Abortion and Church and State

Gary discusses several recent media responses to the ongoing abortion debate on today’s podcast.

When a nation moves away from the absolutes of God’s law we can expect an immediate substitute to fill the void. The “human rights” idea has become the alternative to biblical law; it now forms the basis and foundation for all spheres of life. Human rights has sand as its foundation because in “human rights” theory man is the determiner of what is a right. T. Robert Ingram comments:

The distortion in human rights comes from assigning lawmaking power to men as men, rather than seeing it as that by which God rules all things consummately. The difference is total. Every truly lawful right becomes twisted and its source a mysterious, unknown and impossible “state of nature” in which there was no law, and were no laws. The former implies stability, righteousness and an unchanging nature; the latter speaks of nothing but change, indetermination and fickleness.[1]

The modern doctrine of human rights answers to no one but man. Man, therefore, cannot be held responsible to anyone greater than himself. Responsibility is denied because there is no one to whom responsibility must be shown. Where there is no responsibility there is no accountability. The prevailing “law” is that every man does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6). Instead of working for justice (defined according to the specifics of God’s Law), the disgruntled demand individual or class rights based upon their own distorted views of justice. The most powerful, those who speak the loudest and carry the most political clout, are the ones who gain the greatest number of rights, usually for themselves and at the expense of others. Human rights become a declaration of self-law. Responsibility and answerability are abandoned for self-declaration.

To be responsible means literally to be answerable. Since it is God who gives the law, it means we are answerable to Him for what we do ourselves and to our fellow men, to our neighbor. Responsibility is a religious, a theological idea. Without the God of Scripture, the idea of responsibility breaks down. When every man becomes his own god, then man is not responsible, because a god answers to no one and to nothing. All things answer to a god.[2]

If there are many gods (each man doing what is right in his own eyes) then there are many independent laws. Every individual is a law unto himself; therefore, he demands rights for himself or for the group of gods who join with him. Responsibility before the one true God is denied, and a struggle among the many contradictory claimants of “rights” ensues.

Abortion issues are continuing to polarize the national news stories. Nancy Pelosi was even barred from taking Communion by a church leader because of her public support of abortion. It is causing many media figures to say very dumb things, but is revealing their true motivations and beliefs. Gary discusses several such instances on today’s podcast.

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[1] Ingram, What’s Wrong With Human Rights?, 21f.

[2] Rushdoony, Law and Society, 350f.

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