Choose Life Australia

 
Filed on 19 August 2005 in Speeches category. Print This Page

Icebreakers:
For these two icebreakers it is suggested that answers be written down, quickly collected and numbers displayed. Short discussion may be allowed depending on time available before going on to Bible Study questions.

1. When do you think human life begins?

a. at conception i.e. fertilisation of a human egg by a human sperm (with in-vitro fertilisation techniques – IVF – this can be done in a laboratory)
b. at implantation – when the fertilised egg connects to the uterus and will be nourished by the uterus
c. when movements start – when baby is around 18 weeks
d. sometime later e.g. at birth

2. If a clear majority – let’s say 85% – of the population are in favour of a particular course of action – let’s say the destruction of embryos to get stem cells for research into a cure for Parkinson’s Disease – should government be bound to enact appropriate legislation?

Yes/No

Bible Study:

1. How and why is mankind different to other animals? Gen 1:27; Job 32:8; Eccl 12:6,7; Matt 16:26; Rev 20:4
2. What is true religion? Does true religion include defence of the helpless and should that include embryos? James 1:27
3. Does scripture indicate a ‘natural law’ that can be understood by all? Eccl 3:11; Ro 1:18-23; Ps 19:1-4; Ro 2:14-15
4. How are we to speak to this age? 1 Chron 12:32; Eph 5:15
5. How strong and bold should we be in confronting sin to those in leadership in our community? Dan 4:27,28; Jer 22:1-3
6. What evidences can you give to show that our culture is denying the importance of the soul and ‘natural law’? How can we help to restore the emphasis of the soul and ‘natural law’?
7. There are those in our community who say Christians have no right to speak on issues such as this. What do you think?
8. Should kings and governments do what is right even when it is against the will of the people? 2 Sam 23:3-4; 2 Chron 19:5-7; Psalm 2: 10.

Bible Study (with full text):

1. How and why is mankind different to other animals?

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Job 32:8 But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
Eccl 12:6,7 Remember him–before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Matt 16:26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Rev 20:4 And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.

Conclusions: We are created in the Image of God; we have a spirit or soul (for purposes of this context are one and the same)

2. What is true religion? Does true religion include defence of the helpless and should that include embryos?

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Jer 22:3 This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Conclusion: scripture is very clear that we are to protect those who are helpless or powerless. A human embryo is human life.

3. Does scripture indicate a ‘natural law’ that can be understood by all?

Eccl 3:11 He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ro 1:18-23 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Rom 2:14-15 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
Ps 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Conclusion: God’s law exists in us all however much we may try to deny that. We are ‘without excuse’. We may call this ‘natural law’ or ‘moral law’ and the consciousness of this applies to all and is acknowledged in many other religions, but it ultimately comes from God.

4. How are we to speak to this age?

1 Chr 12:32 Day after day men came to help David… men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do–
Eph 5:15 Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Matt 10:27,28 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Conclusion: We need to speak as wise people who understand the times i.e. what is happening in our society and in our world. We have a huge obligation to speak for what is right. We have been too silent in the past e.g. in the 1970’s abortion was allowed for ‘medical’ reasons – which quickly became equated with psychological distress and then just simply because the woman wanted it – her ‘choice’. We must not be silent now – the issues of commencement and control over life and death are the biggest moral issues that we have ever faced and will be the ethical battle of the century.

5. How strong and bold should we be in confronting sin to those in leadership in our community?

Dan 4:27,28 Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue. All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.
Jer 22:1-3 This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne–you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Conclusion: We certainly have a responsibility to confront our leaders when they are doing wrong. We must be bold enough to do it.

6. What evidences can you give to show that our culture is denying the importance of the soul and ‘natural law’? How can we help to restore the emphasis of the soul and ‘natural law’?

· By pretending that women (and men) don’t suffer personal pain after abortion – by pretending that it doesn’t matter, that its my right and choice.
· Note that there are 100,000 abortions/’year in Australia for reasons of contraception; 10,000 in WA (more than population of Esperance); 240 every 8 days (= deaths by MVA for a whole year)
· By pretending that free sex doesn’t involve more than physical gratification. There is always a psychological or spiritual involvement. The pain and confusion and sense of loss – that the person themselves doesn’t understand – is always so much greater when a boy-girl relationship breaks up when they have been having sex and this is because there’s a ‘soul’ connection.
· The push for euthanasia

How can we help to restore the emphasis of the soul and ‘natural law’?

By preaching the gospel, by values education and by giving information about the issues. Reach our kids with a consciousness of God and eternal values through schools, (Christian Schools have a greater opportunity for this), after-school clubs, Sunday School, holiday missions and camps; encouraging and using value terms like: goodness, virtue, justice, mercy, love, character and honour. Encouraging the reading of good books e.g. The Narnia Chronicles.

7. There are those in our community who say Christians and ‘religious’ people have no right to speak on issues such as this. What do you think?

It really is a pathetic argument isn’t it? We have as much a right to speak as others. What these critics are really saying is ‘leave God out of the picture – we don’t want to listen to what your God tells us in setting boundaries and anyway we are doing this for the good of mankind’. Our society has changed from one with basic Christian values to one that seems to want to destroy every value that we once held high. But Natural Law is written on our hearts and we can appeal to leaders and community that these eternal and immutable principles can only be ignored and rejected at out peril and that history is full of illustrations of calamity consequent upon this rejection. Robert George, legal philosopher at Princeton University writes: “When Christians insist that human laws line up with moral truth, we are not ‘imposing religion'”.

8. Should kings and governments have a special responsibility to do what is right? Even when it is against the will of the people?

2 Sam 23:3-4 The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.’
2 Chron 19:5-7 He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”
Psalm 2: 10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.

Consider also the leadership of Moses and Nehemiah in dealing with grumbling and sin.

Conclusion: Yes, leaders have a special responsibility to history and to God to do what is right even if it is against public opinion. (This may apply to issues such as war, slavery, gambling, prostitution, pornography, censorship, racial issues, economics, foreign affairs as well as abortion and euthanasia.)

It is not enough to simply say that ‘80% of people are in favour of euthanasia, therefore we should implement it’.
Kings and governments need to recognise their responsibility to a ‘higher authority’ and be mindful of the future of mankind. This includes the responsibility to be more aware and educated as to the full facts, complexities and ramifications of a particular issue than the general public.

Prepared for Girl’s Brigade by Lachlan Dunjey, January 2003.