In the US, most of us are still able to live according to our faith, enjoy our freedom, and spend our time with our families. We are fortunate…though our rights to such simple pleasures frequently come under attack and can easily be taken from us if we cease to be vigilant and fight for them.
In our good fortune, we often become complacent and forget that, in other places in the world, there are people who are being denied ALL of the rights we take for granted. We also forget that the more prevalent violence, injustice and persecution become, the more likely they are to come calling at our door.
So here’s the basic question: What do you hold dear? And at what point are you ready to fight for it?
In protecting our basic most basic freedoms, I’d like to suggest that…whether it’s in our own backyard or half a world away…any challenge to freedom “over there” is a challenge to freedom EVERYWHERE. If a Muslim woman can be held for execution with her 20 month old son and her newborn baby girl in a prison for the crime of marrying a Christian man / converting to the Christian faith…and NO ONE does anything to stop it…what will the perpetrators do next? When we send the world the message that this behavior is widely accepted…what then? Will we wait until “they” come for us? For our children?
In the past few years, I’ve become keenly aware that my right to live according to my faith and my conscience is being trampled by our leaders. I’ve also become far more aware of how complacent I was. Perhaps this is a function of becoming a parent and realizing your heart is walking around outside of your body in the form of your children…and wondering what the world will be like for them when you are gone?
Meanwhile, half a world away from her prison cell where she sits comforting her two small children as best she can, Dr. Meriam Ibrahim has become emblematic of the issues with which many of us in the US are wrestling, given the prevalence of religious intolerance in our secular utilitarian government…
What would we do if we were in her place? When our government tells us that to live here we must denounce our belief that every life is sacred, do we continue to walk in faith, risk losing everything, and defy the powers that be? Or do we forsake our souls, pretend like it isn’t happening, and go on with life as usual? Would we have the courage to hold true to our convictions…even if it meant losing the life we so dearly loved? Would we be able to choose faith and principles over the arms of our children and the people we cherish? Would we be able to forego the beauty and wonders of this life, watching our children grow up and protecting them from harm, for the promise of life everlasting surrounded by our loved ones? What do we hold so dear that we’d be willing to sacrifice everything for it?
I don’t think it’s a reach to say that those who eat, sleep and breathe pro-life work every day ask those questions more often than most. We want so desperately to create a world where no government / leader can ever take away those “inalienable” rights…because we know that when they are taken away, it leads us down a very dark path – many lives lost, liberty an illusion, happiness a distant memory. I don’t know about you, but I’d much prefer to fight those who prize power over human lives and control over freedom now than to wait until they are coming for me or my family. We have to shine a bright light on the darkness…or the shadows spread…and before you know it the whole world is blind.
Please, take just a moment to read this paragraph, sign the petition, and pass it on to everyone you know: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/act-case-meriam-ibrahim-sudan-and-her-baby-and-toddler-prison/D1x1q4VG Dr. Ibrahim is to be executed as soon as her new baby can be weaned…only because she converted to Christianity. (Here’s articles on the backstory: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/meriam-ibrahim-sentenced-to-die-in-sudan-for-apostasy-reportedly-gives-birth-in-jail/; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2645669/Is-Sudanese-government-LYING-promise-release-Meriam-Ibrahim-Family-fear-condemned-Christian-mother-danger.html). Please pray for Meriam’s safe return to her home…and for her children who must be terrified. Act now to shine your light…don’t wait until it is too late and live to regret it.