The Least of These

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Matthew 25:40

In the early 1800’s, the driving social issue of the day was the abolition of slavery which we can trace from the intractable campaign of William Wilberforce in England to our own cataclysmic years of the Civil War. Today’s defining issue is that of abortion on demand with all of its related value of life issues including assisted suicide, cloning, and embryonic stem cell research. Anyone familiar with our own history of the pre-civil war era knows of the vitriolic rhetoric regarding slavery that rocked the public square and ultimately divided a nation. Nor could the Supreme Court settle this issue but, instead, heaped fuel to the fire with its infamous Dred-Scott decision which would forever be a stain upon the high court.

In 1973, our Supreme Court opened the floodgates to abortion on demand with its own infamous decision and overturned hundreds of laws across our land. What they thought would be a means of settling a social debate once and for all has not gone away but instead grown to massive proportions. The bleed-over that many visionaries feared is now with us and has also mushroomed the stakes. Not only are we seeing more women suffering from unscrupulous practitioners than ever before, we are seeing a devaluing of all human life especially at the fringes of the social family. This ranges from sex selection abortion to special needs children to the elderly. It also tears at the fabric of our national identity in our ability to defend the rights of all to threatening the health and well being of long standing programs like social security which depend on young workers supporting the old. Immigration is the only way that our present population can preserve its numbers.

I would like every student going through River’s Edge to be knowledgeable about our present and ongoing cultural war and what it means to our country, our health care system, our legal system, our neighborhoods, and our families. The ramifications of this debate are hugely practical all across our society. There is what many are calling a culture of death at work here that seeks to change the way we look at human life at every level. This country has always valued life in any and all situations. It is what has made us great. We can all affirm that America has been great because it has been good, but when it ceases to be good it will cease to be great.

The good news is that we are witnessing a groundswell movement today that prizes a culture of life. For the first time since 1973, more American youth are identifying themselves as pro-life rather than pro-choice. The annual pro-life march in Washington is a remarkable display of youth turning out in overwhelming numbers. When are children too young to understand what is at stake? Lila Rose, one of the leading Christian young crusaders against abortion, was first exposed to the horror of this plague at the age of 9 when she picked up a book in her home. Her course has been set ever since.
This Sunday is the annual March for Life here in Knoxville beginning with a rally at Calvary Baptist Church on Kingston Pike, 2:00 pm (http://trlknox.org/). I would urge you to consider attending this rally with your family to hear our County Mayor Tim Burchett speak up for life. The musical group, Wild Blue Yonder, will be there as well, and I hope they will perform their song that says to “lift up the truth and lift it high; wave it proudly in the face of lies.” It is powerful. This is a chance for your children to see hundreds of other families across our city gathering together to take a stand in the name of Jesus proclaiming that all human life is inviolate. It has always been an inspiring service. Our children need to know that merely being little is not safe anymore.
Mercy and Truth,
Mr. Moe