By Nancy Virden (c)2022

I am disappointed, sometimes angry, and personally threatened by an observable decades-long downturn in respect for women. I blame rampant pornography and its insidious influence on the minds of any who engage with it. Porn breaks up families and teaches people (usually young women) that their value lies in how they please men. It teaches people (usually men) that the fantasy of a woman catering to your every whim is somehow a right. Beyond that, it grants permission for sexual gratification to be the end-all and cheapens human existence.

I also blame the “wanted and unwanted” message of the abortion movement. It is not only women who land on the wrong side of the abortion rights laws. Children, the elderly, and yes, men too have trouble now respecting the value of human life. When Roe first became law, some conservatives warned that this would lead to infanticide and euthanasia. They were called extremists and worry warts. No way, the collective society seemed to be thinking. It will never go that far.

Yet it has. In Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal, people from any state can ask for a lethal dose of medicine from Oregon doctors. In Canada, Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) was the cause of 3.3% of all deaths in 2021. MAiD does not require one to be terminally ill. In 2023, those with mental illness will be eligible for MAiD. A recently signed law in California protects a mother from prosecution if a child up to 28 days old dies due to her criminal negligence during pregnancy.

For all the rhetoric from pro-choice women who are trying to be reasonable, abortion is not rare. We always want to save the life of a mother whose pregnancy is endangering her. We want to be compassionate and generous to incest and rape victims. However, what we can see and comprehend in our limited capacity does not dictate the worth of one human life, not even a preborn one.  

As television and movies fail to improve in their portrayals of women as sex objects, and as political leaders are embraced who exemplify misogynism or worse, there seems little hope for the privileges of womanhood to hold much honor. Those privileges include the ability to give birth, to generally connect easily with the emotions of others, to long for and build strong relationships, to be wise from a generally more sensitive point of view, and much more.

This is a deep concern because as a Christian disciple, I know Jesus did everything necessary to raise women’s status in society. If you do not believe me, I suspect you are not very familiar with the Bible and perhaps have received some half-teaching on its contents. Jesus was radically accepting of women’s rights in an ancient patriarchal system that denigrated females and the disabled and the poor. He stood up for the oppressed.

Ah, but we are so wise in our own eyes these days that we sport trying to prove there is no God in another sad attempt at rationalizing terrible behavior.

I am grateful for Father God who embraces me as I am and loves me too much to leave me as I am. He teaches, grows, and wisens me through His Word and His Spirit. This type of relationship is available to anyone who decides they have had enough of the crazy world and look to His Son Jesus for salvation from sin.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

1 Corinthians 1:18-20

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.

If you are feeling suicidal, or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or for a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room. In the EU call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here ). Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional, and speaks only from personal experience and observations. In no way is this website intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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