My high school English teacher once taught what has proven to be quite true: the amount of goodness in something equals the amount of evil in its abuse. This is true of money; this is true of sex; this is true of life. If you want to know how evil something is, ask yourself, “How good is the proper use of it?”
Two events occurred last week that cause me to ponder this truth as it relates to life itself.
First, the week began when a murderer gunned down 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus in a blaze of self-glory. Most of America was shocked at the cold-blooded nature of this individual. Immediately he was described as “evil” because he destroyed the most precious thing in this world–life itself. He stole 32 lives, the only one they get to have. Why? Purely selfish reasons. Murder is anger revealed in flesh and blood. Jesus Christ was right. (Matt. 5:21-22)
The fact that this happened should decimate the wisdom of this age that tells us all “truths” are equal. We cannot look at this and say, “Your truth; my truth.” Either life is precious or it is not. Either life is worth defending or it is not. It is above the opinions, feelings and laws of men. It is absolute. DO NOT MURDER. We have seen the consequences of ignoring this Law. Where did this Law come from? Certainly not fickle man who often counts it as a suggestion. Certainly not this murderer.
This leads me to the second event of the week.
The Supreme Court upheld the ban on “Partial Birth Abortion”. This is possibly the greatest thing to happen in the last 30 years. It lies in stark contrast to the massacre at Virginia Tech. Why aren’t we as shocked at the massacre of millions of aborted babies? Who in their right minds does not see evil in sucking out the brains of a baby as it emerges into the world? Isn’t that destroying the greatest thing that the baby possesses–life itself? Aren’t we stealing it’s one chance to live. Why? Purely selfish reasons. In the majority of cases, the difference between an aborted baby and a living baby is the fact that its mother (and/or father) didn’t want the aborted one.
Here’s my point: If we say the baby’s life should only be precious if the parents wants it to be, then we have to say that the 32 lives taken last week should only be precious if the murderer wants them to be. Which way is it? Either life is precious or it is not. You can’t have it both ways. If you devalue life in any one area, you devalue life in all areas.