The comedian and abortion advocate Bill Maher made headlines this week when he admitted that abortion “kind of is” murder. Then he stated, “I’m just okay with that. I am. I mean there’s eight billion people in the world. I’m sorry, we won’t miss you. That’s my position on it.”
Maher’s honesty exposes the deepest fault line in American culture. It is not between Democrats and Republicans, or between believers and secularists, or between any other two commonly identified demographics. It is between those who consider life to be inherently sacred and those who consider it to be an instrumental means to other ends.
The latter would likely not describe their position as I have. But as I’ll explain today, this is in fact how they view their fellow humans, with implications that touch every dimension of our existence from conception to death.
There is no more urgent battle for the minds of Americans than this.
“Crimes against humanity including genocide”
On April 1, an Israeli military strike on a building adjacent to the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, killed senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders responsible for Iran’s terrorist activities against Israel in Lebanon and Syria. This is how wars are typically fought—by one nation’s military against its opponent’s military.
In response, Iran targeted not a few military leaders but the nation they serve.
Hamas terrorizes civilians as well, both Palestinian and Israeli. They stole a billion dollars intended for aid to Palestinian civilians and used it to build military tunnels that shelter no Palestinian civilians. Then they attacked Israel in a way they knew would provoke a response by the IDF but took no steps to protect the civilians they supposedly serve or even to warn them.
According to the independent Lancet Commission, Hamas’s actions on October 7 “constitute crimes against humanity including genocide.” By contrast, according to America’s defense secretary, the US has seen no evidence that Israel has committed genocide in its response.
Israel does not seek to kill Arabs; in fact, 20 percent of its nation is comprised of Arab civilians. But Hamas seeks the “annihilation” of the Jews, whom they consider to be “apes and pigs” (Qur’an 5:60). The difference between the two is simple: If Hamas were to lay down its weapons, not another Palestinian civilian would be endangered. If the IDF were to lay down its weapons, every Israeli civilian would be endangered.
“Of the people, by the people, for the people”
This choice between human life as intrinsically or instrumentally valuable touches every aspect of our society.
The view of human life as only instrumentally valuable is what enables Hamas and Iran to murder Jews as a means of advancing their version of Islam. It is what empowers racists, enslavers, pornographers, adulterers, sex traffickers, and abortion and euthanasia providers.
In fact, this issue goes to the very heart of our democratic experiment.
There is a reason America’s Founders embraced the declaration that “all men are created equal” at the risk of their lives. They knew the alternative: a class-driven society in which monarchs and despots rule their subjects. This is precisely what they sought independence from as they birthed what Abraham Lincoln would later call “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
This is a binary choice: our leaders serve us as their co-equals, or we serve them as our superiors.
If we no longer believe that our governmental institutions can be trusted to serve us, that our votes count and our elected officials will do what we elect them to do, and that our courts will administer justice fairly to all citizens, our democracy is imperiled.
“The signature of the Holy Ghost”
As we have seen this week, sharing our faith through our works and words is vital to the future of our nation. The “will to power,” the drive to be our own god (Genesis 3:5), lives within each fallen soul. It takes the transforming work of the Spirit in a life given to Christ to birth in us that unconditional love for others which is so vital to our consensual democracy (cf. Galatians 5:22).
Stated succinctly: “We love because [God] first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
When we experience life as God’s Beloved, we are empowered to love as we are loved. We see every person we meet as someone for whom our Savior died. We know that they will spend eternity either with our Father in his paradise or separated from him in hell.
David Jeremiah was right: “If we understand what lies ahead for those who do not know Christ, there will be a sense of urgency in our witness.”
The key is simple but transforming: when we yield our lives to God’s Spirit today (Ephesians 5:18), he will manifest the character of Christ through us (Romans 8:29). Our words will be anointed and empowered by him (Luke 12:12). And we will be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11).
The great Scottish revivalist Duncan Campbell observed:
“It is the signature of the Holy Ghost upon our work and witness that makes all the difference.”
How obvious is his “signature” in your life today?
NOTE: Are we living in the end days? Christians have been asking that question for centuries, but never before has humanity possessed the kind of power—both creative and destructive—that we have today. In our just-released and updated edition of Between Compromise and Courage, we’ve included two new chapters that address the end times and the rapture. To read more about whether we’re in the last days, request your copy of our latest book today.
Image credit: ©Getty Images/Devonyu
Jim Denison, PhD, is a cultural theologian and the founder and CEO of Denison Ministries. Denison Ministries includes DenisonForum.org, First15.org, ChristianParenting.org, and FoundationsWithJanet.org. Jim speaks biblically into significant cultural issues at Denison Forum. He is the chief author of The Daily Article and has written more than 30 books, including The Coming Tsunami, the Biblical Insight to Tough Questions series, and The Fifth Great Awakening.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
For more from the Denison Forum, please visit www.denisonforum.org.
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