The Abortion Controversy | by John V. Stevens, Sr.

Excerpt

Chapter 4: Freedom of Choice: How Important Is It?
Dedication
 Introduction

For more from the book, see the "Appendix" page.

 

Chapter 4: Freedom of Choice: How Important Is It?

Humanity is created with free moral agency. Control by others was not God’s plan. Government properly exercises arbitrary force on those who infringe on the rights of others. Restricting abortion threatens the foundations of pluralistic constitutional government.

Most of the problems society has faced throughout the civilization of this planet have sprung from poor decisions. Perhaps many of these have been the result of usually well-meaning people who assume almost god-like qualities and seek to impose their personal convictions on those around them. This is totally contrary to the God of the Scriptures, who refuses to impose His will on any human being because of the respect He holds for each individual.

When God gave His intelligent created beings, including humanity, the power of choice, He was well aware that many human beings would ultimately be lost. Yet, life can only be sustained though love, respect, and freely chosen obedience to God’s established life principles. Without choice, life would disintegrate, dissolve, and disappear. Without choice, forced obedience would inevitably erupt into rebellion and self-destruction.

From His respect and love, the God-given gift of free moral agency springs. All should honor that. Some insist that the conscience should be bent to conform to certain religious beliefs. This view, some religious leaders and laity hold, who conform to such pronouncements. Unfortunately, few people sense the importance of a free will in others and only sense its value when some outside force seeks to control their own conscientious convictions.

We cannot afford to forget that it is not always within our ability to discern what is best for our neighbor. But the letter of the Constitution, and the spirit of our profession as a land of the free, compels each American to support the right of his neighbor to hold inviolate, matters of conscience and religious freedom. Others have the right to make their own decisions, even when we would make different choices. For a nation whose motto is “In God We Trust,” it would be well for us to remember that the God who gave us freedom intended for us to use it and develop our own destiny by those choices. God supports freedom of choice, for He is the Author of that free will, and the Scriptures reveal clearly that Christ died to restore that freedom to choose.

To say that God provided freedom to make a choice is truth, but it is also truth that that freedom to choose does not automatically carry with it benefits or God’s approval of our choices. That would apply to both sides of the abortion debate. But society is not God and cannot assume the right to judge another person’s conscience in religious matters. So why did God give mankind that power to choose? Let’s consider two major reasons. One is that God has placed in the heart of man a desire to be free, and perfect liberty is found only in our Creator. No freedom can exist without law. When law is good, it protects us. When it is not, it hinders us. God is also the source of truth, and it is by knowing, understanding, and receiving truth that we become free.

Without freedom of choice man’s obedience would not be voluntary but forced. It would have been unworthy of man as an intelligent being and would have sustained Satan’s rebellious false charge that God ruled in an arbitrary fashion.

The other major reason is that character development and beneficial growth in life and all of its relationships is impossible without the freedom to make choices. Otherwise, we would simply become automatons—programmed dummies. God loves and respects us too much to force us into such a mold. Under those circumstances it would be impossible to love, and since the very character of God—and the principles of His government—is love, He created us in His own image with the capability to love.

God Himself made man as free to disobey His precepts as to obey them. We know what happened. When man sinned in Eden, he lost his freedom to make a choice to live a perfect life and to be saved for eternity. Only Christ’s willingness to sacrifice His life in love made it possible to restore that freedom to choose.  The perfect first couple, Adam and Eve, sinned by choosing to distrust and disobey God. By trusting Satan, they disobeyed the law of God and sinned. This act transformed a once-perfect planet into a planet of rebellion. Everyone born in this world comes into it with a fallen, rebellious, self-serving disposition. In time, unless that disposition is transformed by a supernatural spiritual rebirth and growth in harmony with God, the self-seeking moves on to forcing everyone into one’s own mold. Why did God allow all of this fearful evil and heartache in order to make it possible for man to be free? Only one answer to this query is possible. It was because He knew the worthlessness of all forced obedience and that, therefore, the freedom to sin was absolutely necessary to the possibility of righteousness, which is right-doing.

No life can exist without proper choice, and no proper choice can exist without the freedom to choose right or wrong. After having made human beings free to commit sin, in order that the internal principle of love might work itself into outward acts of right-doing, unhindered by external force, has God given any human authority the right to take away that freedom and thus to thwart God’s plans for man? He has commanded all men voluntarily to worship Him and obey His Ten Commandments, but has He ever authorized any man or set of men to compel others to worship Him, or even to act outwardly as if they worship and obey Him? This would be beneath God—to coerce humanity or any other intelligent creation He has made to hypocritically obey outwardly, in order to be popular or even to avoid civil or criminal punishment.
[from "The Abortion Controversy", Chapter 4, pages 42-43]

 

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Dragica, and my wife,
Wyn.

Mother taught me to reason from cause to effect, to search for knowledge, and to discover truth. She treated me not only as a son but as a brother, a child of God. I could ask her any question I chose without ever being put down or being considered out of order. Her example taught me to love and trust God and man.

My wife was an unbelievable source of continued inspiration and a consistent example in my pursuit of love and truth—the two primary qualities of God’s character. She was not only easy to look at, she was even easier to live with—a rare combination indeed. Her smile radiated inner peace and joy, and it affected for the better those in her presence.

Both gave me security and purpose, providing an atmosphere of heaven.

They are and were best described as loving and lovable Christians. Heaven bestowed immeasurable riches on me. My children John and Linda carry on that lasting legacy.

 

Introduction

The issue of abortion has polarized this nation more than any other issue
since the Civil War of the 1860s.

Much has been said about this subject, and much has been written.
Such controversies will continue on both fronts, as long as this world shall last. To take the responsibility and opportunity to share some very deep convictions on such a divisive and intimate issue has been heart-rending. This most troubling subject facing our nation, and indeed the entire world, has serious consequences far beyond its obvious surface implications. This book will bring surprises to both sides of the debate, as the curtain is pulled aside on abortion and its ultimate fallout. The latter is by far more encompassing.

Colonial America set up religious establishments, reflected in laws mandating religious beliefs and practices. In many cases death penalties followed for religious dissenters. Early America became as horrendous as was Europe during the Middle Ages, when the church used the state to do its work of wielding the weapons and dooming to death those who would not comply.

Is it possible that our nation is being pushed into that Cotton Mather mentality?

Such a view states unequivocally, “I know God’s will and will enforce it, come what may. If you disagree, you will pay the price.”

Abortion’s defining issue goes to the charge that it is killing an innocent life and it must end. Some believe that at conception the fetus becomes a human being—a person—deserving the protection of the United States Constitution.

This is true of Roman Catholicism, Evangelicals, Mormons, and some others. Some do not believe a fetus is a person until it has formed and developed more completely, such as when the brain forms. Still others believe that personhood begins at birth. This latter position is the one the U.S. Supreme Court took in Roe v. Wade. Numerous state laws have been enacted, defining personhood as beginning at conception. Those laws have yet to be challenged and ruled on by the United States Supreme Court.

Most opponents of abortion base their convictions on their religious beliefs, yet those who favor choice on the issue also have their own religious reasons.

However, should any restrictive law be enacted, based on the religious dogma of any religious group or any combination of religious groups?

This book deals not only with abortion, but with the two best gifts of God to man—choice and life. Discussed in detail is the personhood issue—when humanity begins—as well as church-state implications, man’s relationship to God and his worship, constitutional threats, and the very security and continued existence of our nation as a free and independent people. Other religious and political
issues that may result from present religious controversies that could or will become law will also be treated in detail.

What does the Bible really teach on this explosively emotional subject? The author has given serious study to the Scriptures for over two decades and has compiled virtually every passage that touches on when a baby becomes a person, as well as passages dealing directly with an induced miscarriage (there are only two). What is the future of our Constitution, and indeed our nation, should the Court overturn Roe v. Wade? The author sees this issue as a catalyst that will bring religion and its teachings and practices even more center stage than has abortion. The ensuing effect of this likely result is analyzed and discussed.

As goes the nation, so go the people and their freedom—as well as its moral character. How will this impact the survival of individual Americans, such as yourself, and our God-given Constitution? The issues of life, death, judgment, and the future are all explored. This book will present the most comprehensive Scriptural presentation on abortion ever published.

The closing chapters deal with prophetic subjects that are vital to every human being on this planet. Will this nation survive? Will you? Even many who do not believe in God see omens of a coming demise for this planet—environmental disturbances; contaminated water, food, and air supplies; world economic turmoil; international tension and terrorism; drought, disease, and ensuing death; and last but certainly not least, mounting moral crises. Self has taken center stage, and love, the glue that holds all of civilization together, is deteriorating and in danger of becoming extinct, in personal and international relations.

Scriptures predict that nations will become “deranged” in their association with confused and threatening religio-political alliances. God loves everyone and will work in that hour of extremity coming on the earth to save His loving and loyal sons and daughters. There is nothing to fear. Forewarned is to be forearmed and prepared to survive whatever comes. You owe it to yourself and to your loved ones to know, to prepare and to survive. The whole world is in a free fall, unable to get out of the nosedive. God plans your survival. You are invited to explore it. This is not a book to be read as a novel or a story, although it is the greatest story ever told—how to survive. What could be greater? Read it thoughtfully. You are invited to enter into the very heart of God — the Author of truth and life—from the only truly authoritative Source—the Scriptures.

Note: 1. The Holy Bible, New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1994.
Jeremiah 51:6, 7; Revelation 17:5, 6, 14, 18; 21:11–4.