of the unborn and those involved in the abortion industry. Be prepared to be awakened (shaken!) to the cause and the need when you read this. I was.

Here are a few paragraphs from the article. You will find all of it at the Ligonier link above.

Our Lord reigns. His kingdom knows no bounds, for all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. But there remains in His realm rebellion. There is work to do. In this country, we have once again denied the humanity of an entire class of people—the unborn. In so doing, we have shown forth our inhumanity. What may be worse is that this great evil demonstrates our lack of humanity. How twisted, how distorted, is a state that God ordained to punish evildoers, but that instead uses the sword God gave it to guard the grisly practitioners of this crime? How twisted, how distorted, are men who were made to protect and defend women and children, but who now drag their girlfriends, wives, or daughters to killing centers? How twisted, how distorted, are women who were made to nurture their babies, but who now hire assassins to kill them?

This, beloved, is the battle. Here is the drama. Souls of men and women are being twisted and slowly dragged into the very pit of hell. Babies are being burned alive, on purpose. And we, even though we have been made alive, even though we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, worry more about stock markets and football teams.

Right now, in our own neighborhoods, people’s lives are at stake. Every one of our neighbors, young or old, male or female, believer or not, will die. And when they die, they will become fully, finally, and forever one thing or another.

…We don’t seek the kingdom merely when we read our Bibles or sing our hymns. We seek the kingdom when we love our wives and cherish our children. We seek it when we weep and mourn for the murder of our neighbors, and when we weep and mourn for our neighbors’ murderers. We seek the kingdom when we call on men to be men and women to be women. We seek the kingdom when we welcome the least of these into our lives, into our homes, and into our families.

Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. is a teaching fellow of Ligonier Ministries and founder of Highlands Ministries. He is author of the video series Economics for Everybody.

“Imago Dei” (The Image of God in Man) – Mark E. Ross

Imago Dei by Mark Ross | Reformed Theology Articles at Ligonier.org.

As we noted last Monday, this month’s Tabletalk is devoted to the theme of “Defining Personhood”, being a form of “pro-life manifesto”. The second feature article on this subject is written by Mark E. Ross, associate dean and associate professor of systematic theology at Erskine Theological Seminary in Columbia, SC (tied to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church). In this article he ties the theme of personhood and the Christian pro-life position to the image of God in man (“Imago Dei” is Latin for “image of God”).

We may have some theological points of difference with Ross on the nature of the image of God in man especially after the Fall (One has to be extremely careful about the language he uses about and the content he gives to the image of God in fallen man.), yet I believe Ross does a commendable job of showing how our Biblical view of life and personhood is also tied to the “Imago Dei”. You will not have to agree with every point to appreciate the God-centered perspective we must have as we look at our neighbor – and especially that unborn neighbor.

Her are a few paragraphs from Ross’ article; read all of it at the Ligonier link above.

When God makes man, He breaks the pattern that He has set by creating living things according to their kinds. The tenfold mention of this pattern causes us to expect it with each new living creature to appear, but something quite different happens when man is made; he is not made “according to [his] kind.” Neither is man created according to any other kind among the living creatures. Man does not, therefore, belong to their kinds, whatever similarities there may be between him and the other creatures. To put it in modern scientific language, he is not a particular species within a given genus of living creatures. Man is unlike any of the other living creatures (v. 26). Surprising as it is, man is made according to God’s “kind,” made in the image of God (imago Dei). Man, like God, is a personal being. God Himself, as the Bible later reveals, is three persons all sharing one divine essence. Human persons are created beings, and in that regard (as in others) they are similar to and share characteristics with other created beings. But what is most important about human persons is their likeness to God. This likeness is so very special that it sets them apart from all the other creatures God made. Man is not made according to their kinds; he is made according to God’s “kind.” In other words, man is made as the image and likeness of God.

…Further, as we are to respect God and bless Him by our words, so we must never curse those made in the likeness of God (James 3:9). The whole of human ethics is grounded in the imago Dei. Husbands must love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25–27). Fathers must discipline and instruct their children as the Lord does His children (6:4). The comforting love of a mother is the image and likeness of the comforting love of God (Isa. 66:13). Earthly masters should reflect the justice and fairness found in the heavenly Master (Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1). Though sin has greatly defaced God’s image in us, by God’s grace in Christ that image is renewed (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). Living by that grace, people see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:16). When our restoration is complete, we shall forever live in the presence of God, clothed with His glory (Rev. 21–22), having truly become His “kind” of people. Thanks be to God.