Nearly 1 Million babies will be aborted in America this year!!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

REPUBLICANS ARE PRO-LIFE!

by Steve Fair

     The U.S. Constitution provides for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for every American- except the unborn.  Since the Roe Vs. Wade ruling in 1973, the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that advocates on issues of sexual and reproductive health, calculates 54 million babies have been aborted in America.  The current population in the U.S. is 320 million, so America has aborted 17% of our population in the past half century.  Based on data from the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 977,000 abortions took place in 2014.  The CDC says that unmarried women account for 85.3% of all abortions. 

     The Guttmacher Institute found black women are five times more likely to have an abortion than white women.  According to blackgenocide.org, 15.5 million black babies have been aborted since Roe v Wade became the law of the land. The founder of the web site, Rev. Clenard Childress Jr. says, “Minority women constitute only about 13% of the female population (age 15-44) in the United States, but they underwent approximately 36% of the abortions. On average, 1,876 black babies are aborted every day in the United States.” 

     Both the Democrat and Republican Parties have strong language about abortion in their platforms.  The 2012 Democrat platform says: The Democrat Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to make decisions regarding her pregnancy, including a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay. The 2012 Republican Party platform says: We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.  Four observations about the life debate:

     First, life begins at conception.  For years that was a heavily debated issue, but even the liberals now, for the most part, concede life has a beginning and it is at conception.  Dr. Alfred M. Bongioanni, professor of pediatrics and obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania, said at a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing: “I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the time of conception…. I submit that human life is present throughout this entire sequence from conception to adulthood and that any interruption at any point throughout this time constitutes a termination of human life.”  When an abortion is performed it terminates life.

     Second, God gives life.  While it is a women’s body and it can be debated if another person has a right to tell her what to do with it, clearly God does have that right.  He is the Creator and as such can dictate to his creatures.  Exodus 21, Psalms 139, and Jeremiah 1 are just some of the passages where the sanctity of life in the womb is addressed.  If Americans think God will bless our nation as we continue to kill those in the womb, they have little knowledge of who their Creator is.

     Third, politicians haven’t moved the needle much on this issue.  For decades, politicians on both sides of this issue passionately campaign on one side of the issue or the other, yet little has changed.  One side will gain a victory in legislation or in a court ruling and then the other side will win one.  But steadily each year nearly 1 million children die in America before they are given the chance to live.  More or better legislation may help, but as President Lincoln said about legislation:  "No law can give me the right to do what is wrong."  The real key to stopping abortion is reaching the women who are carrying the child and convincing them to choose life for the child.  Options such as adoption instead of abortion should be promoted and discussed. 

     Fourth, there is a clear difference in the two Parties on this issue.  Granted there are some Democrats who are pro-life, but why?  If your Party is wrong on this important issue, then why are you still aligned with that Party.  If you are a pro-choice Republican, why are you an R?  Align with the Party that agrees with you on the issues.  Where a person stands on when life begins is fundamental to defining them.  Party affiliation can be changed by visiting the Oklahoma State Election Board website and accessing the registration form or you can email hopecsut@gmail.com.

 

I've read the last chapter- God WINS!!!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

GOD WINS!

by Steve Fair

     Ronald Reagan once said, “I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.”   Across the country, there has been a consistent effort to have the Ten Commandments removed from public display.  Oklahoma is not an exception.  Last year, the state Supreme Court ordered the removal of the Decalogue monument from state property, citing the state constitution’s so-called Johnson amendment. 

      Last week, the Oklahoma state House of Representatives voted 86-10 to approve House Joint Resolution 1062.  If passed by the state Senate, it will place on the November ballot a state question that will remove the ‘Blaine’ amendment language from the state constitution.  State Representative Randy Grau, (R-Edmond) said the state high court’s ruling last year to remove the Ten Commandment monument from state property, created the need for HJ 1062.  “When we learned that the Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the Ten Commandments monument removed from the Capitol, everyone was surprise. The ruling went against clear legal precedent supporting the placement of such monuments on government property. Our state’s highest court misinterpreted the Constitution, and we had no choice but to send the question to the people of Oklahoma regarding the public display of such monuments. Today, the House voted overwhelmingly to do that, ” Grau said.   It is very likely it will pass the Senate and we will be voting on it in the general election.  It should clearly be approved by the voters and here is why.

     First, the vast majority of Oklahomans support the public display of the Decalogue, aka the Ten Commandments.  When the court made the decision and cited the so-called Johnson amendment as justification for removing the monument, it created an uproar across the state.  Even citizens who weren’t political were outraged when the monument was removed.  At some point the people should have some input in a self-governing society and changing the state constitution to allow the public display would likely pass easily. 

     Second,  in 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States decided in a 5-4 decision that having a Ten Commandments monument on state property did not violate the Establishment clause in the US Constitution.  In a case very similar to the one in Oklahoma, brought against the state of Texas, the SCOTUS ruled though the Commandments are religious, the plurality on the court argued, "simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the establishment clause."   

     Third, perhaps some of Oklahoma’s leaders would actually read and study them if they were on display.  It is always humorous to watch politicians scramble to support the public display of the Decalogue when many couldn’t come up with half of the ten if asked.  Most are not aware of the real purpose of the law(10 commandments).  It is to show us how sinful we are before a holy God.  The commandments are rules that no one can keep- with the exception of Jesus Christ, the son of God.  When political leaders talk about them and say they keep them, they reveal their ignorance of the purpose of the law.  They need to read Galatians 3:24.  The Ten Commandments provide us a glimpse into the character of God.  It reveals to us what He hates and what He loves. 

    The real fight over the Ten Commandments has nothing to do with the principles or rules they enumerate.  It’s about God.  Without God, the Ten Commandments, and morality in general, are just a list of arbitrary rules. Unless there is a Higher Authority (God) behind the Ten Commandments, all right and wrong are just personal opinion and belief, subject to change.  That is what those who oppose having them displayed publicly are really saying- I will have no one to rule over me, including my Creator.  Fact is, God rules this earth, whether you believe it or not.  It matters not what the Gallup poll says, He wins.

      Contact your state senator and ask them to support HJR 1062.

Corrected version:  In my original post, I wrote that provision in the Oklahoma constitution that prohibits state pproperty or assets to be used by a religious institution to be the JOHNSON amendment.  Dr. Carolyn McLarty, National Committeewoman for the Oklahoma Republican Party, pointed out that is was the BLAINE amendment, not the Johnson amendment.  That is correct.  The Johnson amendment has to do with churches being used for campaigning.  I apologize for the error.