Pastor Bo WagnerAs far as monsters are concerned, Bram Stoker's Dracula will always be at the top of my list, I suppose, though I am also quite partial to Frank Peretti's tale of a modern dragon in "The Oath." But the reason those monster tales are actually enjoyable should be readily obvious:
They are not real.
But that monsters walk among us, or at least men with monstrous tendencies, is harder and harder to deny as the days go by.
On May 1, 2019, a choice tidbit of the macabre came out of the Alabama State House of Representatives. While debating House Bill 314, Democratic Rep. John Rogers had this to say about babies to be aborted. "Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or kill them later. You bring them into the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair."
As the tale of Dracula unfolded, Stoker's Abraham Van Helsing often expressed what seemed to be a certain admiration for the monster he was pursuing. I suspect he would have to also offer a bit of grudging respect for the monstrous statement of Mr. Rogers as well. By that I mean, it is actually a bit refreshing to hear someone be honest enough to admit that abortion is actually killing children. This is a great deal more truthful than more polished abortion advocates who carefully avoid terms like children or kids, opting instead for more benign terms like fetus or clump of cells.
Nonetheless, it is almost hard to overstate how heinous the views of Mr. Rogers are, and they are made all the more heinous by the fact that they no longer seem to be considered heinous by a great many people on his side of the political aisle. "Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or kill them later "
I wonder what the fallout would be if he had said something just slightly different, something like, "Some puppies are unwanted, so you kill them now or kill them later," or "Some women are unwanted, so you kill them now or kill them later," or "Some races of people are unwanted, so you kill them now or kill them later."
Just the puppy statement alone would undoubtedly get him drummed out of office. But for some reason it is acceptable, or at least tolerable, for human children, babies, to be the subject of the pronouncement "Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or kill them later."
History will look back on us, I think, and regard us as absolutely soulless for even having to have this conversation.
Every child is designed by God, and God has a purpose for his or her life. Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Mr. Rogers posits a scenario in which there are only two options for an unwanted child; abortion now or the electric chair later. This completely ignores 1) that there is a God who loves those children and wants to do great things with them; 2) a great many children have begun life "unwanted" and yet made their own choices along the way, choices that led to great and notable lives; and 3) no one has the right to play God and decide that anyone must either be killed as a baby or killed later on as an adult simply because they are "unwanted."
Years ago a family came to our church with a daughter who came to them under the most surreal of circumstances. She was an "unwanted" child, so much so that her parents dropped her off at these folks' house and said, "You can have her if you will trade us for something of value." They immediately did so, then began the legal process of getting those parents' parental rights terminated and officially adopting that precious girl. She has now grown up and gone on to become a fine wife and mother herself, proving that Mr. Rogers' rather narrow view of things is utterly incorrect.
Kill them now or kill them later? Stoker himself could not have placed more dark and vile words in the mouth of his monster. Maybe we should find a better way, a way that does not involve having to kill them at all.
Bo Wagner is pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, North Carolina, a widely traveled evangelist and the author of several books available on Amazon and at www.wordofhis mouth.com. Email him at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org.