Voices For The Voiceless

The history of the Christian Church is filled with men and women who courageously opposed the values and practices of their society when these contradicted the Gospel. In the old testament, Daniel would rather have faced hungry lions than obey King Darius and cease to worship the living God (Dan. 6). In the New Testament, Peter and John endured prison and the whip rather than be silent about their risen Lord (Acts 4 & 5).

In 19th Century England, Christian statesman William Wilberforce lead the protest in Parliament against the slave trade. Through his efforts and the prayers of his compatriots, known as the Clapham Sect, the evil of slavery was stopped shortly before his death.

In the 20th century, Lutheran pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer decried the Nazi persecution of the Jews and ethics that devalue human life, even while his fellow theologians kept silent.

Repeatedly, he exhorted the German church to join him in defending the victims of injustice. Proverbs 31:8 became his rallying cry, Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, and for the rights of all the unfortunate. Bonhoeffer stands as an example to all generations of those who spoke out in behalf of the defenseless.

For Bonhoeffer the voiceless included the unborn child. Opposition to abortion was a Christian duty. Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life...and that is nothing but murder, he wrote. The voiceless of our day also include the handicapped and the elderly ill. Their lives are threatened as never before.

While we still cringe at the horrors committed in Nazi Germany, we should equally cringe at the extermination of over 4,000 unborn children per day in the United States. As President Reagan has aptly stated, the tragedy of abortion extends beyond the loss of the...children who have been robbed of the gift of life. This tragedy is multifaceted -- inflicting emotional harm on women, denying prospective adoptive couples the joy of sharing their loving homes with children, and eroding respect for the most fundamental of rights, the right to life.