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Saturday 4 October 2014

God bless the little children



Recent events surrounding the apparent abandonment of a Down Syndrome baby in Thailand by his Australian father, who collected the baby boy’s twin sister and left her brother with his surrogate mother have shocked many and thankfully, resulted in a surge of support for the boy and his family. I feel very sorry for the girl twin who will grow up without the joy of living with her twin brother. Thankfully the publicity has also fuelled debate concerning the ethics of surrogacy and exploitation of disadvantaged women in third world countries.
Shortly afterwards we were exposed to Richard Dawkins’ views on the termination of Down Syndrome children, arguing that it was perhaps immoral for parents not to terminate a Down Syndrome pregnancy as they would be subjecting the child to unnecessary suffering: http://www.lifenews.com/2014/08/27/why-is-richard-dawkins-in-favor-of-abortion-when-a-baby-has-down-syndrome/.
People with Down Syndrome, like all other people, are created in the image of God, with the capacity for faith, love, joy, and contribution to others. Their disability is the result of living in a fallen world in which “all creation groans” (Romans 8:22). They, and their parents and families face many particular challenges in life, as do all people with a disability. A major challenge to face, however, is to still be born into a world where certain people think they should not exist, that it would have been better if they had not been born.  
For the past twenty-five years, I’ve personally been involved with the families of people with a disability, and organisations and individuals who provide support for their health, education and care. Nobody would wish disability on anyone – it produces much grief, hard work and stress on many families, but then there are many other situations in life which produce these factors. People with Down Syndrome have much to contribute There is a whole realm of camaraderie, love and inspiration associated with people who are disabled, something that enhances, not detracts from the society in which we live.
There are only two forms of reasoning – do we want a world where people are accepted and cared for and included, or do we want a world where certain people groups think they have the right to justify excluding and eliminating others? The “survival of the fittest” mentality and eugenics-based philosophies have historically resulted in appalling genocide. Because when you start playing God and deciding who will live and die, where do you stop?  
Without God in our lives there is no fixed point of reference for morality. The society in which we live makes up its own rules, fuelled by popular media. But what happens when we do that? Are we more enlightened, happier, secure and stable as a society?
It took just one little boy, Gammy, to unite a nation in an outpouring of love, concern and gifting. God doesn’t ever make useless people.


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The Unseen, Unspoken Pain
 

According to the real- time abortion counters at http://www.numberofabortions.com/
over 30 million abortions have been carried out in this world this year. Over 61.000 have been carried out today.


If someone who is reading this is living with the pain of having had an abortion in the past, God cares very much for you. He knows the sorrow in your heart. Jesus died on the cross, bearing the sins of all the world, and He experienced all human pain, sin and suffering as He hung there, in order that we could come to God, to be reconciled with Him through Jesus Christ. Jesus said on the cross, just before He died, “It is finished.” We have nothing more to do, nothing we can do, other than come to Him in repentance and faith. The Bible tells us that
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

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