GN Commentary: February 5, 2010 - Abortion, Murder, and the Super Bowl

If we look back at the Book invoked by the Founding Fathers of the nation, we can find the solutions to these tough questions about murder, abortion and the beginnings of life. Worth considering over this Super Bowl weekend.

Related Resources

The Sixth Commandment: Life Is a Precious Gift
Who possesses the authority to take human life? Who has the right to make that decision? The emphasis in the Sixth Commandment is on the word you. You shall not murder! You are not to deliberately kill-premeditatedly or in the anger of the moment.

The Abortion Controversy
What are the facts about abortion? Is it really murder? What does the Bible say?

America's Child Sacrifice
Child sacrifice is horrifying to even contemplate. Yet it remains with us, practiced millions of times every year.

Is Abortion the Answer to Unwanted Pregnancy?
Many people today consider abortion to be a woman's right to control her body—specifically her reproductive rights. Reflecting this perspective, many countries around the world permit abortion. Yet there is also much dissent over this supposedly enlightened practice.

The Abortion Quagmire: Who Will Speak for the Children?
Two unmarried teenagers agonize about the girl's pregnancy. Afraid to confide in their families, the couple manages to deliver the baby in a motel room. They wrap the newborn in plastic and throw her in a trash bin. They are convicted of manslaughter. If they had procured an abortion just a few weeks—or even a few days—earlier, they would not have faced a trial and jail terms. This is just one of hundreds of news stories appearing over the past few years in a nation mired in the moral quagmire of abortion.

What Is Your Destiny?
Does life have a purpose? Does it have real meaning? Is life anything more than a brief span on earth, with nothing but eternity on either side of this physical existence? This is the question of the ages, a riddle that has challenged humans since they came to be. Why am I here? Why do I exist? This booklet will help you understand the incredible truth about your destiny.

Video Transcript

Abortion has been a controversial subject ever since the 1973 Roe versus Wade Supreme Court decision, which legalized the practice, albeit with restrictions. Now, 37 years later, we see two news stories highlighting once again how bitterly divided the nation is over this topic: Tim Tebow and the TV commercial, and Scott Roeder and the killing of an abortion doctor.

Last week in Kansas City, 51-year-old Scott Roeder was convicted of murder in the shooting death of George Tiller, an abortion doctor who was serving as an usher in church. The jury deliberated for a mere 37 minutes before rendering a guilty verdict, with a mandatory life sentence and the possibility of parole no earlier than 25 years. An unrepentant Mr. Roeder saw himself as a crusader for the rights of the unborn, concluding his murder of Dr. Tiller was justified.

This same debate suddenly and unexpectedly made its way into one of America's favorite sports events, the Super Bowl, to take place this Sunday, February 7. This year's Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow (Correction: Tim Tebow was awarded the Heisman Trophy in December of 2007) is to be featured in an anti-abortion commercial. At the time of recording this commentary the ad had not been made public, but reportedly it will feature Mr. Tebow's mother, Pam Tebow, who became sick while pregnant with her son, and was advised by doctors to have an abortion. CBS, the network airing the Super Bowl, has come in for a storm of criticism from both sides over the proposed advertisement.

The nation is divided. Are these questions political, or are they theological? How can you justify gunning people down, for whatever reason, when the sixth of the Ten Commandments states plainly "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13)?

And what of the beginning of life? When does it start? Note this well-known passage from the Gospel of Luke: "At that time Mary [the mother of Jesus] … entered Zachariah's home and greeted Elizabeth [the mother of John the Baptist]. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb… In a loud voice she exclaimed:… 'as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy'" (Luke 1:39-44, NIV). Note that in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy (verse 36), the fetus in her womb is referred to as a "baby," not as an inanimate object or an "it."

In the midst of our controversies, we have the source of the answers. If we look back at the Book invoked by the Founding Fathers of the nation, we can find the solutions to these tough questions about murder, abortion and the beginnings of life. Worth considering over this Super Bowl weekend...and beyond!

For GN Magazine, I'm Ralph Levy.