"NO!"

“NO!” was the shriek of the mother of infant Charlie Gard in a courtroom in Great Britain, which was heard round the world. Charlie was born ten months ago with a rare disease and is on life support. The hospital and the government run National Health Service have determined that life support should be removed and presumably the baby allowed to die, because Charlie has no quality of life (see updated story here).

His parents want to take him to the United States to undergo experimental treatment. They have the funds to do this. The female judge announced in the courtroom that their request had been denied. Then came the scream that a mother who was about to lose her child would make (1 Kings 3:26-27). Before the arrival of our “post-Christian” society, innocent human life, born and unborn, was generally cherished and protected. This was because of the influence of the Bible and Christianity on our laws and society (Romans 13:9; Acts 17:25).

But with the advent of abortion on demand (conception-to-birth) and physician assisted suicide (“right-to-die” laws) by many Western nations (Including states in our republic), the sanctity of innocent human life has begun to evaporate. In the debate in the British Parliament on the fate of baby Charlie, one female Member of Parliament intimated that since the child was blind, deaf and severely brain damaged he would have not a quality of life worth living. When questioned about the fate of Charlie the conservative Prime Minister Theresa May said that she would defer to the hospital and the courts. How dare they attempt to play God!

God is the giver and sustainer of life (Acts 17:25). Only He, and those authorized by Him, may take it. If someone decides to take a life without good reason, they must answer to God (Genesis 9:6; Matthew 26:52). Many of the same folks who support such a decision, are vehemently opposed to capital punishment for any crime. They rush to save the life of a convicted murderer or a child rapist but want to push aside the unborn, the severely disabled, the terminally ill and the elderly. This is a culture which has a warped sense of values. They are “without natural affection” (Romans 1:31). It is because the word of God no longer resides in their hearts or their values (Judges 21:25).

Dear reader, what are your values based upon? Are they based upon your own feelings? Are they based on circumstance or convenience? Are they based upon what others have told you: the internet, the news, scientific (?) studies, etc.? Unless they are based upon the Bible, they will not last and are not true (Psalm 119:89). That living word tells us that Charlie’s mother’s scream should be ours – “No!” (Matthew 18:10). —Roelf L. Ruffner

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets