LouEngle.com/Blog

From Bound4Life:

Lou EngleYesterday afternoon President Obama said in a conference call with faith leaders that government funding of abortions is a “fabrication” and “not true.” Now, does that confuse you? If you’re like me then you’re tired of feeling manipulated by carefully and artfully crafted words and phrases. This conference call was put together to counteract all the people that the President said were “bearing false witness” about his health care reform. Well, if the President wants to get King James and frame the discussion around the Ten Commandments, then I have to point out that “Thou shalt not kill” comes first.

I submit to you the revelation of the great abolitionist William Wilberforce. In a speech to the House of Commons May 12, 1789, he appealed to law makers:

“Policy, Sir, is not my principle, and I am not ashamed to say it. There is a principle above everything that is political. And when I reflect on the command that says, ‘Thou shalt do no murder,’ believing the authority to be divine, how can I dare set up any reasonings of my own against it? And, Sir, when we think of eternity, and of the future consequences of all human conduct, what is here in this life which should make any man contradict the principles of his own conscience, the principles of justice, the laws of religion and of God?”
- William Wilberforce

Oh, that the lawmakers of America would have this kind of moral clarity, conviction and perspective. The purpose of this call was to frame the health care debate that’s suffering profound loss of public support as a MORAL ISSUE and a JUSTICE ISSUE. On the call Jim Wallis called this health care reform a “moral imperative” and said, “We are in danger of losing the moral core of the discussion.”Yes, we are in great danger.

No appeal to conscience or faith will ever ascend to satisfy moral obligations until it embraces and values life AT ALL STAGES beginning in the womb.

On Sunday we passed the one-year anniversary of then Senator Obama’s statements during the Saddleback Forum in response to Rick Warren’s question, “At what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?” We all know the response that became famous– “Answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.” Senator Obama went on to say though, “One thing that I’m absolutely convinced of is that there is a moral and ethical element to this issue. And so I think anybody who tries to deny the moral difficulties and gravity of the abortion issue, I think, is not paying attention.”

I couldn’t agree more. For us to try to have a discussion about reforming health care in America while at the same time degrading, discounting and dismissing legitimate dialogue about taxpayer-funded abortion is to deny the gravity of this preeminent issue. By the President’s own words our lawmakers are breaking trust with the American people in the most grievous way by NOT PAYING ATTENTION. The American people DO NOT want taxpayer-funded abortion, and lawmakers are threatening to put agendas before constituents. I’m all for clarity and honesty in this debate. Let’s get rid of the disinformation. Talk straight, and don’t hide behind semantics–which brings me back to my opening statement. How can the President say that government funding of abortions in this health care bill is a “fabrication”? It’s a shell game of fast and careful words aimed at keeping the public confused about the realities of this bill and its implications. There is no difference between using “tax funds” and “government-collected premiums.” That’s exactly the kind of gymnastic semantics being performed though. They both mean the same thing: GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF ABORTION. When Melody Barnes, Director of Domestic Policy, says that it’s not their “intent,” you have to reason that the outcome will still amount to the practical expansion and acceleration of the abortion industry.

Now is NOT the time to tone town our opposition. Now is in fact the time to rachet up awareness that, regardless of the President’s comments yesterday, lawmakers have repeatedly blocked or defeated any amendment to the bill that reinserts Dornan or Hyde Amendment language. Anything less is unacceptable. Without it no form of the bill is safe from the practical inclusion of abortion subsidized by the United States government amounting the greatest expansion of the abortion history since Roe v Wade. Why have they so adamantly been fighting against it? It’s because abortion is a centerpiece and a priority for the agendas carefully working behind the scenes and through this bill. The President called on people of faith to knock on doors and said he needs them to advance his health care reform. I say it is definitely a day to dig in heels and fight.

“When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith.”
- Abraham Kuyper

So lay your deepest conviction bare before your neighbors and churches. Pray for major breakthrough in this debate. Pray for the hearts of lawmakers to turn. We’re winning the abortion debate in the mind and conscience of America. There is ample evidence of progress. Lawmakers must now reflect that change. Contact your Representatives and Senators now before they reconvene September 8th in DC. Attend any local town hall meeting and elevate the discussion beyond the fiscal dimension.