Reading: Exodus 1:8-22
Abortion has been with us since time immemorial, and widespread forced abortion has also already been state policy in the past. Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill the unborn or newly born child. “When you act as midwives for the Hebrew women and see them giving birth, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she may live.” (Ex 1:16).
The contemporary of the Egyptian abortion policy today is that of China. In the case of China, the girls rather than the boys are being killed. As the state has decreed its one-child policy, many parents choose to abort those who are female, since they prefer to have a male child.
Such a policy, aside from the terrible holocaust of millions of the unborn, has resulted in a demographic imbalance, with males far outnumbering females in the nation. This presents its own problems, as the Chinese try to cope with the imbalance. Millions of Chinese men are now unable to find a bride. Unmarried men from 20 to 44 already outnumber their female counterparts two to one.
What alternatives do the Chinese now have?
(1) Kidnapping of women, both within China and from other countries, to be sold as brides. There is already a thriving business in this.
(2) Homosexuality. If a Chinese male cannot find a female, then look to another male. There are plenty of them around. (This promotion of homosexuality will please Obama, the European Union and the United Nations).
(3) War. With tens of millions of excess men, a solution to the imbalance is in getting them killed in battle. A bonus to the Chinese government is the prod to its expansionist and imperialist ambitions. (Beware SouthEast Asian nations. China has already claimed the whole South China Sea and is building more fortifications with heavy weaponry on atolls).
Why did Pharaoh institute such a policy? They were afraid of the Israelites who were growing in population. “Look how numerous and powerful the Israelite people are growing, more so than we ourselves! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave our country.” (Ex 1:9-10).
There are a number of realities that, just as then, are so today.
(1) Population is power! “Look how numerous and powerful the Israelite people are growing.” The words “numerous” and “powerful” go together! The western world today wants to limit the populations of the developing world, because such large nations are a threat to their dominance. “The Egyptians, then, dreaded the Israelites” (Ex 1:12b).
(2) The populations of the western world have peaked and in more and more cases are beginning to decline, resulting in the so-called demographic winter. “Look how numerous and powerful .... (they) are growing, more so than we ourselves!” By their own choice in adopting abortion, homosexuality and a selfish lifestyle that does not want children, the peoples of the developed world face a bleak future. What could be bleaker than outright extinction as a people, as a race? Now that is their choice. The problem is that they want to drag other countries into the mire. They want to totally transform the pro-life and pro-family traditional values of much of the developing world. This is cultural imperialism at its worst.
(3) Western nations and western powers remain selfish, colonialist, imperialist and now diabolical. It is all about self-interest. Knowing that population is power, they want to limit the potential power of future opponents. Opponents in what? One, military power. “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us ....” Two, economic power. “.... and so leave our country.” The west just wants the resources of the world, and to keep the hungry populations of the developing world in servitude, either producing low-cost resources for their use, or as domestics and other low-paying jobs in their countries. The poor of the world are the slaves of the dominant rich, and the resources of the poor countries are “stolen” to satisfy the rapacity of the rich. “Accordingly, taskmasters were set over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. Thus they had to build for Pharaoh the supply cities of Pithom and Raamses.” (Ex 1:11).
This is what was behind the infamous “NSSM 200.” This is the “National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests” issued on December 10, 1974 by the US National Security Council under Henry Kissinger. It was adopted as official US policy in November 1975.
Its basic thesis was that population growth in the least developed countries (LDCs) was a concern for US national security and inimical to the national interests of the US. It gave paramount importance to population control measures and the promotion of contraception among 13 countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey).
It recommended that the US government influence national leaders of these countries in the push for population reduction efforts. It recommended increased emphasis on mass media. It recommended pushing population education programs by the UN, USIA and USAID.
These are what we are seeing being done vigorously today.
Why are these things happening?
First, there are those in power who do not know God or who have rejected God. The US is now prohibiting prayer or the display of the Ten Commandments in schools and government offices. For a nation founded on God and on Judeo-Christian traditions, that is a radical shift indeed. Obama is just the latest (and possibly worst) in a long line of government officials who either do not live out their faith or have turned away from their faith. “Then a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, came to power in Egypt.” (Ex 1:8). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If we reject God’s ways, then we certainly will go astray.
Second, the world has lost sight of God’s plan, of the importance of the family and of life. Much of the world just wants power, possessions, pleasure. Much of the world has looked to secular ideals, taking on the very wisdom of the world. And they want to impose their liberal, so-called progressive and hedonistic agenda on the rest of us. “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase.”
How do we, the people of God, respond?
We of course must defend life. We must fight for the culture of life.
Further, since we face Goliaths in our anti-life enemies, we must be prepared to be oppressed, persecuted, to suffer for the cause. With laws on such abominations as abortion, divorce and same-sex marriage already in place, further laws will be passed (already passed in some countries) to stamp out opposition, such as laws on hate speech or the abrogation of conscience protection. If we violate these laws, we can be jailed, our property confiscated, our business shut down.
However, in such oppression, we must know a fundamental truth. “Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread.” (Ex 1:12a). Our Christian faith spreads and thrives on the shedding of the blood of the martyrs. We are called to take up our crosses, in imitation of Christ. So the more we are persecuted, the more we ought to grow strong. The more we grow. We must not only have more children (that we can properly care for), we must also grow in our Christian faith and in our passion for the defense of the culture of life. “The midwives, however, feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt had ordered them, but let the boys live.” (Ex 1:17). Authentic faith leads us to renew the family and to defend life.
The family is a creation of God, and life is fundamental to family. The ultimate strength and well-being of a nation depends on the well-being of its families, the basic units of society. If we look to faith, family and life, then our nation will be strong, with the very strength of God. “Therefore God dealt well with the midwives. The people, too, increased and grew strong. And because the midwives feared God, he build up families for them.” (Ex 1:20-21).
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