The Difference Between the Two...

Do you ever mentally debate hot button issues, pretending to talk to the blasted politician or"expert" on TV? Admittedly, I do!

Especially when it comes to matters of life & death. From conception to natural death. From abortion to terrorism.

I was watching a video for my ethics class @ TCC. The issues? Exactly the ones I mentioned above. What I came away with was this: We don't respect life. We haven't since Eve took the first bite of that darned forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden! I wish I could sit down with Adam & Eve & see what was going on in their heads! Did they not understand what God had told them? Did they understand & chose not to believe God? Did they not understand death & all that it envelopes? Was the serpant that crafty of a salesman.. err... reptile? I won't know until I get to Heaven!

But I digress...

I started thinking about two age-old debates: When is taking life justified & when is it not? Take abortion vs. death penalty for example. I think we can all agree that there would be no abortion without a "product of intercourse". So in that, when does life truly begin? At conception? At birth?

I believe life begins at conception. When God stated in His Word that He knew us before even a single day in our lives past, that makes me pause & wonder why nobody is preaching that from the pulpit? God Knew us before we were even a twinkle in our parents' minds! He KNOWS us!

So why, pray tell, are we killing the most vulnerable & innocent of all of the human race? Seriously! Why???

Now to the death penalty. Unlike unborn babies, death row inmates have appeal after appeal, sometimes stretching into decades after the original crime of murder was committed. Before DNA testing, all investigators could do was follow the known evidence. Now, I know what you're thinking, "But, Charisa, there are innocent people on death row! Aren't you going to defend them?" And my answer to those questions is yes there are innocent people on death row. And, yes, I would defend them! And now that there is DNA testing, it should stand to reason that the innocent get to go free--eventually. At least I hope that's the case with as many appeals as they get!

The government does not wield the sword for nothing! If you murder someone, you should pay! Is God going to judge them? Of course! But God designed the authorities to give justice a face here on this side of Heaven. Timothy McVeigh deserved to die by the GOVERNMENT'S hand, not the people's!

Ok, so with that being said, let's see if we can put the whole pro-abortion/anti-death penalty (& vice versa) in context. Abortion destroys innocent lives. The death penalty is the God-given government's way of dealing with violent & cold-blooded murderers who care nothing about their own lives, much less the life of others around them! Yes I'm pro-death penalty, provided the government can prove to me that they are indeed the perpetraitors. Yes, I'm against abortion, even in cases of rape. It's NOT the baby's fault he or she was conceived. They HAVE no appeal process or last minute cry for mercy. Convicted murderers do!

I know many of you know someone or have had an abortion yourselves. I'm not attacking you. I'm not trying to open old wounds. Your baby returned to the arms of Father God. Rest in that. I am only trying to get the point across.

The point is this: If we had respected life, starting in the Garden waaayyy back there, to present day, well, there would be no need for abortion OR the death penalty.