LCMS Open Letter on Religious Freedom

This Sunday, we plan to include a bulletin insert at Messiah with the text of the open letter and the signatories. If you wish to read it now, click here. In the video below, LCMS President Matthew Harrison introduces the letter. Read more by going to the president's page at http://www.lcms.org/president.

LCMS President comments on birth control mandate

Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor: "The silent holocaust didn't win over me."

A number of my Facebook friends have been sharing this video over the last few days.  Don't let the fact that it will take 16 minutes out of your day deter you from watching and listening.  It is riveting.

I had the opportunity and privilege to hear Ms. Jessen speak at a synodical youth gathering close to ten years ago and remember her being just as powerful a speaker back then.  Thousands of high school youth and their leaders were on the edge of their seats and on the verge of tears...no, that's not right, they were crying...as they listened to her speak about her life and her courageous stance for life.  This video was taken as she spoke at a political gathering in Victoria, Australia on the eve of the debate to decriminalize abortion there in 2008.

Part I



Part II

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion

Here's the link to the article from The Buffalo News:

Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion

As tragic and horrifying as this story is, the quote that really irked me was this reaction from a representative of NOW:

"It really disturbed me," said Joanne Sterner, president of the Broward County chapter of the National Organization for Women ... "I know that there are clinics out there like this. And I hope that we can keep (women) from going to these types of clinics."

Translation: Let's make sure that women can go to clinics where the staff makes sure the babies are dead BEFORE they leave the womb.

God help us. God help those helpless little ones who are victims of "choice" and who have no voice and no choice in these matters.

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Rejected Super Bowl Ad

The Advantage of a Pro-Life Candidate

Here's a quote from a larger post by Gene Veith entitled "What I look for in candidates":

For me, being pro-life trumps just about everything in a politician. It tells me that he believes in moral absolutes, recognizes evil when he sees it, and believes in transcendent human rights that go beyond the state and the culture.

The entire post is worth reading, along with other posts related to our current presidential campaign. Click here to go to Veith's blog.

Abortion and the Church Fathers

The following is from Gene Veith's blog. Some interesting quotes taken from Early Church sources.

Wyman Richardson, a commenter on James H. Grant’s blog In Light of the Gospel, posted some helpful quotations from various church fathers about abortion, which was a common practice in the Roman empire:

“You shall not kill the child by obtaining an abortion. Nor, again, shall you destroy him after he is born.” (Barnabas, 70-80 AD, 1.148)

“You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill one who has been born.” (The Didache, 80-140 AD, 1.377)

“We say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder. And we also say that we will have to give an account to God for the abortion.” (Athenagoras, 175 AD, 2.147)

“In our case, murder is once for all forbidden. Therefore, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier way to kill a human. It does not matter whether you take away a life that has been born or destroy one that is not yet born.” (Tertullian, 197 AD, 3.26)

“Indeed, the Law of Moses punishes with appropriate penalties the person who causes abortion. For there already exists the beginning stages of a human being. And even at this stage, [the fetus] is already acknowledged with having the condition of life and death, since he is already susceptible to both.” (Tertullian, 210 AD, 3.218)

“Are you to dissolve the conception by aid of drugs? I believe it is no more lawful to hurt a child in process of birth, than to hurt one who is already born.” (Tertullian, 212 AD, 4.57)

“There are some women who, by drinking medical preparations, extinguish the source of the future man in their very bowels. So they commit murder before they bring forth.” (Mark Minucius Felix, 200AD, 4.192)

“The womb of his wife was hit by a blow of his heel. And, in the miscarriage that soon followed, the offspring was brought forth, the fruit of a father’s murder.” (Cyprian, 250AD, 5.326)

“The soul is not introduced into the body after birth, as some philosophers think. Rather, it is introduced immediately after conception, when the divine necessity has formed the offspring in the womb.” (Lactantius, 304-313AD, 7.297)

“You shall not slay your child by causing abortion, nor kill the baby that is born.” (Apostolic Constitutions, 390 AD, 7.466)