(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.
* * *
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.
