I recently finished a book that many recommended to me once I started serving at HOPE. This book, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, was written in the 70s by Francis Schaeffer. Schaeffer’s work in the pro-life arena was rightly celebrated in the 70s and 80s, but his impact continues today.
I am not going to spend time here discussing this entire book, but I would encourage you to read it for yourself. Instead, today, I want to discuss a particular passage of the book. This particular portion of the book does a great job of pointing us to the greater truth that life is truly a precious and valuable gift deserving of our care and appreciation. It also points out the need for us to look in the mirror and then at the world around us and decide who we are to be and on which side of life we will stand.
“Cultures can be judged in many ways, but eventually every nation in every age must be judged by this test: How did it treat people? Each generation, each wave of humanity, evaluates its predecessors of this basis. The final measure of mankind’s humanity is how humanely people treat one another…There are choices to be made in every age. And who we are depends on the choices we make. What will our choices be? What boundaries will we uphold to make it possible for people to say with certainty that moral atrocities are truly evil? Which side will we be on?”
Schaeffer proposes what seems like a simple question on the surface, but the question of “how did we treat people” is much deeper and deserves our focus. We have had times in history where the answer to this question is deplorable. Our history is checkered as we treated African-Americans as property or as fractions. We have treated women as second-class citizens that could not vote or have a voice in our society. I could continue to this list, but I think you get the gist.
In these moments I wonder if the people thought about their legacy. Did they look forward and ponder on what future generations would think of them and their treatment of people? One can quickly look at our current society and see that we have come a long way from disenfranchising certain segments of our population. Many would argue that we have finally achieved “Liberty and Justice for all.”
This would be partly true. There continues to be one segment of our population that is silenced. A segment that is made up of all the colors on the color wheel, of all genders, and of all backgrounds. This segment has been discussed and maligned, but not given its proper voice.
This segment is often devalued because its home is found in the womb. This is what abortion has done for our society. It strategically takes the voice away from citizens. It strategically takes the voice away from humans with their own DNA, blood type, finger prints, hopes, and dreams.
This is why Schaeffer’s work is so important. He was able to point us to simple questions that should make us rethink the way we treat all people. I joined HOPE because of this question: what will I tell my kids when they ask, one day, “daddy, what did you do while 1 million babies were aborted every year?” This question haunts me. This question and the legacy I will leave behind drives much of what I do.
I want my kids to be proud. I want my kids to know that we did all we could to fight for those that couldn’t fight for themselves. We did everything we could for the most vulnerable among us…the child in the womb.
I want to be on the right side of history. I desire to see every life celebrated. I desire to see the thinkable become the unthinkable. This doesn’t happen apart from us thinking deeply and thoughtfully about these issues.
We must ask ourselves these questions that Schaeffer proposed. This matters and will determine what side we will be on. Do we desire to stand for life and the gift of it, or to stand for the flippant termination or disposing of it?
That is a tough question, but these are tough issues. We continue to fight the same battle of Schaeffer. We have millions standing together, but this will not change by that alone. This love of life must move us to get engaged and involved in pro-life initiatives. Open your home to that young woman facing an unplanned pregnancy. Open your home to foster children or adoption. Seek out pro-life clinics and support them with your time, prayers, and money.
This work was started years ago, and we must continue and expand that work today. It is possible that we could see a change in our culture for life. I believe that with all my heart and soul, but we have much work to do. The only question now is, “What side will we be on?”
posted by Andrew Wood, Executive Director of Hope Resource Center
