This past week the internetwebs have exploded with political divide. As I’ve watched the politicize arguments over the last 3 years – one thing that sticks out to me, that it seems the many fall far on one side or the other. Where are those who look at the whole situation and think, “I can see that in some cases this may be necessary, but I can also see how the situation has gotten so far out of hand that illogical reasoning has to be used to bolster the argument of this side or that.” Have we not noticed our own hypocrisy? Have we not noticed how we use anything just to hold up our own argument, even if it is as flimsy as a feeling and statement that starts with “I feel like”?

Is it possible that we are not looking at the situation with eyes wide open but rather with sideblinders on? As much as I would like that all the world could just be as clear as black and white – I have found that there are some things that are not that clear they are gray, full of choice, and conscience bearing. Perhaps we ought not be so quick to rail, judge, attack, and justify. This goes for either side of this political divide. Perhaps we need understanding, allowance for nuance, and a bit of mind your own business. Doesnt social media just make it so easy to see your own way and only your own way? Whatever happened to seeing eye to eye, sharing thoughts, and being respectable to those who are different from you?

I personally like to stop and get out of whatever box I might be trying to fit myself in and look at what is actually happening. This way I am also able to put my feet in another’s shoes, look from their point of view, and find compassion. This serves me well no matter what the topic is and even if I disagree. It is better to look at it from all sides than to be self-righteously sure I am right without doing so.

Some want more concrete than that…

But I have found the more concrete I am – the more unkind I can be.

I find this best suits me – where I can stand in my own standard without treating others unkindly just because I disagree with someone else’s.

I finished studying through Romans a little over a week ago and with everything that is going on in our government and country I’ve been thinking of this study a lot. Over the last 3 years at all levels, things have been changing with new people being voted into power and other people stepping down. There have been multiple changes to law and reversal of older statutes. In one of the posts I wrote from Romans chapter 13 I said, “Scripture does not tell us what the right type of government is, it doesn’t make distinctions between kings, presidents, councils, or legislative bodies. It just says, “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

The whole chapter in Romans 13 is relevant if you want to go read it. I believe the Bible tells us how things really work in the world. We will either chose to know or we will think its a relic and outdated continually tripping over, “why is this happening?” I personally have found it helpful in grounding my mind and heart in truth.

In Romans 13:1 it says “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” We Christians are to live under and are called “to do good” under whatever authority we find ourselves under. Romans 13:2 says, “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” God gives authorities to keep us in check. If the authorities be evil, they are for our judgment. If they be righteous, they are for our blessing. Whether we like them or not is irrelevant.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

Romans 13:3

If we look at the cycles of history, at times things will swing in ways you do not like and sometimes it will go in ways that you find favorable. Either way, we are called to live like this:

Love has nothing foul in it…

We can not continue the way we are going! The stalemating with, “you (you group of people) can’t tell me (another group of people ) what to do!!” What do we do? Don’t we need to have at least a common standard of right and wrong? Without these standards society’s have historically imploded. Any productive and functioning society must have laws. We can’t just default to “Well that’s your belief or opinion! Nothing has the right to control me!” and walk on. It’s unsustainable. There must be a basic guard of what is acceptable and what is not or society will fall into lawlessness. When that happens, when lawlessness is the rule, then it doesn’t matter what you believe or what your opinion is. If someone thinks it’s ok to rape, murder, steal, or whatever then they can do it to you whether you like it or not because it doesn’t matter what’s right or wrong. They have the new standard, “I want to!” and there is no standard to hold them too. We’ve seen this with people who have destroyed whole cities. People who walk into stores and pilage them while store owners and security guards stand by. They are not pursued by police. They are not held to a standard – that is the birthpangs of lawlessness seen in our streets in America.

We may think as a culture that it’s fine for others to do whatever they want, live how they want, love who they want, and not be stopped or oppressed by rules, laws, or regulations but when people act against other individuals. Now we have an issue! If there is no standard (seems we all don’t agree on what is to be the standard) That act against you will be the day you wished there was one to hold them too. Do theives have the right to take from others? Do pedophiles have the right to “love” children? Do women get to murder babies?

I struggle with the argumentation! It’s a clump of cells. It’s not a human. Ok. Yes at some point it is a clump of cells and then at some point those cells become a baby that could live. But what we are hearing people say is, “It doesnt matter when the women decides, its her body.” Can we really be saying that? Are we really saying conception to birthdate is an ok time to abort? What’s to stop women from killing their children just after birth? Is it murder or not? We will sentence someone to prison for double murder if they kill a mother who was pregnant. It’s a double standard.

I also struggle with the other side – that wants no allowance. I appreciate the states that have decided to fall on the side of “gray area.” Now hold your horses before you jump all over me. Let me tell you why I think this. A D&C (Dilation and Curretage) is the most common method of early abortion but did you know that if a women has a miscarriage she often needs a D and C procedure to remove the fetus that has died inside her body. Ya. So we cannot just make wide swipes with no allowance. I had this procedure done when I lost my 2nd child in 2007. This procedure in some states would now be illegal. It’s a legal nightmare for doctors. States will now need to sort out that legal mess.

Now, I want to touch on something that is going to be awful but we have to understand why wholesale abortion can not be legal. Did you hear of that new article from April 2022, where the headlines read, “DC police discovered five fetuses at the home of an anti-abortion activist”? They were in a bio-hazard material bucket. I looked at multiple sources (you can find it if you google) to gleen the information about what was going on. These “fetuses” were all viable, premature babies. Several over 30 weeks. The bio-hazard material buckets were for a local DC area incinerator. Another article also from the DC area headlined, “Abortion Clinic boxed up 115 aborted babies, sent them to incinerator to burn for power.” Then we have the subject of an entire industry for human fetal embryonic cells for research and another article from Washington Examiner where headlines read, “Abortion doctor admits sold baby parts often came from babies born alive.” This is unacceptable.

Do you think that this making money industry doesn’t have a vested interest in keeping people Pro-Choice to as far as they can get it? Did you know that Dick’s Sportinggoods is paying their employees $4000 dollars for travel expenses to get an abortion if their employee lives in a red state and has to go to a blue state? There has to be a standard. We must have some kind of civic virture. Civic virtue is morality or a standard of righteous behavior in relation to a citizen’s involvement in society. The Greek word for virtue is arete, which means excellence. There must be a standard of excellence called the laws of the land that we live by otherwise we will become a land of barbarians.

The Supreme Court made a stand for some standards this week.

• The 2nd Amendment stands – our right to bear arms shall not be infringed.
• Roe v. Wade is overturned – the decision is sent back to the States for their constituents to hold their representatives to what they want. 18 States have banned or limited abortion and many others are looking at it now.
• Prayer is protected under the 1st Amendment – people have the right to pray according to their religion – you can not stop just one religions prayer while allowing all others. A double standard will not stand.
• Covid and the Workplace –  vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers was not lawful.
• Religious freedom – a death row inmate is allowed his pastor to touch him and pray aloud in the execution chamber.
• First Amendment and Public Forums – The city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it refused to let a private group raise a Christian flag in front of its City Hall, although it had allowed many other organizations to use the flagpole to celebrate various causes. A double standard will not stand.
• Separation of Church and State – a Maine program that excludes religious schools from a state tuition program is a violation of the free exercise of religion. A double standard will not stand.

We can’t just jump on the bangwagon of cultural, political, talking point. Much deals with actual real people and they matter. So, like I have told my children a million times, ” You can’t think when you are angry!” Can we then calm down, process, think through logically, and come together to find a good solution?

Thanks for Listening,

Starla