I really want to start blogging on other topics, but I am worked up over this election. Specifically, I am in prayer over the Supreme Court and the potential of overturning Row v. Wade. And I am increasingly troubled with Christians who support the junior senator from Illinois. What will it take to have them wake up?
There’s a strong statistical link between poverty and unwanted pregnancy. Hence, more Planned Parenthood in poor neighborhoods, and, by statistical link, more Planned Parenthood in black neighborhoods. That doesn’t mean that Planned Parenthood is racist.
I think it was also pretty clear from the video that they were willing to accept the money for whatever reason the donor was donating. Again, that doesn’t meant that Planned Parenthood is itself a racist organization.
On a different note, I am increasingly troubled with Christians supporting _either_ of the major party candidates. What’s the good of taking the “hard moral line” and opting for a warmongering imperialist over a “baby killer”? How is that even “moral”? Is single-issue voting really the proper approach?
By: Trevor on September 18, 2008
at 6:21 am
Hi Trevor,
I am not sure if you are aware, but Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, was a racist. Hear her words on the Negro Project, a precursor to Planned Parenthood from a letter she wrote to Clarence J. Gamble, M.D:
Gamble later replied:
Under this policy, Planned Parenthood of America hired a full-time “Negro Consultant” in 1944.
In her book, The Pivot of Civilization, Sanger called for the elimination of human weeds: “for the cessation of charity, for the segregation of morons, misfits, and maladjusted,” and for the sterilization of “genetically inferior races.” In this same book she argued that organized attempts to help the poor were the “surest sign that our civilization has bred, is breeding, and is perpetuating . . . defectives, delinquents, and dependents.”
Today, abortion is the number one cause of death in the African American community.
For the record, I am not a single-issue voter, but the issue of life is a big one for me.
Blessings,
By: James McDonald on September 18, 2008
at 12:49 pm
Had a moment (or few) to hop back online and see this video you posted. There are some very good ones online that support this one. It’s not just an isolated incident as Planned Parenthood would like people to believe!!!
I DO think that we need to be VERY careful that we do not miss the importance of the votes for our other branches of government either! A very good point! I am concerned that some will be focusing so much on the presidential running, that when it comes to heading in to the voting booth, they will be staring at a slew of names they have never even researched- or worse, even heard of. for local, state and federal government. It’s a BIG election year… bigger than just who is going to be our next nation’s Chief Executive!
By: Brandy on September 18, 2008
at 8:12 pm
This is a big issue that needs alot of coverage. The media world is giving it plenty of coverage. Don’t get weary sharing about this topic.
Sally
By: sally on September 18, 2008
at 10:26 pm
Many within the African American community have their roots within Christianity and Christiandom as a result of their foreparents being slaves and attending Sunday services with their plantation owners. Thus the majority of African Americans are not only taught Christianity from an early age but continue to practise and attend church and listen to and believe in the values and protection which Christianity affords them historically!
In contrast it could be argued that certainly from the ‘Flower Power’ era and onwards when religion, Christianity was cast aside that most Caucasians moved their lives, morals, values away from Christiandom and observably less African Americans immersed themselves within this movement.
That is not to say that African Americans be they Christians or not do not stray, commit Sin, are not adulterous but to categorise them within this section would be biblically wrong for the Bible states ‘let him who is without Sin caste the first stone,’ for we are all borne of Sin, from Sin commit Sin throughout our lives…. neither is the departure away from Christian values attributable, applicable in the African American domain, culture as is being implied here for we humans, our society is influnced by many factors such as influences via the media. The subject of Abortion, Termination and increases, as abhorrent as it is being championed, promoted, given prominence by the Media, newpapers, American TV channels, many who claim to be Christian backed/based a paradox, predominatley run, manged by women and these ‘Sinful’ attitudes and influences being deployed by singers like Maddonna, actors, columnist all have a bearing not just upon African American individuals but also upon the wider over all population worldwide as a whole. An example of Maddonna giving her approval of a new female Caucasian singer/song, in the pop charts, a song about she kissing another girl and liking it and others within the Media, society condoning it is just but one of many examples of how individual persons within community are easily led/misled influnced and with the help of the Media it is socially accepted.
So the bigger question here is the influences upon Society via the Media, Politics, Education, films, TV-Desperate Housewifes, Friends, Brokeback Mountain, those who seem to have the power and ability by their actions, words, outlook, behaviour to change the minds of Christians and to seek publicity without thought of the wider consequences or care.
Christian morals, values and teachings have been eroded, taken out and removed from schools and universities over generations, is it any wonder that standards within society as a whole have declined and social problems, complexities have occurred? Who has allowed this, we have! For many of us have remained silent or not devoted, spoken about these moral declines. There is another paradox the gun culture which promoted and accepted by the Gun lobby, American Christians and sadly which has resulted in the loss of lives of children in schools and university killings and has led to copy-cat killings recently in Finland (twice)….
Did God give us free will to ignore such aspects or to voice our objections to the disintigration and decline of morals and values and should we not be commenting, objecting to these and other divisions within society such as the ‘Greed’ of Wall Street which has led to financial decline not just within USA but worldwide and which will have severe harm and effects upon the decline of society but laso as a result of the poverty which will follow, will lead to more divisions, violence and moral decline. Both Democrats and Republicans have been gulity for the relaxations of financial guidelines, rules, ineptitude and the chaos which has unsued and the so called ‘free markets’ that was being advocated for so long until it has reared it’s ugly head to bite back at us all. ‘Greed’ was the motivation which most faled to see and address whilst there were some Economist who had warned us all about this some ten years earlier but they too were ignored.
There is a bigger picture, which has not been understood and seen by Americans and the West as a whole and that is that we have failed to understand the global impact of our actions, for young persons, adults, businessman across in Japan, China, India, East, Africa are look across at USA/UK and try to imitate, are influnced by us, by our actions, by our media, by our politicians, by are actors, writers…etc You only need to visit their web blogs and read and we see the negative aspects, morals of our society being reflected via their blogs, their perceptions of us, it is their motvation, their prompter for them to continue down such an A moral, non-Christian path.
This is the legacy we have exported, imparted, left globally.
By: Jon on September 23, 2008
at 8:47 pm
Hi Rev. McDonald,
I typically only read and don’t comment, but the information that Margaret Sanger was a eugenicist is false. Many of her “writings” that are cited are from issues of journals that didn’t even exist. I wrote my junior thesis in college on this topic and would be more than happy to share any sources on this topic.
Just for one example:
The quotation, “Blacks, soldiers, and Jews are a menace to the race,” is falsely attributed to Sanger, and was instead concocted in the late 1980s. The alleged source is the April 1933 Birth Control Review, even when Sanger stopped editing the publication in 1929. That particular issue contains no article or letter by Sanger. Similarly, the quotation, “The mass of ignorant Negroes still breed carelessly and disastrously, so that the increase among Negroes, even more than the increase among whites, is from that portion of the population least intelligent and fit, and least able to rear their children properly.” is also incorrectly attributed to Margaret Sanger. This quotation was actually written for the June 1932 issue of The Birth Control Review by W.E.B. DuBois. The quotation is actually taken out of context about the balance between family planning and procreation, and appears very insensitive to today’s readers.
By: Annie on September 26, 2008
at 4:02 am
Hi Annie,
Thanks for stopping by – and for your comment. However, I strongly disagree with you. Sanger was indeed a eugenicist. I am not saying people have not mischaracterized her with false quotes or statements. Sadly, this practice happens to many. However, her own statements, like those I shared, are correct and are in the public arena.
Blessings,
By: James McDonald on September 26, 2008
at 12:53 pm