Are Natural Abortions Also A Form Of Murder?

This is an artificially colored ultrasound image of an embryo
at five weeks (Wikkipedia)

Spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) are estimated to occur in 10-20% of all pregnancies, some even before implantation occurs, and most in the first number of weeks after fertilization. While many will regret these natural occurrences, most will not blame God or Mother Nature for this normal aspect of the human reproductive process. 

According to the Center for Disease Control, it is in the same first 14 week trimester when 91% of medically or surgically induced abortions occur. An additional 6% are done between 14 and 20 weeks of pregnancy, but only around 1% at 21 weeks or later. Contrary to what some falsely allege, it remains strictly illegal to perform an abortion just moments before birth or to terminate the life of a baby after it is delivered.

Here is where moral and ethical considerations come into play, whether a humanly induced abortion can ever be justified except in cases of incest, rape or some serious medical issue.

As a lifelong advocate for preserving life from the womb to the tomb, I favor protecting and cherishing all forms of life at all stages of development. Even apart from any ethical or faith issues involved, it is hard to imagine anyone who has seen an ultrasound image of a living, moving child or grandchild in utero who would not want to preserve that life by any and every means possible. Amazingly, even at six weeks after conception, there are early signs of cardiac activity, the beginning of a heart pulsating in an embryo that is still only about the size of a pea.

Having said that, theologians have for millennia debated about when ensoulment occurs, that is, when a human life becomes a human person. We normally associate personhood with having a birth certificate issued and an infant registered in the census. It is then when, if a child dies, a death certificate is required. In the case of a stillbirth, some parents may choose to name the child, have a burial service, and request a stillbirth certificate, though no birth certificate is issued. But aborted embryos or fetuses are not normally memorialized in any of these ways.

Is that as it should be? Or should we in fact regard even a fertilized egg as a person, as a recent Louisiana statute does, in the same way as we do a baby that has actually been delivered, has had its umbilical cord severed and has drawn its first breath? In Jewish tradition the latter has been the more commonly accepted marker of personhood, just as when in the Genesis creation account God breathed into a divinely formed clay image, transforming it into a "living soul." 

As an imperfect analogy, we have a number of stately oak trees near our house which produce a phenomenal number of beautiful acorns every year, each fully capable of becoming a tree just like its parent. We love trees, and love the amazing acorns they produce, each with the potential of becoming implanted in the wonderful womb we call earth and eventually producing multitudes of acorns of its own. 

But as we witness every fall, nature doesn't intend that every acorn go through the metamorphosis of becoming a tree. Yet I would never rip any of them from their branches and destroy them at will, much less arbitrarily uproot any saplings destined to provide shade and beauty for all to enjoy.

So should we not seek to preserve life at all stages of development, and definitely defend the life and rights of all born children, while at the same time make distinctions between the life of an embryo and that of a living, breathing infant?

Neither Jesus nor the prophets clearly spell this out, and as a male who will never carry a child, I need to be humble in how I speak to the question. But I join with Jesus who, when he once had a lap full of children brought to him for a blessing, declared it would be better to have a millstone around ones neck and be cast into the sea than to bring harm to any of these little ones.

Would he say the same thing about every termination of life before birth?

That is the question that still divides so many people today.

Joining The Joyful "Redistribution Revolution"

Over the past three decades our wealth
has been distributed upwards, to a small
fraction of our population. I just purchased
a used copy of this book ($5.50 !) to learn
more about what we should do about it.

In light of millions of our neighbors around the world suffering from hunger and homelessness, and in light of our planet being ravished by our outrageous overconsumption, what if we were all to become a part of a movement in which we would agree to one or more of the following?

1. Joyfully cut our energy, food, recreational, travel and dining out spending by half.

2. Compassionately choose to live on an income approximating that of average households worldwide.

3. Cheerfully live on a poverty level typical of welfare-recipients in our community.

 

If sufficient numbers of followers of Jesus, the Hebrew prophets, and others were to do so, and invest their resulting savings to world relief and development efforts, we could help save the planet and remove many of the world's disparities. And we wouldn't wait for governments to do this for us, though the world's military budgets do remain a huge part of the problem.

As the former president of World Vision points out in his best selling book, The Hole in Our Gospel, the so-called "Christian" nations of North Americans and Europeans represent only 17% of the world's population but control 60% of its wealth. They are also the greatest supporters of the massive and murderous military-industrial complex.

On a personal level, in the first century the apostle Paul urged believers in Corinth to generously share their modest wealth with famine stricken sister congregations in Judea, nearly 900 miles away. He proposed this not as an act of charity but for the sake of creating a greater sense of justice and equality. In light of their forms of travel and communication, the sheer geographical distance involved would be much like the other side of the world would be to us today:

"It is only fair for you to share with them when you have so much, and they have so little. Later, when they have more than enough, and you are in need, they can share with you. Then everyone will have a fair share." II Corinthians 8:13b-14, CEV

If EMU Had Chosen A Different Path In 2000

When the Eastern Mennonite's University Commons was built in the year 2000 it was one of the more costly construction projects undertaken by any Mennonite institution to date.

I served as a part time counselor to students at EMU (then EMC) from 1988-2004 through a contract the school had with my place of work, the Family Life Resource Center. Today EMU, my alma mater, like so many liberal arts institutions of its kind, is facing declining enrollments and grave fiscal challenges. The following is something I had published in EMU's student newspaper, the Weathervane, sometime around 24 years ago, when the University Commons was being built.

First Class or Tourist Class?  (written in the year 2000)

Original EMC motto: “Thy Word is Truth.” Evolving buzz words: “towel and basin,” “global village,” “premier Christian university.”  

These are some of the themes and symbols associated with EMU’s nearly 80-year history.

Enter our latest dream--the University Commons. An unprecedented investment for EMU (well over twice the cost of any previous project ever undertaken by the institution), the “Commons” symbolizes our ongoing attempts to shed any images of ourselves as a second-rate college.  

We’ve clearly decided to go first-class.  

I’m not arguing here that we don’t need more space for athletic and physical education programs. Given our current assumptions about what EMU is about, we probably do. But could this be a good time to at least examine other options, even explore other directions?

For example, what if the University were to consider going “tourist class” into the next century, intentionally scaling back its development plans to something more in line with the “global village” of which we profess to be a part?

If our starting point is Jesus, the world’s most influential teacher/educator, we would certainly find ourselves in good company. A truly world-class, global-oriented, Christ-based institution of higher learning might logically resemble a no-frills boot camp more than another haven of middle-class privilege.  

Following our dreams in this “more-with-less” direction rather than toward one of “more and more” might result in the following:

1. EMU could begin by modestly reducing, or simply freezing, present tuition and salary rates, annually adjusting them to the rate of inflation (It should be noted that current salaries, while modest by some U.S. standards, still allow our staff to enjoy a standard of living that puts them/us in the top 3-5% of the world’s wealthiest people).

2. We could put a moratorium on most building programs, investing instead in more scholarships for deserving students and in recruiting additional top notch, kingdom-minded faculty persons from around the world who share the school’s unique values.

3. Instead of competing with Goshen, Messiah, Wheaton, Hesston, Bluffton and literally dozens of similar schools for the same students, we would focus on a new “niche market.” That is, our primary appeal would be to an idealistic, internationally-minded, service-oriented young adult who isn’t at all interested in a school with all of the amenities, just a good, affordable, academically challenging training camp for Christian peacemakers and difference-makers.

4. Instead of relying heavily on glossy brochures, hard sell videos, and a professional public relations staff to get the word out about this new kind of school, we might find ourselves promoted more by word of mouth, to say nothing of getting the attention of the press--all because our approach is so different, so revolutionary, so upside-down from that of most Christian institutions.

In expressing this kind of personal dream, I’m not overly optimistic that EMU’s current board of trustees or its present constituency would warm up to the idea of any major changes of direction for the institution. I can hear it now, “It would never sell, would never work, would never attract quality students or staff.”

Maybe not. But one great teacher once made a statement about individuals that could also apply to universities: “Those who seek to save their lives will lose it, and those who are willing to lose their lives will save it.”

“First class” or “two-thirds world class?”  That may just be a question worth asking. 

Some Ways In Which We've All Become "Woke"

Race is just one issue where we've all become more 
respectful and enlightened. At least I hope that's the case.

We hear a lot of backlash these days against "leftist elites" creating a perverse kind of hypersensitive "woke" mentality.

But is this all bad? Maybe we've all learned a thing or two about being more sensitive to minorities and those who are the "other."

Here are some examples of changes I've made in my own attitude and speech that most people would now consider a good thing.

1) As a child I remember hearing and reciting the following, with no one in my family raising an eyebrow:

Eenie, meenie, miney moe,

Catch a n_ _ _ _ r by the toe,

If he hollers, let him go.

Eenie, meenie, miney moe.

We were never allowed to use the N-word otherwise, except maybe for the Brazil nuts we enjoyed at Christmas that we called "n_ _ _ _r toes." Thankfully, few of us would find that harmless today.

2) I also recall hearing the expression "Jew-ing someone down," as in "driving a hard bargain," never realizing how offensive that would be to a Jewish person.

3) Likewise, native Americans neighbors in Oklahoma, where I was born, were stereotyped as lazy, unkempt and not to be trusted.

4) During and after World War II Japanese people were routinely referred to as "Japs" at our school and among our neighbors in rural Kansas and elsewhere.

5) While my family didn't believe African-Americans were inferior, the existence of separate water fountains, rest rooms, schools, etc., in the Jim Crow era weren't denounced as evil in the community I grew up in, and no one seemed bothered that the seventh grade Virginia history text used in our public schools was full of misinformation about slavery.

6) While never supportive of Senator Joe McCarthy's communist witch hunts, we nevertheless assumed that citizens of socialist or Marxist countries were under the spell of evil regimes from which they needed to be rescued, as in Vietnam.

7) Women were just beginning to be eligible to serve on the church council and other positions of leadership in the first congregation of which I was a pastor back in the 60's. 

8) The checks for our first bank account after Alma Jean and I were married we had labelled "Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Yoder."

9) Many of us have become more comfortable mostly using terms like human, humankind, or sisters and brothers, rather than just "man," "mankind" or "brothers" when referring to groups of men and women.

10) What have been some of your major, or minor, woke experiences?

Feel Free To Use My 2024 Christmas Card List

This year I'm again encouraging individuals, families and congregational groups to send holiday cards to people behind bars. Below are the names of some folks with whom I have had some correspondence, and who I know would appreciate some good tidings from the outside.

Unfortunately, I only have addresses here for men. There are also two state prisons for women in Virginia, and the number of women behind bars in our prisons and jails is growing.

With each card you can include things like a copy of an inspirational piece or your family's annual newsletter. Regrettably, the Department of Corrections now makes photocopies of the envelope and its contents to be given to the prisoner, but getting any kind of mail is always appreciated, and for all too many, an extremely rare occurrence. 

Note: What you send may weigh no more than one ounce, and include no more than a total of three items. Do not include cash, checks, postage stamps or prepaid envelopes. 

Mr James Bender, 1010837     

Lunenburg Correctional Center 
690 Falls Rd 
Victoria, VA. 23974-2213
 
Mr. Brian E. Brubaker 1315055        
Dillwyn Correctional Center
P.O. Box 670
Dillwyn, VA 23936
 
Mr. Brian Cable 1198947    
River North Correctional Center
329 Dell Brook Lane,
Independence, VA 24348
 
Mr. Lawrence Davis, 1443841      
Keen Mountain
3402 Kennel Gap Road
Oakwood, VA 24631

Franklin A Debrot, 1950673
Coffeewood Correctional Center
PO Box 500
Mitchells, VA 22729

Mr. Stephano Colosi, 1037581     
Buckingham Correctional Center
P. O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936-0430

Erich Ferguson 1179348
Lunenberg Correctional Center
690 Falls Road
Victoria, VA 23974
 
Mr. Branson Fink, 1011319 3
Bland Correctional Center   
256 Bland Farm Rd
Bland, VA. 24315
 
Mr. Robert Davis Fitchett, 1035660       
Buckingham Correctional Center
P. O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936-0430

Lloyd Lamont Kip Gaither 1168875
Greensville Correctional Center
901 Corrections Way
Jarrett Va 23870
 
Mr. Henry Gorham 1158927     
Wallens Ridge Prison Sussex I
24414 Musselwhite Drive
Waverly, VA 23891 

Mr. M. Steven W. Goodman 1028377     
Lawrenceville CC
1607 Planters Road
Lawrenceville, VA 23868
 
Mr. Robert Vernon Hostetter, 1054419       
Nottoway CC
2892 Schutt Road
Burkeville, VA 23922

Mr. Pernell Jefferson 1016207      
Buckingham Correctional Center
P. O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936

Mr. Preston King 1485660
Coffeewood CC
12352 Coffeewood Dr
Mitchells, VA. 22729

Mr. John Lafon 1151231
Greensville Correctional Center
901 Corrections Way
Jarratt, VA 23870-6914

Mr. Daniel Leneave 1084415
Lawrenceville CC
1607 Planters Road
Lawrenceville, VA 23868

Mr. John Livesay, 1108120 
Baskerville CC
4150 Hayes Mill Road
Baskerville, VA 23915

Mr. Chander Matta, 1171204
Buckingham Correctional Center
P.O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936
 
Mr. Thomas Melnyczyn, 1007916       
Deerfield Correctional Center
21360 Deerfield Drive
Capron, VA 23829
 
Mr. Ronald Miles, 1067348    
Haynesville CC
421 Barnfield Road
Haynesville, VA 22472 

Mr. John Nissley, 1148222      
Buckingham Correctional Center
P.O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936
 
Mr. Kenneth R. Pack 1063808     
Buckingham Correctional Center 
P. O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936

Mr. Larry Patterson 1116462
Deerfield Correctional Center
21360 Deerfield Drive
Capron, VA 23829

Mr. Brandon Poff 1188921

Wallens Ridge State Prison

P.O. Box 759

Big Stone Gap, VA 24219
 
Mr. Timothy Rankin 1208262     
Lawrenceville CC
1607 Planters Road
Lawrenceville, VA 23868

Mr. Thomas Roberts #1180343
Green Rock CC
475 Green Rock Lane
Chatham, VA 24531

Mr. Khalid A. Shabazz 1157998
Greensville Correctional Center
901 Corrections Way
Jarratt, VA 23870-6914

Mr. Minor Junior Smith, 1158588
Deerfield Correctional Center
21360 Deerfield Drive
Capron, VA 23829
 
Mr. William Thorpe 2261982

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

P.O. Box 660400

Dallas, Texas 75266=0400

 
 Mr. Jerry Treadway 1021558
Coffeewood CC
12352 Coffeewood Drive
Mitchells, VA. 22729-2046
 
Mr. Jonathan D. Turner 1941213      
Coffeewood CC
12352 Coffeewood Drive
Mitchells, VA. 22729-2046

Mr. Daryl Van Donk, 1681547
Dillwyn Correctional Center
1522 Prison Road
Dillwyn, VA 23936

Mr. Michael Wallace 2105386
Lawrenceville CC
1607 Planters Road
Lawrenceville, VA 23868

Mr. Richard Webb 1174188       
Buckingham Correctional Center 
P. O. Box 430
Dillwyn, VA 23936

Mr. Jonathan D. White 1161021
Lawrenceville CC
1607 Planters Road
Lawrenceville, VA 23868

Mr. Greg Widener 1083217
Bland Correctional Center   
256 Bland Farm Rd
Bland, VA. 24315

Mr. John Bennie Williams 1091323 (blind)     
Deerfield Correctional Center
21360 Deerfield Drive
Capron, VA 23829
 
Mr. Charles E. Zellers, Sr. 1036758      
Deerfield Correctional Center
21360 Deerfield Drive
Capron, VA 23829

If you prefer not to include your home address with your letter, and don't have a post office box, you could have the person respond to your place of worship or work, or to P.O. Box 434, Harrisonburg, VA 22803 and I'll relay their message to you (assuming I have your phone, email or other contact information). In my many years of corresponding with incarcerated individuals I have never had any problems resulting from disclosing my home address, but some do recommend against it.

And here's a link to a local citizen's group, the Valley Justice Coalition, if you are interested in becoming involved in criminal justice advocacy https://www.vjcharrisonburg.org/

Why Jude Is My Favorite Roman Catholic Saint

 

Our daughter Joanna, in good humor, once gave me a St. Jude candle, the apostle Jude being the Saint of Lost Causes and Impossible Cases. 

She, like myself, was keenly aware of how many of my efforts over the years have proven to be largely in vain.

Here are just a few examples:

1. I came up with a plan several months ago I thought would help conflicted voters who, like myself, who didn't want to have to choose a lesser of two evils in their choice for president. Not that I didn't feel the character (and record for truth telling) of one of the candidates didn't represent a far greater evil, but in light of the record of both in supporting ever more military aid for human slaughter, for example, I and many others have had a difficult time lending our support to either. So my plan called for finding a conflicted Trump voter willing to join me in abstaining from voting for either presidential candidate this year, thus not adding to their popular vote numbers, while also not adversely affecting the outcome. In other words, we would simply be cancelling each other's vote ahead of time rather than at the ballot box.

After multiple conversations with Trump leaning friends, I finally found one person willing to engage in this plan to trade our votes. Only one. Others either didn't understand the math or felt it sent the wrong message. So while I may have succeeded in terms of my listening my own conscience, my efforts to spread the idea, while leading to some very significant conversations, never gained much traction.

2. As a strong supporter of the Virginia Relief Sale's annual effort to raise raise money to aid war and famine refugees through Mennonite Central Committee, I proposed a special fast and fundraising day for congregations. On some Sunday prior to the Sale, especially for the sake of those unable to attend in person, churches would be encouraged to promote a fast from Saturday evening to Sunday noon (simply skipping breakfast), then join in a simple rice and beans or similar meal after the Sunday service. The goal would be to raise consciousness about the poverty of millions around the world and and to have a special offering to add to the Relief Sale's fundraising effort for MCC.

I was naive enough to think at least a few congregations might at least consider this, but to no avail. In spite of blog posts, emails and sharing the idea with numerous church leaders, not one expressed any interest in actually trying such plan. Not one. So, feasting to raise funds for the hungry appears to be OK, but fasting? Not so much.

3. There have been numerous failed efforts on my part, and on the part of the Valley Interfaith Action and the Valley Justice Coalition (of which I am an active part), to bring about changes in policies in local jails. One issue I've been especially concerned about is the "keep fee" ($1  per day) charged by our local facility on Liberty Street and by the Middle River Regional Jail ($3 a day) which our City and County partly own. This arbitrary fee, permitted but not mandated by the state, places an undue and unjust burden on the families of offenders in the opinion of many of us, and actually adds a relatively small sum to the jail's annual budget.

So far, none of my efforts on this have produced any results, as has been the case with numerous other jail policies that adversely affect struggling families, often with one of its chief breadwinners being behind bars (Fortunately, there have been some modest successes on some other issues).

4. Having worked as an apprentice carpenter in numerous building projects as a young adult, I developed a special appreciation for all of the raw materials and craftsmanship that go into a well constructed building. When I see evidence of what I've come to call "domi-cide" or "home-icide," the demolishing or gutting of well built homes and other buildings primarily for the sake of profit or prestige, I find myself crusading for the preservation of existing construction whenever possible. I feel especially strongly about the "woe and waste of warfare" and its effect on life-sustaining infrastructure so necessary to human communities. 

All of this continues to fall on seemingly deaf ears as businesses, government agencies and even congregations and church supported institutions continue to demolish existing buildings at will.

5. After serving twenty years as a pastor of a well established rural congregation that was considering a half million dollar expansion, I made a career change and began to work as a counselor at the faith based Family Life Resource Center and became a pastor of Family of Hope, a living room size house church congregation. Along with a core group of fellow idealists, we had visions of house churches becoming a creative alternative for some marginalized individuals who didn't feel at home in traditional congregations. Like churches in the first century led by Jesus followers like St. Jude, we would simply worship, study, fellowship, serve, and break bread together without being burdened with expensive church real estate and paid staff.

At a 24 year FOH reunion in 2011, former FOH members from as far away as California, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Oregon, some of whom had served in places like Ethiopia, Germany, Guatemala, El Salvador and elsewhere, gathered to remember and renew ties to fellow members pf this enduring experiment. But for whatever reason, the house church model never generated a lot of support.

Meanwhile, I seem to have lost my St. Jude candle, which I could use at this stage in my life.

A Silver Lining Around A Seemingly Dark Cloud

"Trump on the Verge of Victory With Swing State Wins"

Historic NYT headline 11/6/24

Millions of Americans are no doubt feeling devastated and demoralized this morning by the outcome of this year's election. Few ever imagined a Trump-dominated Republican party, already with a majority of Supreme Court appointees, now gaining control of the White House and likely both houses of Congress in one fell swoop.

But might Shakespeare's "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good" apply here?

Along with a host of possible bad consequences, here are some potential good outcomes that could result from yesterday's tally:

1. This should mark the end of the fundamental and widespread lie about the American voting process being untrustworthy. The Democratic half of the nation's voters were already convinced that no elections were being stolen, and now skeptical Republicans will no longer be able to claim that the system was rigged against them. 

2. The almost cult-like veneration surrounding the newly elected president is almost sure to fade. The candidate who promised to "fix everything about our country" plus instantly end all wars around the world will find himself unable to deliver. And this time there may be no opposition party to blame when food prices go up for lack of sufficient immigrant farm workers, the national debt soars (as predicted) due to tax policies favoring the already favored, and consumers feel the effect of rising prices as a result of increased tariffs.

3. There is a strong likelihood of a peaceful transfer of power this time, with losing candidates making their customary and timely concession speeches. Had Harris and the Democrats won we could have seen multiple January 6 kinds of insurrections happening all over the country, led by outraged Trump supporters.

4. In the inevitable decline of the American empire (under any future administration) believers who have put their faith in political systems to bring about a Golden Age of America may come to realize that without serious repentance, no nation will be spared God's judgment.

May we all humble ourselves, do justice, love mercy and pray that God's will and God's ways may eventually prevail throughout the world. 

A New Hymn for All Saints Sunday

I post the following new hymn with the kind permission of Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, a gifted Presbyterian pastor in Owego, New York. She has written over 400 beautiful hymns, all set to familiar tunes. 

Here is her introduction to one she wrote for All Saints Day: 

 
"O God, We Give Thanks for the Saints Gone Before Us" is a new hymn celebrating faithful Christians in the past and present; it is also a prayer that we will follow Jesus in the world today.  In a time when competing voices in society encourage us to abandon the way of Jesus, we need to remember how he taught us to live.  

O God, We Give Thanks for the Saints Gone Before Us
ASH GROVE 6.6.11.6.6.11 D ("Let All Things Now Living")

O God, we give thanks for the saints gone before us —
remembering well how they walked Jesus' Way.
They valued the truth and would rise to defend it.
They knelt to be kind to the poor day by day.
They welcomed in immigrants, honored new neighbors,
put love before greed, and sought peace over strife.
May we in our homes and our churches and nations
recall Jesus' teachings and welcome this life.

O God, we give thanks for the saints now among us —
for teachers and helpers and activists, too,
for those in our families and those who work with us
to make the world better, to make the world new.
We thank you for those who seek justice for others,
for those who seek Jesus and live by his grace.
May we in our homes and our churches and nations
give thanks for their witness of love in this place.

O God, we give thanks for the Way Jesus shows us;
may we seek to follow his reign from above.
The world often calls us to hatred and violence,
but Christ's Way is welcome and mercy and love.
Like prophets, apostles, and martyrs before us,
like those who bear witness to you every day,
may we in our homes and our churches and nations
be saints who are eager to choose Jesus' Way.

Biblical References: Matthew 5:1-12; Matthew 6:33; John 8:31-32; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; Micah 6:8

Tune: Traditional Welsh melody ("Let All Things Now Living")  (ASH GROVE)
Text: Copyright © 2024 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Email: carolynshymns@gmail.com New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com/
O God, We Give Thanks for the Saints Gone Before Us

Note: You can email her if you want to be on her contact list or if you wish to use any of her hymns in your congregation. Here are some of her latest: 

https://mailchi.mp/comcast/april2024-10145024?e=7127567b33