This was a post written for a PHC class, History of the Western World 1. It was my response to several other posts about the Roman's law, the Twelve Tables, which noted all "dreadfully deformed chilren" would be quickly killed. Take note, it was written rather late at night so may not be completely coherent. In reading about the Roman and Greek cultures, the humanism I see is very strong. They took delight in the human body, its abilities, and its perfections. Anything with a deformity, then, would be shunned. You will probably remember reading about Sparta and how each child was inspected by the government at a certain age to check for health. Those not in health, not deemed suitable to live, were put to death. It makes me wonder what their criteria were! Think of our culture today, though. Approximately 1.3 million abortions occur every single year in America. Let that number sink in. 1.3 million. That's about 3,562 abortions every single day in America. Yet we are supposedly a "civilized nation" (this pertains pretty well to the discussion below about civilization), one of the most advanced in the world. How can we turn away, ignoring the fact that so much life is destroyed each day? We would be appalled if those numbers were for criminal murders (in sense that the nation defines a criminal murder) each day. There are approximately 16,200 murders each year (2002 number). What a drastic difference!!! Yet we pay attention to that number, while hiding our heads in the sand about the much higher number of abortions. What is the difference between murder and abortion? There IS none, that's the point. Those wanting to be accepting of abortion try to rationalize it: "it's just a fetus," or "there were problems with the fetus' health," or "survival of the fittest." I would hate to have to stand in front of God on His judgment day, and tell God His special little human being was "just a fetus," or that "there were problems." Yes, our bodies are glorious things. We should be in awe of what we can do, and the outward beauty we possess. But how did we even get that beauty in the first place? Without God, we are nothing! Without God, we wouldn't even exist! We have all sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God! Luckily, we have a wonderful Savior willing to forgive our sins, and give us repentance. What a wonderful God, to give us that, when all we deserve is His eternal punishment. It is truly humbling to think about. |
