Over 20 years ago, I discovered some important lessons in social activism. It’s not enough to pass a great law helping people with disabilities. I am talking about the “Americans with Disabilities Act”. It needs to be followed by a variety of concrete actions that would help everyone to move forward to a better future. It requires the involvement of something called the 7 Mountains: Politics, Education, Family, Arts & Entertainment, Media, Business and the Church.
Everyone has a part to play in creating a culture of life.
How does this relate to the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade and Casey? For the record, the issue of abortion has simply been sent to the States. This issues centers on the mother and her unborn child and we can’t leave it to the government. They can’t solve this problem, alone.
My goal for this article is not about abortion. It’s about the need to change the culture from one celebrating death to one that celebrates the life of both parties. Here’s how.
Did you notice that I mentioned both parties? Infants don’t raise themselves. Before I continue, here is where I am coming from. For me, it’s personal. I simpy hated the idea of saying to a person with disabilities, “You don’t deserve live!” That’s the message that I often heard coming out of the media. It seems children born with special needs were thought of as problem or an inconvenient.
Yes, I am aware there are children with far worse disabilities than me and it’s not easy. I am not totally clueless. Because I was born with serious disabilities, I felt like a gun was pointed at my head and an ugly message has been given and it’s a chilling one. Oh, it doesn’t stop there!
I am thankful that I have a mother who kept me, and she had a husband to help raise her children. This happened thankfully in ’64. Somehow, God, the Father imparted an empathy for my parents in terms of they went through. I am aware that the idea of raising any child can be a scary undertaking. How much more in my case?
Why am I sharing the above story? How is it related? With today’s culture, we have devalued the role of mothers. They are the ones that has the job of caring for the child. In my mother’s case, she had a husband to help her. However, this is not the case for a lot of single parents. Yes, I said “parents”. You do know there are men acting like fathers. Right?
If you are a parent, then you already know the next point. Young mothers can’t care for the infant, alone! Even if they are married, help is still needed; especially if the child has special needs. Though the March for Life has been around for 50 years, I only began hearing of this movement in 2000. Their focus seems to be in saving the unborn child. Though I did appreciate what they were doing, I had a question in my mind.
What about after the child is born? How about the medical bills? Adoption? It felt like we in the Church were forgetting someone. I love what God has done through medical science; however, babies don’t raise themselves! I felt that we need to go a step further and it means developing a culture of life, not death!
It’s now time to do some bragging! No, I am not talking about myself. Some years ago, representatives from a local pregnancy center came to my home church and share what they were about. Given what I just wrote, it seems a good idea to talk with the ladies.
I’m happy to say that the Open-Door Pregnancy Center does have a clue and they were happy to share it with this then clueless blogger. From their web site, I can see that they are involved in helping the young mother in material fashion and teaching those all-important parenting skills. By materials, we are talking about diapers, formula and so forth. Yes, there’s help for single fathers.
Did I not say these ladies do have a clue??
I am glad to learn that a variety of churches are getting involved with helping pregnancy centers like Open Door. With the overturning of Roe, these ladies are going to need a lot more help. Open Door is not unique. There are many others doing the same thing.
I suspect that there is going to be a lot of unwanted babies and the Church needs to push forward in helping in the foster care centers and adoption. There’s also the issue of medical bills. By God’s grace, my parents were not stuck with a huge medical bill relating to my surgery, as an infant. However, this is not the case for many young parents.
No, I am not talking about socialism. Truth is, the government can’t do everything, and they shouldn’t. It’s the Christian church that needs to step up and help where we can help. I’ll spell it out in terms of the 7 spheres of cultural influences or the 7 mountains.
I already talked about the sphere of Religion – the Church. As a community, there are things we can do but not alone. The 2nd sphere is that of Government. We need to reform the adoption laws, how about tax breaks for maternity leaves, reform the foster care program and so forth.
What about men taking responsibility for their actions? It’s one thing to hear a message on responsibility from the pulpit; however, there is another place to learn about your responsibility as a man or woman. It’s called the Family sphere. It’s from my father that I learned to not leave everything to my mother.
I get it! It’s a lot tougher to raise children, these days! That’s why it’s important to get involved and help struggling families. I can tell you that my parents benefitted by having nearby friends and families. They were a blessing to my mother and father, who both worked. Ask Jesus about how you can help a local family.
How about businesses? I’ve seen the meme of businesses helping women to travel to where they can get an abortion, in the US. I’ve a better idea! Why not do the opposite? How about paying the cost related to adoption? I am talking both ends. The young mother who wants to give the child up adoption or wants to adopt. How about paid maternity leaves?
I think you get the idea. I’d like to mention the three remaining cultural spheres of influences; however, I am not certain of how. They are “Arts & Entertainment”, Media and Education. Since I am in Media, my main goal is to encourage the Christian community to push forward for changes that lines up with God’s view. In some cases, it requires that bloggers and YouTubers give either a nudge or a push.
In the end, it is up to the individual Christians to step up to the plate and get involved in what’s happening in this country. Hey, if you have any doubts then look at what’s happening today. All actions need to begin with prayers and seeking God and HIS righteousness. Don’t be afraid to talk to Jesus about what should be done.
If you’d like, I can write an article on the biblical worldview that is fueling my believes for Christian getting involved.
Christianity Explained 