writers of our class material chose to interrupt our study of Ezra and Nehemiah by switching to Psalm 139 this week. Pop says that the Southern Baptist Convention just has to get in at least one anti-abortion take every year. I think he thought that was a negative, because it is a social issue. And I agree to some extent but the lesson plan doesn’t mention abortion, it talks about the value of human life. And if we take the Psalm at face value, it causes one to be deeply introspective and question much about your core beliefs.
Regarding belief systems and morality in today’s political world, besides abortion and it’s subordinates, there is the current issue of what to do in Iraq. Much debate of course on either side of the leave/stay question. Most of those supporting the leave immediately option do so on their fundamental belief, stated or hidden, that American lives are worth more than Iraqi lives. Same for the cluster bomb ’em all to hell group, to which I have sometimes reverted in my frustration at the bodies being delivered home daily. For both of those positions, massive deaths will occur to Iraqi citizens, it is just a question of whom is pulling the final trigger.
Over the course of the past few months, I’ve come to believe that we are, in fact, doing the right thing in Iraq. Because there can be no question that we are minimizing the aggregate loss of human life. There are far smarter people than I that can argue whether we should have gone in or shouldn’t have, that is a question for someone with great hindsight, of which there are many in the world. But the fact is that we are there now. And if those of us that claim Christianity or Judaism as our faith, recognizing the Bible or the Tanakh as the guiding Word of God, faithfully read Psalm 139, we will gain a greater depth of understanding of the sanctity of life. And perhaps strengthen our resolve as citizens to continue to minimize the loss of human life, in Iraq and elsewhere.
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