Have you heard the one about the politician who thought pregnancy outside of marriage was a punishment? Is that what kind of God we serve? A God who punishes by giving life? That doesn't even make sense does it? Barack Obama, in a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania on Saturday, said the following in response to a woman who asked him to "stop these abortions":
"This is a very difficult issue, and I understand sort of the passions on both sides of the issue," he said. "I have two precious daughters — they are miracles."
But politicians must trust women to make the right decisions for themselves, he said.
"This is an example where good people can disagree," the Illinois senator said. "The question then is, are there areas that we can agree to that everybody can get behind? We can all agree that we want to reduce teen pregnancies. We can all agree that we want to make sure that adoption is a viable option.When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include -- which should include abstinence education and teaching the children -- teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual. But it should also include -- it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at the age of 16. You know, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information."
He's tired, I'm sure. Maybe not thinking clearly. He probably would have chosen a different word than "punished" had he thought about it. I think, however, that the use of that word in connection with pre-marital pregnancy and STD's is revealing. Those two things are a "consequence" not a "punishment" and there is a difference between the two. If you chose to do action A, then result B can happen. No one is forcing result B on you. It happens as a result of you choosing action A. A consequence can certainly result in a subsequent punishment from an outside person or institution but it all began usually because of a choice freely made.
Does it say anywhere in the Bible that children are a punishment? No. In fact, the Bible is very clear that God is the one who opens & closes the womb, He is the one who decides when a child is to be born. (Gen. 30:22, Ruth 4:13) Not us, even though we'd like to think with all our scientific advancements that man is the creator of life. That's just not true.
Are there more optimum circumstances a child can be born in than outside of a marriage relationship? Sure. But I personally know several people conceived outside of marriage and God has a destiny for them because He has a destiny for every human He puts on this planet. God, unlike man, does not judge us on whether we were born to legally married mom's & dad's. If a human is on this planet, it's because GOD WANTS THEM HERE! That means handicapped or not, illegitimate or not, cute or not.
And, while we're at it, I don't think that God punishes people with AIDS or other STD's. Again, they are a consequence of a chosen action. (Actually of millions of people's chosen actions over the course of centuries.) How do I know? Because I have yet to get an STD for swearing or being angry or eating too many Oreo's. If everyone on the planet had remained a virgin until marriage & stayed faithful in that union, there would be no STD's. Period.
My closing thought on all this is why is it so popular to want to erase, excuse, abort, or otherwise try to get rid of consequences in today's society? If that was taken to its logical conclusion (you can do anything you want) the result is anarchy. It makes me think of a quote from Cormac McCarthy's book The Road. In the midst of nuclear holocaust chaos reigns but a father teaches his son that they must choose to do right because "someone has to carry the fire". I pray that we will have leaders who will truly carry the fire.
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