Not Speaking Up is Like Doing Nothing at All (a personal account)
It is important as women of Christ to not stay silence when it comes to speaking up against abortion. Not speaking up is like saying or doing nothing at all and that is condoning it. It sends the message that it is okay to murder the innocent and break the laws of the LORD.
The Pharaoh of Egypt ordered Shiphrah and Puah the Hebrew midwives to kill all the Hebrew baby boys at birth and drown them in the River. They disobeyed that order because they Feared the LORD God. Our society allows the killing of babies for the convenience of the mothers. There is a disobedience of the LORD God when He said “Thy shall not kill.” Not speaking up is like saying or doing nothing at all and that is condoning it. This is my experience of the standing up against abortions.
When I was a young girl probably in Jr. High I got to go on an outing with the senior Church League. That was a big honor when you are only fourteen, impressionable and in awe of the older mentors. We were going to the Bowl and Pitcher down by the river. This is a romantic place that during the 1960’s, was out of the way from prying eyes and acute hearing from our adults. It was a great place for hiking and picnicing and just talking. The senior Luther League would go there for singing and playing the guitars and ukuleles. It was such a thrill to be going to such a special place with the “big kids” who were older and wiser than I was.
The Bowl and Pitcher was a wonderful place to go and as a young girl I had many wonderful adventures on the rickety old swinging bridge, and beyond. It was always a reminder of the lessons I learned in 1961. This particular outing was heart breaking. It was an outing I carry to this day and have shared with many others especially younger girls who are just starting out their lives in the dating world.
The two girls I looked up to the most were two and three years older than I was. We will call these girls Linda and Marcia so we can keep them apart and you can get to know them. Linda was beautiful with her long blond hair and blue eyes. Her long tall legs would easily give her the chance to be a great European model. She was sixteen and going to the Bowl and Pitcher was really out of her element. It was not common place to wear blue jeans when you were in public. It was becoming socially acceptable but not quiet there when you came from the “right” family. Linda came from the “right” family.
Marcia was different she was seventeen and came from Montana. This alone made Marcia very at home in the wilderness area of the Bowl and Pitcher by the rapids and rushing waters. Marcia was also beautiful and wise beyond her years. She had brown hair, and wore glasses. She was very talented at playing the guitar and ukulele and her voice could make the birds sing. It was mesmerizing listening to her play the guitar and singing Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore or Kumbaya her voice would echo through the canyon and could transport your soul to new heights.
That is where I was at fourteen in a time and place of innocence loving and praising my LORD and enjoying the elevated soul. I was brought crashing down when the group decided to go across the old swinging bridge. I was a little, okay a whole lot scared crossing that suspended swinging bridge that like to toss you to and fro. I always lagged behind so no one would know I was frightened. Linda and Marcia also lagged behind to talk away from everyone’s listening ears.
Linda was telling Marcia that she was going to have an abortion; this was not a legal issue in 1961. It was in the 1960’s when the Planned Parenthood started gaining a powerful voice in a movement for the rights of women. The Birth control pill, a controversial issue for young girls to hear about, was playing a crucial role in the development of moral of the young impressionable youth. I believe it was in 1960 that the FDA had approved the issue of the birth control pills for contraception.
I had heard about the back alley abortions where girls were taken by their boyfriends and left. Many young girls would get bad infections from the unclean conditions or even bleed to death because the person didn’t know what they were doing. Why would Linda choose such a solution to kill an unborn baby?
My soul hurt for that unborn baby. I really did not care how people would look at Linda with disdain for have sex before marriage. I really didn’t care that Linda would not be able to get into a fashionable college. I really didn’t even care that she would lose that wonderful figure of hers. Nor did I care if an abortion was legal or illegal. I only cared about an unborn, defenseless, innocent and helpless baby was going to be killed and no one cared but me.
I could not understand why Marcia, her wise best friend, was not shaking and yelling at Linda to tell her if she did not want the baby then she could put the baby up for adoption. I could not understand why Marcia was not telling Linda that what she was suggesting to do was against the Laws of the LORD God. It was more than just what was best for Linda who chose to have sex before marriage. It was about an unborn baby who did not have a voice, who did not have a chance to grow up to be all that the LORD would have that baby to be.
Tears rolling down my cheeks, my high pitched hysterical voice crying no, no, no save the baby fell on deaf ears. They didn’t even bother to pause for a moment to see what this hysteria was about or where it came from. Their talk went on across the bridge and Marcia was very sympatric and comforting to her friend Linda. Linda was about to commit murder and there was no one to stop her. Marcia was as guilty of murder as Linda was because she was condoning this murderous act.
I do not know what happened to Linda or Marcia either. I did not have anything else to do with them or their senior Luther League. Time went on and murder became a big part of the youth of our society. Girls and young ladies still used murder as a form of birth control and the only ones that suffered was the innocent, unborn babies. The murder of unborn babies was never talked about in the churches. Abortions have to be an abomination to the LORD and I am sure His heart broke the same as mine did.
I made it my mission to speak up against abortions even when they were legal. The law of man may say it is okay to murder unborn innocent babies, women may be in control over their bodies, and society may say it is okay to murder unwanted babies. If you were a baby would you be unwanted? You can answer this question but aborted babies cannot answer this question.
Shiphrah and Puah the Hebrew midwives have taught us that midwives bring forth babies into the world. They had the courage, strength, conviction, and love to disobey the order from Pharaoh. They chose instead to nurture the soul of the innocent baby so they can have a rebirth of the soul. That is what we need in our society today is a rebirth of the soul to stand up against abortions and give our women other solutions other than the murder of unborn babies. Not speaking up is like saying or doing nothing at all and that is condoning it.
You can tell something about a society by the way they treat their young and their old. What is the message our society is sending? We allow the murder of millions and millions of unborn babies and we do not have anyone standing up for them. There is a tendency to throw away the elderly wise. Let me remind you again I am speaking to the followers of Christ who profess to follow Him. I am not talking about the worldly that walk away from that teaching and follow their own worldly ways.
If you are asking yourself what you can do it is simple. It still remains the responsibility of the married Christian woman to address the hard social moral rights and wrongs for our unmarried girls. Take this opportunity to sit down with the unmarried daughters and sisters in Christ you love and address the social luring that pledge their world. Help be part of the solution not part of the problem. If you belong to a church then wake up that church and make abortion issues a part of the discussions in that churches youth group. Women’s group could gather to discuss the issue of abortions. A starting place would be getting back to the fundamental basics of teaching our young people that there is no sex before marriage.
It used to be that the fear of pregnancy was enough to stop premarital sex. Today that is not a real fear because they can just kill the unborn baby without any repercussion from our society. The biggest problem is the world is teaching our youth that their ways have replaced the old religious ways. Following after the lust of this world is acceptable and our Christian children should rebel against the organized religions and institute their rules of acceptance. There is a movement of the world teaching that there is no one good religion because all religion has something to offer. This is a lie of the world that is being believed to our youth.
There are two things being forgotten. The fact that every life is precious to the LORD is the first that should be acknowledged. Life is sacred, and is a God given gift Jesus told the disciples to bring the little children unto him for such is the kingdom of God. (Luke 8:115-16). We cannot just strongly oppose abortion and then walk away feeling like we have done our duty. There also need to be advice on other options for this woman. There may need to be practical support which includes financial support. There are crisis pregnancy ministries out there and we should become familiar with those in our areas.
If Shiphrah and Puah the Hebrew midwives can stand up against the orders of the Pharaoh of Egypt then we also can stand up against the “Pharaoh’s” in our lives. If Shiphrah and Puah feared the LORD God so much that they disobeyed the king over all of Egypt then we should fear the LORD and speak out against the killing of unborn babies. Hebrews 13:6 reminds us “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “Not Speaking Up is Like Doing Nothing at All (a personal account):.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2007,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, January) “Not Speaking Up is Like Doing Nothing at All (a personal account):.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2007,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “Not Speaking Up is Like Doing Nothing at All (a personal account):.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2007, (accessed).
