War on Humanity
By Tom Gilbreath
In Washington, DC, a gunman kills Jews for being Jews. He seems to see murder as just another political statement, like joining a protest march or shouting slogans. In the present environment, it should not surprise us when a supporter of Hamas uses the methods of Hamas. What happened to respect for life? In growing numbers across the globe, it has been aborted.
Neither should it surprise us that a young man would die while bombing a fertility clinic in Palm Springs. He called himself “anti-life.” For years, public schools have been teaching kids the insignificance of human beings. Despite our staggering complexity, they teach that humans were formed by chance alone. But it has recently grown worse. They now teach children that they and their kind are planet-killers, an aberration of nature, destroyers of the good and the beautiful.
This climate of darkness spawns many evils. The Palm Springs bomber called himself an “antinatalist.” As the name implies, antinatalists believe it is immoral to give birth. That’s why he bombed a fertility clinic. He took the philosophy to its logical conclusion — since having babies is immoral, no one should be allowed to have them. That means extinction in just a few decades. Antinatalists want humanity to fold its tent and die.
Imagine someone being so full of pain and bereft of joy that he wants no more children to be born. Antinatalists think the earth and other living things would be doing great if it weren’t for people. They imagine the natural world as if it were a Disney forest fantasy. Bambi and the other animals lived happily until… “Man was in the forest.”
Few people carry this belief to the Palm Springs bomber’s bizarre extreme. But most young married couples question bringing new life into the world. And increasing numbers now conclude that having children is immoral.
The Bible is beautifully pro-life and pro-children. Psalm 139:13 (NKJV) says, “You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.” Psalm 127:3 says, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” In Matthew 18:5, Jesus said, “Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”
It’s the difference between light and darkness, joy and misery, life and desolation. This is yet another instance where secular humanism (that is, humanism which excludes God) leads to anti-humanism. Rejection of God destroys the foundation on which human meaning, value, rights, and dignity rest. Why do we have laws against murder? Why do our laws demand basic respect for even the worst criminal? Genesis 1:27 gives the answer. “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
The Palms Springs bomber left a recording in which he reportedly said, “I’m angry that I exist.” Despite lots of great individual educators, modern teaching generally demands hatred for self and others. It undermines the values on which our civilization rests. Few become bombers or terrorists, but massive numbers experience terrible emptiness as a hangover from school. Many try to numb it with mind-altering substances or extreme adrenaline rushes. Some try to fill the void with a “cause.” Ironically, most of those causes can have meaning only if humans have innate value.
And we do have value. We have value because God has chosen to give us value. He made us in His own image. He chose to love us despite the pain it would bring Him. Businesspeople often say that something is worth whatever people are willing to pay for it. Look at the price God paid for us and our redemption. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
