“There is a clear scientific answer to the question ‘When does human life begin?’ … [From] from a scientific point of view, at the moment of fertilization of the egg by the sperm, a completely new organism is present. – Michael Egnor, Senior Fellow, Center for Natural & Artificial Intelligence, Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at State University of New York, Stony Brook
“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped into her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” – Bible (Luke 1:41)
As Christmas approaches, we remember the birth of a baby boy, born to a mother who became pregnant unexpectedly and out of wedlock. This was a real problem for society (and Mary and Joseph) at the time.
As we read in the Bible (Matthew 1): “Thus happened the birth of Jesus, the Messiah: his mother Mary had promised to marry Joseph, but before they united , she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose him to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce quietly.
The reaction to unexpected and out-of-wedlock pregnancies today is very different. Pregnancies outside marriage are completely acceptable. Here are some interesting statistics. Worldwide in 2016, about 15% of children were born out of wedlock. The national average for the United States in 2014 was 40% (thegospelcoalition.org). Of course, these were pregnancies that ended in the birth of a child.
In 2019, approximately 19% of pregnancies in the United States (excluding spontaneous miscarriages) ended in abortion. In 2020, the highest percentage of pregnancies were aborted in the District of Columbia (52%), New York (35%) and New Jersey (34%). In 2019, single women accounted for 86% of all abortions (CDC). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reports that 25% of all women will have an abortion before age 45.
In a nutshell, in today’s world, it is not uncommon for children to be born to a single mother and, moreover, it is not uncommon for a single “mother” to end the pregnancy by abortion.
Our views on marriage and life have evolved over the years. Not so long ago, our ideas were similar to those expressed in the Bible. The changes that have taken place in recent decades are significant and the reasons are varied.
Perhaps one way to sum up these reasons is that our selfish interests trump relationships and even life. As noted here before, when we remove God from the image, we become our god, and our primary focus is to satisfy our own interests and needs.
For many people, their life is all they care about. If there is nothing after life, then they want to get everything they can – for themselves – out of this life. This means that their own interests come first. Marriage is not really important because it means a commitment to someone other than themselves. Abortion is acceptable because it removes an obstacle to our own life’s activities. These are difficult thoughts. But they are the reality we face today.
In 2013, the title of TIME magazine was THE ME ME ME GENERATION. Two words highlighted what Generation Me was known for: narcissism and its effect, entitlement. They focused on themselves and believed that the world owed them their living. Not much has changed since 2013. In fact, it’s rather worse.
We have three sources we can turn to for answers to our questions about life and relationships. We can listen to the temptations of the devil (yes, he does exist, whether we are willing to admit it or not). We can go the way of the world – which says put me first. Or we can choose to follow God and trust him. If we want our families to survive and prosper, God must be the first, the last, and always the one we turn to and trust.
#FAMILY #MARRIAGE #Life