We live in a world gone mad! A world where everything and anything we want is our right to obtain. (Unless of course what you want is moral, then you have to fight for that right).
Nowhere is this ideology more apparent than in the world of marriage, family and reproduction.
If you want to have a same sex relationship that is okay – you can even legalise it with a Civil Union (read marriage). And if you like, parenthood is a possibility.
If you want to live with your boyfriend or girlfriend and call each other “partners” that is fine too. Equally, it is acceptable to have children with that person and then walk away when things get tough.
If you find yourself pregnant and it is inconvenient just roll on up to your GP and ask for an abortion. It will be granted on the basis of “mental health”.
If you’re pregnant and ecstatic about it, you’ll be looked after. You’ll be given all the tests under the sun to make sure that the child you are carrying is “perfect”. And if those tests deduce that there is something wrong (i.e. Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, heart defects and other fetal anomalies), termination will be offered and the problem will just go away. Of course, you will still be looked after if you decide differently, but the pressure will be there every time you attend clinic to end the life of your child. (Family Life International NZ knows this from first-hand experience).
If you’re desperate to have a baby (married or not) and find that conception is not happening there is a whole world of options out there for you… IVF, donor eggs, donor sperm, surrogacy, freezing embryos for later use, discarding embryos, genetic screening (so you can choose which embryos to implant).
What is forgotten though is that in each of these situations, there is someone else involved. Children are often involved in some way shape or form. In each of these situations “love” is claimed. Where are the children’s rights to be kept safe, to be loved and indeed to be given life?
We are appalled as a nation when we hear of another little one beaten to death by their parents or caregivers, but we turn a blind eye to the psychological effects on the child raised with two mummies or two daddies. We forget that the children in a de-facto relationship are harmed when that relationship ends and there is uncertainty. And the pre-born child, not easily seen, is readily discarded in the most horrific way when their life is going to impact too dramatically on the parents.
A world gone mad needs love. It needs true love. A love that is patient and kind. A love that always puts the other first – no matter how difficult that may be. A world gone mad needs good people willing to be courageous and to stand for truth. A world gone mad needs Christ who is perfect love. A world gone mad needs you – Christ’s hands and feet.