The sacrifices Mother Earth requires of us...

(Tim: not for the squeamish) Back in the late seventies, my wife, Mary Lee, and I decided to have our first child at home. Not being lovers of hospitals, we figured childbirth was a labor best carried out in an environment where the mother would feel perfectly at home. Not being simps, though, we prepared as conscientiously as we could. Since our parents weren't on board, we contacted a family friend who was a renowned pediatric surgeon asking him what he thought of our plans. He said hospitals were for sick people and a home birth would be safer than a hospital birth. This did much to quell our loved ones' fears.

Next, we read every book and article we could get our hands on and enrolled in a course designed to prepare couples for a home birth. At the end of the course, husbands were to be capable of catching the child themselves if the doctor and midwife didn't show up.

This all happened in Madison, Wisconsin, so the other couples taking the course were not, shall we say, entirely normal. Nor were our instructors.

The doctor who helped teach the course had practiced in Santa Cruz prior to moving to Madison, and while in Santa Cruz had attended many home births. So there was a good bit of the northern California funkiness coming with him which, combined with the Madison east-side culture, reached critical mass within that group. One night when we got home after our birthing class, we were repulsed to find among the evening's handouts a recipe...

for placenta stew.

Mary Lee and I went on to have five children, three at home and two in a hospital (one was a breach delivery). And as the years have gone by, we've watched some of our family members chose home births, also. Staying out of the hospital is not the bleeding edge of hippiedom it was back in the seventies.

But leaving home births aside, I've often thought of the recipe for placenta stew as an illustration of the depths to which the Green, New Age, Al Gore, Environmental, Wicca, Gaia, Creation-Rather-than-Creator-Worshiping movement will lead us. The same men who gave us cannibalism have, during intervening years, marched on to present death as Nature's good to be hastened and embraced; sodomy and other sexual perversions as expressions of the gender diversity Nature bestows on Her children; sixty million abortions a year as the bloody sacrament of liberated womanhood; the slaughter of defective newborns and feeble elderly as a tough-minded embracing of Evolution's manifest destiny; nakedness in the shadow of the Burning Man effigy as a rite of Gaia; and on they march.

Who is their God? She is the Big Bang. She is Evolution. She is Punctuated Equilibrium. She is Progress. She is the Diversity of Species. She is the Rain Forest. She is Gaia. She is Mother Earth. She is Nature. She is Creation. She is Herself.

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:25)

What do environmentalism, agnostic cosmology, evolutionary biology, the Burning Man Festival, Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize, and the Homosexualist Army all have in common? Each of them represents a single congregation united in defying the God Who created all things and one day will judge us by His Son.

What's wrong with Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize and its surrounding liturgy and worship?

It's wrong because it has nothing to do with stewardship, with guarding, protecting, and keeping this garden God made for us. We must "Save the earth," and the work that salvation requires of us is only the reasonable worship Mother Earth demands of those creatures fed at her breast.

Environmentalism, then, is the obeisance Mother Earth's cult leaders and priests demand for their god.

(Thanks to Joshua Smart who sent me this link to a placenta-eating thought experiment that got me thinking...)

Comments

[John]

One other thing that they have in common, and that was brought to mind by a study I'm doing with my church through Romans and your reference to Romans 1 above, is that they all do it in the guise of either presenting, discovering, or seeking to discover truth.

My friends and I got to talking about this during the course of our study through Romans 1, and it's interesting to put all academia, all research, all science, all Burning-Man-ism, all feminism, all homosexual fundamentalism into a view informed by what Romans 1 has to say: are they truth-seekers? No, because they reject the very things that are the foundation for all truth; they suppress it in unrighteousness.

[David Wegener]

Dear Tim:

Our first child was also born in Madison (St. Mary's Hospital) and we also attended a birthing class. The instructor mentioned that we might want to bring home the placenta and plant it under a tree.

Innocently, I raised my hand and asked if that was some crazy, new age ritual. Don't remember how she responded.

Later, I told our doctor what I had said and she laughed really hard and couldn't believe I had said that in a LeMaz class.

[Craig French]

Placenta pot-pie?

[Brady]

Other than being weird, is the placenta thing actually evil? Or just weird?

Don't forget, John the baptist ate locusts with honey. Not a normal thing today, but just because I ate guinea pig and chicken eyes in South America does not make me a wiccan. And just because I make stew from placenta doesn't make me an animist.

[al]

Horror begets horror. After both 9/11 and Katrina Planned Parenthood offered free abortions to victims. Their answer to suffering was, as you said, a bloody sacrament.

God, be merciful to your church.

al sends

[Adam Spaetti]

Brady,

Since I don't know you I'm trying to think of ways to nuance or soften my response, but I can't so I'll just spit it out. I hope you won't interpret my bluntness as proud insolence.

Placentas are human flesh. Locusts, wild honey, chicken eyes, and guinea pigs are not. That's the difference. Eating human flesh is cannibalism, which is wicked.

[Brady]

Adam,
I do not want you to misunderstand me. The thought of placenta stew is repulsive.

But it is still just eating a human waste product. No one is losing their life here for this to happen.

My point is that doing something gross is hardly being a devil worshiper.

And caring about the environment is hardly being an abortionist. This post is nothing more than an emotional appeal to get the ultra-conservatives riled up against those with differing opinions.

Maybe Tim should consider that being an environmentalist is hardly worshiping the earth.

Some cities, without pollution regulations, are so overwhelmed by filth that respiratory disease is the result (Beijing?)

I think the argument could have been made better, without trying to use emotions to prove a point.
bpr

[Adam Spaetti]

Brady,

As opposed to an emotional appeal, I read this post more as a discerning look at associations and motivations behind cultural phenomena.

However, even if there is an emotional component to the argument, that in no way ruins the argument. My pride has tried to tell me for years that I can transcend emotion, and it's simply not true. As a physician, I hear your objection all the time from people who argue in favor of abortion and physician assisted suicide. Ironically, those same people have been playing on emotions for years to advance their own arguments. ("No more coat hangers" isn't exactly a statement devoid of emotion.)

So what's to be done? Is the answer to argue in a vacuum, divorcing the process from our emotions? On the contrary, our emotions constantly guide how we put arguments together, whether we admit it or not. Likewise, sometimes emotions help us to see flaws in our logic that our minds have overlooked. I'll never forget my daughter choking and gagging when she saw a National Geographic photo of two people engaged in an act of wickedness. My wife and I had never talked to her about this particular sin, and the particular sin is one that is celebrated by our culture. Nevertheless, her emotional response was worth more than a thousand arguments from the ivy league philosophy departments of America. In end, the better searcher of wisdom will not only use logic, but he'll study his emotions and biases as well as the emotions and biases of those who disagree with him.

Of course, this creates a very confusing web of considerations and assumptions, and even after our best efforts, our fallen minds will lead us to the wrong conclusions without Scripture to show us the way. Then, even if we know Scripture well, we may not be able to find a proof text for a specific question and we'll have to let general principles guide us. Here again, repulsion can be a helpful teacher. Consider God's response to the Israelites burning their children. He basically says you're doing something so awful it never even occurred to me. He was repulsed.

Finally, if Jesus Christ is truth and truth is precious to us, both finding truth and listening to people tell lies should evoke powerful emotional responses from us. If seeking truth is an academic process, it doesn't need to be emotional but if you're seeking truth because you love Jesus Christ it has to be emotional.

[Keith G]

Hey Brady, I'm with you on this one. Gross? Yes. Wicked? No. I was just thinking of who in my mind would consider some placenta stew (I live close to Asheville, NC, which is hippie central.) I think over half of the possible stew eaters are also strongly anti-abortion.

Plus, childbirth is pretty gross, too, but I doubt we'd call it wicked.

[Tim Bayly]

If they're strongly anti-abortion, Keith, it's because of their worship of nature, not because they honor the Image of God in man--which again makes my point.

As for the placenta thing, you and Ozzie should trade notes. Tell him a Christian rocker makes him look tame. Take the act on the road and you'll play to thousands. You could change your band's name to Raft of the Medusa.

[Keith G]

Actually, all of those hippies I mentioned are Christians (I haven't actually polled them about placenta eating, but I had heard of it before.)

And yes, it's gross, but some people think it's healthy. I don't know anyone who has actually done it, though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placentophagy

Also, I agree with your larger point, but putting "placentophagy" in the same realm as abortion trivializes the horrible wickendess of abortion. Abortion is the killing of a baby, eating a placenta is just weirdness.

[Kamilla]

No, Keith, it's not simply weirdness. There are people who believe all manner of wickedness is healthy; abortion, placenta stew and sodomy are just some of the more arresting examples. The ick factor is no sure guide to determining right from wrong. Eating a placenta is sin, it is a violation of the Scriptural command to abstain from blood (see Acts 15).

Kamilla

[Brady]

The same passage also says not to eat meat sacrificed to idols, but then Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that in fact, it is OK to eat food sacrificed to idols. I'm curious as to why that is.

[John]

Hey Keith,
I don't think Tim was saying that they're not Christians because they would honor such a practice - it's simply not an implication that arises necessarily as a matter of sinning (thank God for his grace!). Christians have murdered, raped, stolen, molested, and ultimately dishonored and hated God in infinitely evil and many ways, and for that they are brought under the discipline of the church - or otherwise cast out for their sin and their refusal to acknowledge it as an act of hatred and dishonor to God.

Since when, when a person was a Christian, did everything they do become holy? It became more wicked for them to do things that are sin against God, especially when they refused to repent of it, and they have a greater punishment to show for it if they still persist in their impenitence, but just because they're Christians doesn't make something like "placentophagy" righteous. Thus, a person who is saved can worship the creature instead of the Creator just as much as a person who isn't saved; the difference between the two is that the Christian has the grace of God as given to them in the motherly discipline and nurture provided by the church, and are brought into line by that grace. In this case, if your friends would violate the word of God and yet are anti-abortion, what that means practically is that they really are sort of making gods out of babies and seeing the God-granted life in them as inherently valuable instead of valuable with reference to the giver of life.

John

[John]

Brady,
I don't see how this is at odds with what the passage in 1 Cor. at all. James doesn't say it's never OK to eat meat to idols; in fact, he says much the same thing that Paul does. The same principle is at work in both passages: don't eat meat sacrificed to idols if it's going to be a stumbling block. James is just saying that he thinks they should say that across the board - but the principle is just the same. And how does that somehow invalidate not eating blood?

"However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers[e] and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble." - 1 Cor 8:7-13 [ESV]

(anybody know how to make blockquotes work in comments?

[Keith G]

No offense guys, but arguing about this on a beautiful Sunday like today is a waste.

[Tim Bayly]

Hey Keith, If you're surrounded by pro-life placenta-eating home-birthers who are Christians, I'm surrounded by pro-abortion homeschoolers who listen to Blue Oyster Cult and spike their mom's brownies with ganja because Bill Gothard told them to.

[John]

Not here to advance this as part of anything I've said above, but I do think it is somewhat relevant and a good point that Kass makes. Found this little gem while doing some reading for my class. More and more Romans 1 and 2 comes to mind.

"Repugnance, here as elsewhere, revolts against the excesses of human willfulness, warning us not to transgress what is unspeakably profound. Indeed, in this age in which everything is held to be permissible so long as it is freely done, in which our given human nature no longer commands respect, in which our bodies are regarded as mere instruments of our autonomous rational wills, repugnance may be the only voice left that speaks up to defend the central core of our humanity. Shallow are the souls that have forgotten to shudder." - Leon Kass, "The Wisdom of Repugnance" in Intervention and Reflection: Basic Issues in Medical Ethics, 8th Ed. (Ronald Munson)

[Keith G]

Oh, come on, Tim. If you want to call me a liar, then call me a liar.

[Keith G]

Also, this is why I can't stand arguing on the internet with people I never see in real life. It's ultimately very unproductive and devolves into a game of gotcha. I didn't say I was "surrounded" with these people. I know maybe five people second or third hand who would entertain the idea of eating a placenta. I also didn't say that everything Christians do is by default holy.

If you guys actually knew me, then I doubt you would say such things. However, since you don't (really), I'm just a figment of your imaginations that you can imbibe with whatever bad motives or incomplete reasoning that you'd like. Grow up.

[Kamilla]

Keith,

I am a bit confused. If you only know them second and third hand, how can you possibly know their tastes on something so, shall we say "esoteric" as eating placentas?

John,

Great quote from one of my favorite bioethicists. If I was uncear about my reference to the "ick factor" - let me just say I was using it in reference to Ketih's labelling of childbirth as gross. Messy, certainly, but not gross.

Kamilla

[Tim Bayly]

Dear Keith,

It's because I do know you, and like you a lot, that I poked at you with a stick. Sorry, man. I thought I was being funny, but I guess not. I didn't intend to call you a liar--just to tell you that my credulity was being strained. But yes, I do believe there are such souls in your neck of the woods, as there are in mine.

[Keith G]

Kamilla, here's the link:

http://www.baylyblog.com/2007/11/nature-or-natur.html#comment-88675258

[Keith G]

"Sorry, man. I thought I was being funny, but I guess not."

Again, another problem of arguing on the internet.

[Kamilla]

Yeah, Keith, I get that. But I was referring to your post immediately above mine where you seem to back off your claim and say, " I know maybe five people second or third hand who would entertain the idea of eating a placenta."

There are people I work with everyday for whom I would not venture to guess whether they would even eat sushi, let alone something as unusual as placenta stew. My question is, how can you possibly know whether they would entertain such an idea if you only know them second or third hand?

Kamilla

[John]

Hey Keith,
No intent to jump on you or anything. But it's not a far jump or anything for me to see a place for the response I gave when you say, "Actually, all of those hippies I mentioned are Christians"... So when Tim made the point that they're more people worshiping the creature and not the Creator, what is being said by your response? That they couldn't possibly be doing that since they're Christians? Thus my rejoinder.

John

[Mark Priestap]

Dear Tim - I couldn't agree more.

[Tim Bayly]

Dear Brother Keith,

My latest post is a peace-offering to you, dear brother. Hope you approve.

[Eric Wilson]

"Finally, if Jesus Christ is truth and truth is precious to us, both finding truth and listening to people tell lies should evoke powerful emotional responses from us. If seeking truth is an academic process, it doesn't need to be emotional but if you're seeking truth because you love Jesus Christ it has to be emotional."

Beautiful, Adam. Thanks.

[Robert Perry]

I'm reminded of my younger brother's comment when confronted with something he really didn't want to do: "I'd rather chew afterbirth." I had no idea that people actually did this, even after living in Boulder for a decade.

And actually doing this? Well, I seem to remember that the placenta is heavily vascularized, and hence Acts 15 (?) would seem to indicate we might do well not to eat this rather bloody thing.

(and other cannibalism? Is it really banned by the Scriptures per se, or is it merely banned because you generally need to murder to do so, and because the Old Testament describes the goodness of actual burial? Help me out here, y'all.)

[Jim Hogue]

John:

use the brackets (HTML tags).
>blockquote/blockquote< (but reverse the arrows so they enclose the tag) the tags should not show up and your quote will be indented on either side.

Mr. Bayly:

What's wrong with BOC?

Jim Hogue

[John]

Jim,
I'm kind of familiar with HTML lol... I actually work as a professional web developer/web designer (contact me at john.nicely@gmail.com if you need some work done! My company loves helping the spread of the gospel by doing FUNCTIONAL church sites that can be used to interact with the community at large via online functionality!)... My problem was that it seems Typepad filters these out. :-(

And if it did, then that above should have been blockquoted. But it won't be, I'm pretty sure.

[John]

Confirmed. Is there any way for you or David to allow this, Tim, or is it possible that only registered Typepad users can use HTML in their posts?

Gonna research that a bit...

[Tim Bayly]

Dear Jim and John,

In the preferences, we have to choose between two options: Commenters either have the web addresses they submit automatically formatted as links or they are given limited html capacities. We had the toggle on the automatic linking option, but I've changed it. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for asking the question.

[Charity]

I am a Christian.I plan to eat the placenta after birth of my baby due in November. I think if you ever swallowed your husband/wife saliva, ate a booger, breastfed your baby,(not to be nasty) but even tasted your husbands semen/ wifes secretions then you according to your standards are a cannibal. These fluids contain HUMAN DNA of family members. Have you ever licked a cut?, chewed your nails? I want to eat the placenta because it has nutritional value. I am also anti-abortion. A baby is a precious life, sent from God. I know that everything good comes from God, and I am not a cannibal if I eat my afterbirth. the afterbirth has no other purpose but to nurture the baby, and its natural for the mother to eat after the baby is born. Demonizing placenta eating is weakness of your own mind. You don't like it because it doesn't sound right to you. Its a far cry from sodomy, cannibalism and abortion.