Monday musing: The slaughter of innocents

In our sadness over the murder of innocent children in Newtown, CT, at Christmastime it's not hard to draw parallels with Herod's slaughter of children in Bethlehem near the time of Christ's birth. As then, the tears flow, and the cries go up. We ask, "Why? Why do the innocent suffer? Where is God?"

Asaph asked this question in Psalm 73, but phrased it somewhat differently: "Why don't the wicked suffer?" When the innocent suffer and the wicked don't, the result is the same -- people are tempted to doubt God.

They say: “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence;

For I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.

The wicked life of ease is as much a problem as the evil that befalls the undeserving. When God doesn't prevent evil or immediately punish it, some people conclude He doesn't exist, He knows nothing, or is weak. It's far from an academic exercise or idle speculation. If a satisfactory answer isn't found, some turn away from faith in God, or are hardened in unbelief (Hebrews 3:12-15).

Asaph recognized the danger. He was careful not to vent his tortured thoughts while they were still foremost in his mind, lest he betray God's people -- the generation among whom he walked. He wasn't like some teachers who raise provocative questions without making an effort to answer them. As the writer of Hebrews says, we have a responsibility to the congregation: "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,' so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

So what's Asaph's answer? Does God know what's in the heart of the wicked person before he acts? Does He see the future? Is He aware of who the victims will be and the void they'll leave behind? Should we continue believing in God and maintaining pure hearts when pain is the result?

The answer is yes, God does know and see all. Righteous living is worth it. In suffering, we experience the consequences of the Fall and recognize our need of a Deliverer. In His sovereignty, we're allowed by it to glimpse the brevity of this life and prepare for the next.

Asaph felt as wretched as anyone could "until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end." He came to terms with reality in the Temple where He was reminded of 1) God's holiness, 2) His desire to fellowship with men, 3) the problem of sin in the hearts of all men that separates us from God, and 4) the provision of sacrifices to atone for it. He saw that the wicked are on a slippery path, even though it appears they have it made. Their end is in sight; their destiny is destruction. (See also Matthew 7:13-14.)

As for the pure in heart, they seem to live precariously, but the truth is they'll be with God "afterward" (Ps. 73:24) and are always with Him now (v. 23). He is holding their hands, guiding them. God is all their desire, their strength, and portion (vv. 25-26).

This is even true in times of doubt. In verses 21-23, Asaph admitted:

When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within,

Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.

Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand.

Evil exists. To avoid it, we'd have to go "out of this world," as Jesus noted. But good exists too -- with God. As Asaph says, "the nearness of God is my good," not all the stuff over which I'm envying the wicked. Sometimes we need a reminder that the only real good in life is the presence of God. Suffering is, therefore, useful in getting us to loosen our grip on other things that have taken His place.

One day Jesus was asked about some people who were killed by Pilate. Were they being punished for something they'd done, or was this just another outrage against goodness? Jesus chose to focus on something else. He warned, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." This could be the sobering lesson of Sandy Hook Elementary School, too.

God didn't let a bitter, brutish Asaph go, and He's not going to cast away the honest questioner of 2012 either. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Let us all humbly bow before Him.

I pray the grieving families will experience the nearness of God in all its goodness and take refuge in Him (Ps. 73:28) during this impossibly difficult moment. His Father heart grieves with them. The Son He sent to once-for-all atone for sin is the One who assures they can someday be joyously reunited with their children.

Related: 
Where shall we put this grief?
Weeping with those who weep – a first-hand response from Newtown

And slew the little childer
A Christian perspective on the Newtown shootings
Why Doesn’t God Do More to Restrain Evil and Suffering? Part 1
How could a loving God . . . ? (powerful answers on suffering)

Googling for madness

Breivik was utterly inconsistent. He describes himself as a Christian, a Freemason and an Odinist (a revival of Scandinavian paganism). The two figures he most admires are Vladimir Putin and Benedict XVI. He budgets for an orgy with prostitutes to be arranged “just before or after I attend my final martyrs’ mass in Frogner Church.” He speaks with the gravitas of both a theologian and a new atheist. . . . He rails against the destruction of family values and wants to implement a one-child policy in the developing world to save the environment. (He was a fan of transhumanism and reprogenetics.)

. . . It has all been compiled with Wikipedia’s air of no-nonsense academic detachment, from its analysis of Muslim demography to description of how to purchase weapons for a mass murder. In short, it is a 778,257-word demonstration that Google not only capable of making us stupid, . . . but violent and full of hate. Mercatornet

Vancouver rioter: "I'm a good person"

Full text of original apology by Camille Cacnio: "I’m a good person. . . . I am majoring in Conservation Biology at UBC. I strongly belirve in ecological conservation and sustainability. That night, I saw a few people that were trying to knock trees down. So what did I do? I yelled at them, saying “Pleaaseee, not the treees!!!!” And what did they do? They stopped. And I felt like a hero.

Not to be forgotten: She participated in the drunken spree and stole a pair of pants. Her excuse? The mob/the adrenalin/my personality made me do it! This is a truly post-modern apology -- no guilt. But sad, because she doesn't know what to do with the shame.

Roundup of news on the butcher of Philadelphia

Are you wondering why you haven't seen news on Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist indicted for murder last week, in this space? It's because I have it posted over at our other blog, the PCC List.

'Radically different' story emerges about Baptists detained in Haiti

Paul Thompson reads the media accounts describing the journey of him and nine other jailed Baptist volunteers in Haiti who are all now free, and scratches his head. He was there. What he reads is not what he experienced. Baptist Press

What's up with the China kindergarten attacks?

Today's was the fifth such attack on school children in less than two months. The country has taken measures to boost campus security in recent weeks. Experts have blamed pressures caused by modern society for the string of attacks. Xinhuanet

Most of the recent school invasions have been blamed on people with personal grudges or suffering from mental illness, leading to calls for improved security. Accounts in China's state-owned media have glossed over motives and largely shied away from why schools have so often been targets. Yet experts say outbursts against the defenseless are frequently due to social pressures. An avowedly egalitarian society only a generation ago, China's headlong rush to prosperity has sharpened differences between haves and have-nots, and the public health system has atrophied even as pressures grew. Yahoo

Editor: A news report last night linked the child murders with China's one-child policy, saying how devastating it is when a family loses its sole progeny. Could there be another connection --abortions and infanticide of baby girls creating a dirth of women for young men to marry, and the lost prospect of having their own children? Wouldn't that be one reason for social instability?

Mother who murdered six newborns sentenced to 15 years in jail

A ‘serial killer’ mother has been jailed for 15 years for murdering six of her newborn children in as many years and hiding their tiny corpses in a cellar. In one of the worst infanticide cases in history, 38-year-old Frenchwoman Celine Lesage strangled two of her children with a cord and choked four others by placing her finger in their mouths. Prosecutors – who described her as a ‘serial killer’ - had sought a 16-year prison sentence for Lesage with no early release before half the term was served, but accepted 15. DailyMail

Former Co-Chair of House Pro-Life Caucus to Back Pro-Abortion Bill

Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar, a longtime pro-life advocate who was the co-chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus before Rep. Bart Stupak, says he will vote for the pro-abortion health care bill. Meanwhile, undecided Rep. Marcy Kaptur is still leaning no and talked about a recent Catholic endorsement. LifeNews

CBS urged to scrap Tebow ad

A national coalition of women's groups called on CBS on Monday to scrap its plan to broadcast an ad during the Super Bowl featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother. The ad -- paid for by Focus on the Family -- is expected to recount the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child and gave birth to Tim, who went on to win the 2007 Heisman Trophy while helping his Florida team to two BCS championships. CBS officials found no basis for rejecting the ad. Here's what pro-aborts and others are saying about it:

• "An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year -- an event designed to bring Americans together," said Jemhu Greene, president of the New York-based Women's Media Center.
• Terry O'Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, said she had respect for the private choices made by women such as Pam Tebow but condemned the planned ad as "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning. That's not being respectful of other people's lives. It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else's."
• National columnist Gregg Doyel also objected to the ad, specifically because it would air on Super Sunday. "If you're a sports fan, and I am, that's the holiest day of the year. It's not a day to discuss abortion. For it, against it, I don't care what you are. On Super Sunday, I don't care what I am. Feb. 7 is simply not the day to have that discussion." ESPN

On Trial’s Sidelines, Abortion Foes Divided

National groups like Operation Rescue have publicly denounced Scott Roeder, an abortion opponent accused of shooting of abortionist Dr. George R. Tiller. “This trial isn’t meaningful for the movement,” Mr. Newman said last week. “What happened is antithetical to the Christian cause and to the stated foundation principles of pro-life.” But for a miniscule contingent of abortion opponents — those who argue that the killing of an abortion doctor can be considered justified by the abortions it prevents — Mr. Roeder’s case has become a rallying point. NY Times

Related:
BFL's position on violence against abortion providers
Should we use violence to fight abortion?
Nashville Declaration of Conscience

Roeder trial delayed as judge’s decision debated

Prosecutors have challenged a judge’s decision to allow the man charged with killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller to present a case for a voluntary-manslaughter conviction. As a result, the trial of Scott Roeder, which was to have begun Monday, has been delayed until Wednesday. In a surprise move Friday, Wilbert said he would allow the defense to present testimony that Roeder sincerely believed that killing Tiller was necessary to save lives. That meant jurors could have the option of finding Roeder guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a much lighter sentence than first-degree murder.

Kansas law defines voluntary manslaughter as intentional killing committed “upon an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force.” The judge’s action also opened the door for the defense to offer testimony about abortion. Kansas City Star

Reflection on Pouillon shooting

"President Obama Waits Two Days to Release Statement on Shooting of Pro-Lifer" and "CBS News Ignores Killing of Pro-Life Advocate Pouillon, ABC Biased in Reporting." Headlines such as these don't interest me.

As I said on Facebook: "Christians have the greater obligation to uphold the sanctity of human life (SOHL). We cannot expect the world to be outraged to the same degree over the murder of a pro-lifer, since they make no pretensions of upholding the SOHL. So let's stop demanding they display the same horror over Mr. Pouillon's murder as for George Tiller's. It really is worse when murder is done for the sake of the SOHL." --Editor

Anti-abortion activist shot in front of Owosso High School

State police at the Corunna post have confirmed a well-known anti-abortion activist was shot multiple times and killed this morning in front of Owosso High School. The victim's identity has not yet been released but the shooting occurred around 7:30 a.m., after most students were off the buses and safely inside the building, said Owosso schools transportation supervisor Jayne Campbell. State police also confirmed that a suspect was taken into custody about 8:15 a.m. at the suspect's home. Mlive

Hear Dr. Alveda King in Michigan City, Indiana

Civil Rights Activist - Prolife Advocate. LaPorte County Right to Life Committee in NW Indiana is honored to have Dr. Alveda King as their annual fundraising speaker. You are invited to attend a free public forum after the dinner on Friday, September 25, 2009, at the Marquette High School Scholl Center in Michigan City, at 7 pm.

Reflection: Turn off the heat, tone down the rhetoric

On Facebook the other day, a heated exchange broke out over Obama’s health care plan, during which one woman concluded that another respondent needed to “get saved!” She may have intended it in a humble and gentle spirit, but it didn’t come off that way. Not helpful.

Later, it occured to me how ironic it was that “Christians” were attempting to uphold the sanctity of human life while calling opponents “stupid.” No, it's more than ironic. It's a betrayal of the principle, as expressed in James 3:9-10:

"With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God. . . My brethren, these things ought not to be this way."

Please, can we turn off the heat and tone down the rhetoric?

Latest issue of Life Matters available!

Life Matters is a copy-ready piece that you can insert into a bulletin or place in a tract rack. This quarter’s issue of Life Matters is timely and relevant, asking, “Should we use violence to fight abortion?” Most Christians responded appropriately to the news, but it’s helpful for everyone to think through the biblical reasons.

There’s a subtext to the insert. While the numbers of abortion doctors are going down – due to retirement and fewer new doctors learning the “trade” – our pro-life doctors face increased pressure to conform to the “culture of death” or get out of medicine. Pro-death forces are working hard on this. We need to uphold our doctors in prayer.

Access past issues

Pro-Lifers "Loathsome" and "Grotesquely Hypocritical" for Not Caring about Chickens

According to a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which recently decried President Obama’s swatting of a fly during an interview, the organization urges "compassion even for the smallest and least of animals," but has no position on the killing of unborn human beings. The spokesman told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview that it is "loathsome" and "grotesquely hypocritical" that pro-lifers oppose abortion, but are unconcerned about the mistreatment of chickens and other animals used in the food industry. LifeSiteNews

Suspect in abortion doctor killing had ties to extremist 'church'

With federal authorities now investigating the recent assassination of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider in Kansas, new information is emerging about ties between the anti-abortion activist charged with the crime and extremist groups. This weekend the Kansas City Star reported that suspect Scott Roeder was affiliated with the Embassy of Heaven Church, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a "sovereign citizens" group that sells fake passports and other documents to its members, who do not recognize the authority of the U.S. government. Institute for Southern Studies

Holocaust Museum Shooter a Socialist who Hated Christianity, Conservatives, Jews

The online ravings of the man who shot and killed a security guard in Washington’s Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10th show that he does not fit the description of the “right wing” or “conservative Christian” extremist that has been portrayed in the liberal mainstream media since the shooting. LifeSiteNews, Politico

Let’s Get our Facts Straight about Tiller and Anti-Abortion Violence

Pro-lifers should indeed condemn the murder of George Tiller. But we should not play permanent defense as the nonsense snowballs and the unfair attacks against the pro-life movement multiply. Here are some facts that should be taken into consideration by all people of good will, especially those whose responsibility it is to report on this story. LifeSiteNews, AbortionViolence.com

• A Good Journalist May Be Hard to Find, But Not a Late-Term Abortionist
• 49 million to five
• O'Reilly: The Killing of George Tiller