(Tim: A week or so ago, thirty plus members of Church of the Good Shepherd went to Bloomington's City Council meeting to oppose our tax dollars being appropriated by the Council members to fund an organization that makes Hitler's Third Reich and it's Holocaust factories look like child's play. I'm speaking of course of Planned Parenthood which makes its living off of the slaughter of unborn children tenderly nestled in their mother's womb. By itself, Planned Parenthood is responsible for a quarter of a million of those murders each year, and they're moving their abattoirs into more affluent areas in order to grow their bloody profit.
Each year here in Bloomington, Planned Parenthood goes through the charade of requesting tax dollars to help provide its clients with some service close to, but not exactly coterminous with it's slaughter machine. And each year, our city fathers cuddle up to this progressive nonprofit and ante up our dough over our vociferous protest. One of those speaking against this Holocaust funding this year was Mary Lee's and my dear friend and fellow CGS member, Joshua Congrove. Although we were out of town at the time, we heard Josh's testimony was good, so I asked him if he could send me a copy. Here are a few prefaratory comments he wrote to set the scene, followed by what he said that night.)
This year, as usual, Planned Parenthood received a donation from the Bloomington City Council (and from public funds) to support a particular medical procedure. While the procedure itself is unobjectionable, the giving of public money to an organization that performs hundreds of abortions per year is an egregious act that demands objection...
This past Wednesday (June 18), the Bloomington City Council held the final vote on the dispersal. Though the vote itself was all but a foregone conclusion, a number of us (about 32) supporting life attended in protest, and a smaller number (12-15) spoke against this vote.
Before I arrived, I had not decided whether I would speak, but as the meeting proceeded I realized I truly needed to address this issue, and that to fail to do so at such a setting would be an act of unfaithfulness before God and our city. So, during the two-hour tax abatement presentation that preceded this discussion (the floor was finally opened about 10:30 PM), I quickly wrote down the following words.
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I'd like to read a brief passage we're all familiar with, but which I think is very relevant:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."
This is one of the founding documents of our country, and it clearly lays out the fundamental obligations of all levels of government to protect the lives of its citizens. And so I speak as one opposed to the giving of Planned Parenthood tax-dollars from our citizens. Planned Parenthood mingles its "reproductive services" with the killing of our children. It destroys the very ones you as officials are charged to protect and govern. This is not a just power "derived from the consent of the governed," but, in fact, the ignoring of consent, and a dereliction of the powers you have been given. Planned Parenthood snuffs out the lives of hundreds of children annually in Bloomington, some 5,000 lives in the state of Indiana, and so to say that this is not a deserving organization is a colossal understatement.
Council members, we here recognize that you have been placed in authority over us. But this is not ultimately of your doing. God has placed you in authority over the citizens of this city, and you have an obligation to defend the weak, protect the helpless, punish lawbreakers, and maintain order. To the extent you have done this, we are truly grateful, but giving Planned Parenthood funds is antithetical to your just and noble obligations. As ministers of justice, you will be held accountable for your decisions, first before your constituents, and then one day before the Eternal Judge. And so I exhort you: let justice roll down, and do not let Planned Parenthood obstruct it.
I know that many will consider this decision a small thing, but it is far from inconsequential. Rather, it has the potential to affect not only the future of Bloomington's children but also the state of your own souls. I have not lived as long as most people here, but already in my own life I have seen that failures in small areas tend to produce greater derelictions later on. To whom much has been given, much more will be required, and failure to defend the weak on this issue will have consequences for your souls, in this life and the one to come.
And so, council members, we recognize your positions here. But we ask you, act for the good of the weak among us, protect those who cannot give their consent to be murdered, and please do not give funds to an organization that kills children and then assuages its conscience by trumpeting its "colposcopies." This is about much more than money: it's about mercy, it's about justice, and it's about life. Thank you.
