2021 | Week of August 9 | Radio Transcript #1424
The headline is horrific: “University may be subject of investigation after it’s caught using body parts of babies born alive.”
The university is the University of Pittsburgh. Undercover operations have revealed that Planned Parenthood and the University of Pittsburgh have been delivering babies alive during abortions and then killing them by cutting out their kidneys to use for research. And of course, sizeable amounts of taxpayer money go to the University for this type of research, which is a great reminder that the power to tax not only allows confiscation of our money but also makes us complicit to some degree in how that money is used.
This is really almost too ghastly and heartbreaking to talk about. And I’m not going to dwell on this recent report. But it is worth exploring how we got here and how we begin moving away from such atrocities.
Fundamentally, these grizzly stories happen because of the worldview of those involved. Essentially, a worldview is a belief system through which we view the world and develop perspectives on everything that is and everything that matters to us. We all have a worldview whether or not we can articulate it. Our choices every day reveal our worldview.
Our worldview represents our most fundamental beliefs and assumptions and dictates how we answer the biggest questions in life, among which are who we are, where do we came from, and where we are going.
Some would say there are many worldviews, and I suppose technically there are. But I think they can all really be synthesized into two: a Christian worldview and a non-Christian worldview or a Godly worldview and an ungodly worldview. I think all variations would fit into those two main categories.
A Christian worldview develops from the truths of God’s Word. The unchanging, inerrant, eternal Word of God gives us direction in some way, whether through direct statement, principle, or precept, on how to understand what we see going on in our world, how to think, and how to act in ways that honor God. Scripture gives us Truth. Ungodly worldviews derive their truth from a variety of sources, mostly from people who have become their own source of truth.
So imagine the worldview of those involved in this University of Pittsburgh scandal. Those Planned Parenthood abortionists and the University researchers have worldviews that can excuse and even rationalize what they are doing because they don’t believe God is the author of life. We’re just the product of chance and time. Their worldview allows them to ignore the clear science that life begins at the moment of conception; thus they can concoct a scheme whereby they can say a baby really isn’t “human” until some point after it is fully born.
Beyond this, their worldview allows them to rationalize this way: we aren’t forcing this woman to have an abortion. She’s making that choice. So why not try to make something good out of the situation? Why waste the perfectly good organs of this fetus—their word, not mine? If we harvest the kidneys and use them for research, maybe some cure will be developed that will help millions of people one day. We are actually doing the world a favor; we aren’t being unethical or doing anything illegal.
That line of reasoning is exactly how the parties see what they are doing. I’ve sat in hearings here in Wisconsin where I’ve heard basically that exact same thinking.
The worldview of so many scientists also includes that because something can be done in the scientific world, somehow it must be done. They have a moral imperative to do that which can be done. Too often scientists find ways to elude or ignore any ethical boundaries that might be set up. Unfortunately, far too often ethics lags considerably behind science, which in itself creates dangerous situations.
What’s the point of all this? I hope this is a clarion call to all of us to make sure we are checking our worldview all the time because our worldview is subject to the pressures of this world. We must be in God’s Word regularly, asking Him to reveal His Truth to us so that we can rightly view the issues of the day. We need to be in Bible-preaching and teaching churches. Our prayer lives need to be robust, as we seek the Holy Spirit’s teaching and leading us into Truth.
And we must do what we can to help the younger generations understand the importance of having a Christian worldview so they are not led astray by all the worldly, ungodly voices they are hearing from so many sources. Worldview matters. It matters greatly. It can even be lifesaving or life-taking.
This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
Julaine Appling has taught on the junior high, high school, and college levels, and for five years was the administrator of a private school. In 1998 she was asked to become the Executive Director of Wisconsin Family Council, where her mission is to advance Judeo-Christian principles and values in Wisconsin by strengthening, preserving, and promoting marriage, family, life and liberty. In addition to regularly being interviewed for Wisconsin television, radio, and newspapers, she is the host of "Wisconsin Family Connection," aired weekly on almost 50 radio stations in Wisconsin including the VCY America radio network.
Learn more at WIFamilyCouncil.org
