Saint or Murderer?

So, in watching the movie "The Boondock Saints*" last night, I was inspired to write a blog. I think this quote from the movie is a good place to start. Basically, the McManus brothers are in catholic mass, and the monsignor is giving a sermon as the bothers are leaving. Here is what the monsignor was saying as they left:

"And I am reminded, on this holy day, of the sad story of Kitty Genovese. As you all may remember, a long time ago, almost thirty years ago, this poor soul cried out for help time and time again, but no person answered her calls. Though many saw, no one so much as called the police. They all just watched as Kitty was being stabbed to death in broad daylight. They watched as her assailant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."

I won't ruin the movie for you if you haven't seen it, but basically the brothers are inspired by the monsignor's words.

So you have to be wondering at this point, where am I going with all this? Let's walk through a moral situation first.

You're walking down the street and you see a man beating his wife, and choking her. If you don't intervene, she'll definitely die. What would you do? Call the police? Physically intervene? Keep walking?

I think and hope most people reading this blog would physically intervene. If not, then the moral decline of this country is much further along than I ever imagined. This is a pretty clear-cut situation. So, how does this situation differ from abortion, more specifically late-term abortion?

After 23 weeks, up to one out of three fetuses can survive outside the womb and after 24 weeks up to three out of four will survive [1]. Obviously, there are some extraordinary cases where the fetus wouldn't be viable outside the womb (i.e. the baby's brain didn't develop, etc.), but that's not what I'm talking about here.

I can honestly say I have absolutely NO CLUE what I would do in one of those extraordinary circumstances, and I don't think anyone else does unless they have been through it. I believe that the right thing to do would be to carry the baby full term no matter what and trust in God to take care of the rest. Just because it is the right thing to do, doesn't necessarily mean my faith is strong enough to carry me to do it.

I know one thing for sure: If my wife's life was in danger if she carried our baby full term, I'm sure the terrified look on her face would make me want to do whatever is necessary to protect her.

Just to be clear, my overall point is NOT to condemn those who have had an abortion.

Unfortunately, there is little to no information concerning late term abortions and the reasons mothers choose to have them. California doesn't even report any of their abortions to the CDC, so really, how could there be good information out there. Why is the practice of late-term abortions so secretive?

Is killing a human that would otherwise survive qualify as homicide? I contest that the answer to this question is yes.

The definition of homicide: the killing of one human being by another [2].

Recently in the news Dr. Tiller, an abortion doctor, was murdered. It's estimated that his clinic performed more than 400 abortions per year on fetuses that were 24+ weeks into the pregnancy [3].

Interestingly enough, the doctors who perform late-term abortions say over and over again that they are helping women who would otherwise have no way of ending their pregnancy. According to those same doctors, those patients have a valid need to end their pregnancy.

I wonder if Dr. Tiller and his associates had shared with the world all the great things he was doing for his patients whether he still would be alive? I also wonder if Dr. Tiller really was only doing all those wonderful things that his associates and some of his former patients have said he was doing [3]?

Unfortunately for the unborn, many of the laws out there aren't real clear on what should or should NOT be allowed. I find the "Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 [4]" to be a sad state of affairs. Basically, this act protects infants that survive an abortion from being murdered by the doctor once they are out of their mother's womb. Wait! Is it just me, or does this just sound CRAZY!?! As long as you kill the baby in the womb, it's okay, but if you kill the exact same baby just after it has been extracted from the womb it's murder?

Obviously, the United States population can't decide whether abortion is bad or a necessary evil. I believe no matter what, it's homicide.

Some people call it Karma. I simply believe "you reap what you sow".

I should clarify one last point: I'm not condoning or condemning those who take radical actions to stop abortion doctors from performing abortions. I believe the loss of any human life is a tragedy.

One thing that I know and hold to be true is: "the indifference of good men" will never accomplish anything. It is obvious that we need definite, strict, and unambiguous legislation concerning abortion. It is sad that too many people are too indifferent on the subject to make a difference.

Scott Roeder is man man who killed Dr. Tiller at a Lutheran church in Wichita, Kansas. What do you think, Saint or Murderer?

[1] http://www.answers.com/topic/prenatal-development
[2] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homicide
[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060404267_pf.html
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born-Alive_Infants_Protection_Act

* DISCLAIMER: The Boondock Saints is NOT a family movie. It is filled with violence and profanity, so be aware.

One Month Down, a Lifetime to Go...

So, in thinking about what to write today, I came up with the title "One Month Down, a Lifetime to Go". Today marks exactly one month that I've been married!

Having the title to my blog post, doesn't necessarily mean I know what I'm going to write about though. For me, writing a blog is a journey. I may start one place, discover some cool things along the way, but end up in a completely different place. So now, on to the journey!

I have to say that marriage isn't bad at all. I have someone to come home to every night who is just as happy to see me as I am to see her. Some people reach this same fulfillment by having a dog, but Adriane is a far cry from a dog! Trust me, she is 100% woman!

So after one month, I have 5 conclusions I can now safely make:

1. I'm really really happy!
2. I have the most awesome wife in the world!
3. I have no regrets about getting married or who I married.
4. I wish I would have taken the plunge sooner, as long as it would have involved Adriane.
5. I truly believe that the "lifetime" we have left to live will be filled with more joy and happiness than sadness and despair.

I wanna discuss my fifth conclusion a little more in depth. So when I think about the lifetime of things that Adriane and I will experience in the next 80 years, my head spins! I first think about how happy we're going to be when our children are born. I can only imagine how happy a time of life that will be for us! Then I think about the loss of our parents, and I can't imagine the amount of pain that will be.

Next I think about the excitement associated with our child's first step, their first day of school, their graduation day from high school and college, their wedding day, and the day they bring our first grandchild home from the hospital. It is then that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that life surely holds more happiness for us than sadness.

When I think of the future, and all it holds, I always remember this Bible verse:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11

It is for all these reasons that I have to encourage anyone out there feeling despair and sadness that times may be hard now, but in the end, the happiness will surely outweigh the sadness, especially if God has anything to do with it.

How Much Does God Love Me?

Wow, now that's a loaded question! I guess there are so many answers to this question that I could never even dream of putting all them on this blog. If I did, there would obviously be things like "He sent his only Son to die for me so I don't have to go to hell for all me sins", and "He's given me a great family, lots of friends, and a really great life".

Have you ever experienced a single moment in time where you felt "Holy Crap! God really really loves me more than I could ever imagine!"? If you know me personally, then you probably know that I have a t-shirt that my wife gave me while we were dating that says "Jesus Loves You, but I'm His Favorite". So how does God make everyone feel like they are His favorite? For me, it was on my Wedding day. The feeling is hard for me to describe, since I don't have any words for it other than overwhelming, and even that doesn't do it justice.

After months and months of planning for my wedding day, everything was coming together perfectly. All that was in my control, or that could be solved by a little extra effort on my or my wife's part, or even with a little extra money applied, was already done. There was only one thing left that even the most educated people in the world cannot predict with any amount of certainty. That one thing was the weather.

I have always wanted a big part of my wedding/reception to occur somewhat outdoors. One of the reasons we didn't get married in the fall of 2008, was that we couldn't obtain the perfect reception site. Our first choice, second choice, third choice, and fourth choice were all already taken. When you get married, you should NOT compromise on any of the desires of your heart, or you may regret it for the rest your life.

So although we could have had complete control of the reception by having it 100% indoors, it wouldn't have been what we had wanted. So we had to relinquish control of one thing in a trade-off for one of the desires of our hearts. We hoped and prayed that on April 18th 2009, the weather would be perfect for a reception that would take place at the Yorktown waterfront.

April 18th, 2009 arrived. My task, along with my groomsmen on the morning of the wedding, was to setup the site for the reception. We arrived at the Yorktown freight shed at 10:00 AM to meet the rental company, which was bringing the tables and chairs, and the florist with their flowers .

I spent the next 3 hours there setting up, waiting, and even relaxing a bit in between. Of course I was amazed at the perfect weather that we were experiencing. It was supposed to be 74 degrees that day, and low humidity. Just 10 days previously, the weatherman was predicting rain, rain, rain.

It wasn't until I was on my way home to get my tux on and head to my wedding, that I had a moment I'll never forget. I was in my car driving, thinking about everything that was about to transpire that day and I felt God say to me "This is how much I Love you! On the most important day of your life, I wanna give you the best weather you can imagine as a wedding present from your Father in heaven".

Can you believe that!? The Almighty God who holds the universe in his hands, and takes care of every individual on our planet stopped by on my wedding day to let me know that He loves me! Somehow, in the overwhelming moment of Him showing me how much He loves me, I knew that nothing could go wrong on the most important day of my life. God loves me "that" much!