It Is Not Progress

Society has lost ground

The past one hundred years has seen more change than any century in recorded history. The advances in technology have been phenomenal. We’ve entered the computer age. And, it is impossible to predict what lies ahead. I guess some would say that we have made tremendous progress in recent years, but have we? I’m not so sure! Technology has advanced, but has society kept pace? No! In fact, we have lost ground.

The barbarity and inhumanity of the past is as much with us as ever

Two millenniums ago, the Roman statesman, Seneca, wrote: “We slaughter a fierce ox; we strangle a mad dog; we plunge the knife into sickly cattle lest they taint the herd; children who are born weakly and deformed we drown.”

William Barclay, in his Letters to Galatians and Ephesians, page 209, records the following letter dated 1 B. C. from a man called Hilarion to his wife Alis. It reads: “Hilarion to Alis his wife heartiest greetings, and to my dear Berous and Apollonarion. Know that we are still even now in Alexandria. Do not worry if when all others return I remain in Alexandria. I beg and beseech of you to take care of the little child, and, as soon as we receive wages, I will send them to you. If–good luck to you!–you have a child, if it is a boy, let it live; if it is a girl, throw it out. You told Aphrodisias to tell you: ‘Do not forget me.’ How can I forget you? I beg you therefore not to worry.”

Are you repulsed by a society without regard for its own offspring? Do you thank God that children are no longer brought into such a wicked and cruel world? If so, I should point out that in our nation one and a half million defenseless babies are murdered in their mother’s wombs each year. And, the response of many, especially those in positions to stop this wholesale slaughter, is to look the other way. Yes, they say they find it personally offensive, but it’s a woman’s body and a woman has the right to do as she pleases with her own body. Maybe you think that is progressive thinking, but I find it just as barbaric as anything the Romans did.

You shall not murder

It is a sad commentary on society when the weakest and most vulnerable are casually cast aside. In the womb or out of the womb, murder is still murder, and the Bible says: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:12 NIV).

–Roger

JULY 8, 2012