Editorial: God's judgment on America

Editorial: God's judgment on America

By Harlan Brown
March 31, 2010

My wife and I visited Washington, DC, recently. It was my first trip to our nation's capital and my wife's first as an adult.

Of all the tourist attractions that we saw, the Lincoln Memorial impressed us most. Yes, we were impressed by the stately architecture, the classic Greek columns, the grandeur of Abraham Lincoln carved in stone larger than life. But no, those aspects of the Memorial were not what impressed us most.

The words of Lincoln

What impressed us most was the portion of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address carved into the stone wall (emphasis is mine):

and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
   One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

In particular, we were struck by the final sentence, which contains a quotation from Psalms 19:9. As we read silently, my wife and I were wondering, “Could it be that Lincoln was right that the horrible bloodshed of the American Civil War was God's judgment for 250 years of slavery?”

The present application

Our minds shifted from the past to the present virtually in unison. If God judged America for slavery, what will His judgment be for our national sins today? If slavery led to a war that killed more Americans than all other wars combined, what will the judgment be for killing more than 50 million babies since abortion began to be legalized in 1967? (See “Focus on the Strategy II.”) And what about the black genocide that is taking place in America today? (See “Maafa 21: Black Genocide in 21st Century America.”)

I write these things not to sit in judgment of women who have had an abortion or even of doctors who perform abortions. God is their judge. Jesus Christ died for the sins of all, including those individuals who have chosen to have an abortion, those who have coerced women and girls into having abortions, and those who have performed the abortions. Forgiveness, hope, and healing are available to sinners who repent (see Isaiah 1:16-20).

Unfortunately, words such as sin and repent are largely absent from the American vocabulary today. Obeying God's enduring command “Do not murder” is not fashionable in our 21st Century culture. (For a list of other sins, see the quotations from Is God on America's Side? in “The Onion Hypothesis of Economics.”)

Lincoln understood that God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in love. He also understood that God will not let offenses go unpunished forever.

Many politicians don't seem to get it. The attitutes toward baby killing so prevalent among American politicians are present in the Fourth Congressional District of North Carolina. (See “NC-4 candidates differ on right-to-life issue.”)

NC-4 has an incumbent who supports “a woman's right to choose,” which is a euphemism for murdering preborn babies. He does not recognize the personhood of preborn babies.

Three of the four challengers take a “pro-life” position; they want Roe v. Wade overturned. However, their reason for overturning Roe is states' rights, not human rights; the states allegedly have the right to deprive preborn babies of the right to life. Thus their position denies the personhood of the preborn.

Only one of the candidates, David Burnett, takes a position that acknowledges the personhood of preborn babies. He believes that preborn babies are persons and therefore fall under the right-to-life guarantees of the 5th and 14th amendments to the Constitution:

5. No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ...
14. No State shall ... deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ...

Killing babies should not be a political issue any more than lynching blacks or gassing Jews. Such actions are obviously wrong. All candidates for public office should uphold the Creator's enduring command “Do not murder.”

Anciently, the city of Nineveh, warned by the prophet Jonah of God's impending judgment, repented and was spared. The nations of Israel and Judah, warned by the prophets, refused to repent, and were taken into captivity, Israel by the Assyrians and Judah by the Babylonians more than a century later. I hope that the United States will follow the example of Nineveh.

The challenge to you

If you are a candidate for public office, I challenge you to take a stand for the sanctity of human life, regardless whether it seems to be politically expedient. If you are a voter, I challenge you to reject all “pro-choice” candidates, examine the values of allegedly pro-life candidates, and vote only for those who respect the personhood of the preborn.

If you are a preacher in the United States of America, I encourage you to take the following actions:

God is watching.

Morality trumps politics because obedience to God trumps everything.

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