life de-valued and threatened

We're less than two months into the Obama era and already drastic changes have occurred. The economy continues to slide south. Those with funds available for investing are hesitant to do so because the administration does not seem to be business friendly. Of course those with funds to invest will soon have less funds as tax increases will take from the haves to give to the have nots so that we will have a more just society. Class warfare is being generated and now those subject to discrimination are not a race or a gender, but those who have been successful. Yes there are some bad rich people who take advantage of others and there are some bad businesses that play loose and fast with others money, but a whole class should not be deprived of their hard earned money because a few bad apples have been found. I am all for the rich giving more to help the poor and helpless, but those who take out mortgages they can't afford should not be rewarded for bad decisions and choices. When those who pracitice sound budgeting and buy only what they can afford are having to bail out those who made bad decisions whether they are banks, auto manufacturers, or house buyers it is not justice. When they will have to pay in taxes their children's inheritance to make possible the reduction of the amount of money owed by people who bought houses they couldn't afford, its not fair. Yet this is the new era of redistribution of wealth from the "haves" to the "needy" regardless of why they are needy.

Soon we will have universal health care. Sounds great doesn't it. People without insurance will have it and all will be well. Oh, did I mention that someone will have to pay for it. Those rascally business owners once again will be called on to make their contribution to the needy. It seems that most people who need health care even if they have no insurance can still receive it under our current system. Think about the number of illegal aliens who pay no taxes and yet receive care when the need is there. When we receive government health care, we will suddenly discover as they have in England, Canada and elsewhere that with government care, there is more government and less care. In Canada some medicines cannot be covered by the health care system because they are too expensive and even people with money are forbidden to purchase such medicines because it would be unfair to others who can't purchase them. There's a reason why the death rate for cancer is much higher in England then in America. There is also a reason why in England certain health care is rationed according to certain criteria concerning who should receive premium care. Oh, by the way, if you are 65 or older, it is amazing how little health care you need.

Yesterday, President Obama issued an executive order overturning President Bush's Executive order that prohibited government funded production of embryos for scientific research. Under Bush, private funds could be used for such research, but not tax dollars. Under Obama's E.O. tax money paid by Christians and others who believe life begins at conception, will be used to create life with the intent of destroying it. Tax payer funded murder will make implicit all tax payers in this practice.

Oh how I wish that churches of Christ and other conservative Christian bodies were as outspoken on this issue as the Catholic Church is. One of my favorite authors is Robert George who is professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. In an article today in the Wall Street Journal that he co-authored with Eric Cohen, he writes the following: "Mr. Obama made a big point in his speech of claiming to bring integrity back to science policy and his desire to remove the previous administration's ideological agenda from scientific decision-making." What Obama means by ideoloical is the Christian and scientific argument that life begins at conception. If life does not begin at conception, let science show us scientifically the moment life begins. At conception a new genotype comes into existence different from mom and dad. That genotype will develop and remain the same until he or she dies. Just because in its early stages the cells do not look like adult humans doesn't mean that they are not human.

Mr. Obama claims he's taking science out of politics by liberating science to make its own decisions. Yet, he tells us he's opposed to producing cloned humans. Why? If science is free from politics then who is to tell science that it can't clone? George, a Roman Catholic philosopher adds that "The question of whether to destroy human embryos for research purposes is not fundamentally a scientific question; it is a moral and civic question about the proper uses, ambitions and limits of science, it is a question about how we will treat members of the human family at the very dawn of life; about our willingness to seek alternative paths to medical progress that respect human dignity." No one seems to respect the slippery slope argument, but please be assured that the granting of a right to produce embryos in fertility treatments has made our society less concerned about stem cell embryonic research. The recent birth of octuplets reminds us of what fertility treatment can lead to. Yet I would prefer octuplets to selective embryo reduction which many prospective parents choose, which is abortion of unwanted multiple babies so that the birth of just one will occur. Normally when a prospective mother receives embryo transplants, she receives at least four embryos. This is due to the expense involved and the fact that the rate of miscarriages tend to be higher with artificially produced embryo transplants. Thus if the sonogram shows a multiple pregnancy, the physician will recommend selective reduction of babies until only one remains.

Mr. Obama had already announced a reversal of the Bush policy of not funding foreign agencies that performed abortions.


Internationally, North Korea has warned us that if we interfere with their missile test, they will retaliate against America and South Korea. Recently China tested Obama by having war vessels approach an American ship with threats. We expressed our concern. How long before these teasers become the showdown predicted by Obama's Vice President?

My new hero is the President of another country, Vaclav Klaus of Czech republic. Klaus is demonized by Al Gore and his colleagues who tell us that the biggest danger facing America and the world is global warming. Klaus has written a book challenging Gore and his supporters. Klaus is also a vocal voice in support of the free market. In a speech yesterday at Columbia University he said that "fighting for freedom and free markets is something we always appreciated here in this country(the United States) and it remains the task of the day. In his speech he reiterated that "global warming alarmism" is a major problem.

I want to make it abundantly clear that I'm not arguing for a Republican agenda as opposed to a Democratic agenda. I have plenty of issues with Republicans in Congress and I had issues with George W. Bush. No person and no party represents perfection. My problems with Mr. Obama are not with his sincerity or his patriotism, but my concerns are with the ethics of his agenda and the future that will be passed to my children and grandchildren.


In less than two months we have gone far down the road that threatens life and liberty. By the way, Hitler also respected science a great deal and science respected Hitler. Before anyone thinks that I am comparing Obama to Hitler, please let me disavow such. My only point is that science cannot be given autonomous authority over life and death because whatever is possible some unethical scientist will be willing to do. There must be ethical restraints placed upon both government and science.

To make stem cell research a matter of compassion for the diseased is to create an either/or situation when such is not required. No one has the right to save someone's life by taking the life of another with out his permission. To destroy an infant in the ebryonic stage when the infant can't defend itself is unethical. Furthermore great progress has been made in other stem cell research that holds great potential without resource to embryos.

Wonder where we will be in four years if the same rate of change occurs in the future as has occurred in the past few weeks. Please pray for our country and for innocent lives inside or outside of the womb. Our children and grandchildren are at risk and my prayer is that our elected leaders will sooner and not later realize what is at stake.

I am always reluctant to speak out on what many would consider political matters, but life, liberty and morality transcends politics. If Christians don't speak out on matters of right and wrong, then to whom shall we delegate that task? If its not right to gender hostility between business and labor, wealthy and poor, and science and religion then we must let our voices be heard. If its wrong to take innocent life, its wrong even if done by politicians or scientists. We must not fear those who would try to silence criticism by appealing to separation of church and state. Every society needs a conscience. What I am attempting to do is contribute to the conscience of our country. I am only one voice and my contribution is only as valuable as my facts and the logic of my argument. My task is to evaluate as best I can, not by pragmatism and political preference, but from the standpoint of right and wrong. Life should not be the restricted to political debate or the test tubes of the scientists.

My blog belongs to Ronnie Wiggins, the American citizen and not to the Church of Christ where I worship. As a Christian I express the values that I believe are Christian. Secularists, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and others have the same right and I would not for a moment discourage them from doing the same thing. I do resent that on many college campuses across our land, tax dollars are funding a united voice that has nothing but disdain for religion and Christianity in particular. Recent surveys show that the number of Christians compared with the population in general is declining. Should we be surprised? We can blame the media, politicians, academia and I do. However, blaming won't increase the number of Christians in America and the world. If we don't like present trends then we must work the harder and pray more fervently to change the trends.