On Friday while our family was at the Planned Parenthood in Portland a man arrived with a paper for us. It was part of the Portland Press Herald Newspaper. The article was written by Marvin Ellison. A Presbyterian minister and one of the local Chaplains at the Portland Planned Parenthood. Here is his article: For Me As A Chaplain, Planned Parenthood's Name Is Blessed
I just finished writing a response to his article. My response is posted below:
"It is my hope to respond to a recent article "For Me As A Chaplain, Planned Parenthood's Name Is Blessed" by Marvin Ellison.
In his article Mr. Ellison says that patients are sometimes surprised to see his face in the Planned Parenthood in Portland. But if Planned Parenthood is merely a health care facility that only provides beneficial services for people, why would it be strange to see a Reverend in such a place? Hospitals have Chaplains. Is there anything strange about that? I propose that the reason it is strange to see a Reverend there is because people know that Christians are against Planned Parenthood and abortion. I believe that all Christians are against abortion and those who are not against abortion are not actually Christians. Christians strive to walk in the footsteps of Christ and to glorify God in all that they do because their heart has been transformed by the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in them changing their desires so that they love God and want to serve Him. However, supporting an organization that destroys children created in the image of God, such as Planned Parenthood, is not glorifying to God. Planned Parenthood is a organization who hates the One True God and rebels against His commands. This is why it is strange to see a professing Christian volunteering at Planned Parenthood. Because they go against the teaching of the Christ they claim to follow.
Mr. Ellison states that the chaplains undertake their work not it spite of, but because of their faith and values. I agree. However the faith and values of these chaplains are not the faith and values of the Scripture. Jesus Christ teaches that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, (Matthew 22:39). Genesis 1 teaches that man is created in the image of God. Exodus 20:13 states, "You shall not murder." In an abortion an image bearer of God is murdered. Murdering someone is not loving. Therefore when an abortion is performed it breaks the commands of God. When a person's faith and values support such actions that person's faith and values are not in accord with the Scriptures. But the faith and values of the world that hates God.
Mr. Ellison states "Clergy were among the earliest supporters of Margaret Sanger and other pioneers of the family planning movement." The problem is that just because people supported Margaret Sanger does not make it right or a Christian thing to do. Margaret Sanger was a eugenicist and racist. Any professing Christian that supported her was not following the Scriptures.
The article states that a vocal minority "has long objected to sexuality education and family planning and resorted to punitive, shaming language and scary images" to try to prevent people from "seeking the health care they need." But all that the people outside the Planned Parenthood in Portland aim to do is to glorify God through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, offer help to women, and tell them the truth about Planned Parenthood; that they slaughter children and reject God's blessing of children, contradicting his command to be fruitful and multiply. We do nothing to prevent people from receiving necessary health care.
Mr. Ellison applauds what he calls Planned Parenthood's "life-affirming values". But Planned Parenthood is not life-affirming. Planned Parenthood does not affirm life, it destroys human life.
The message of the Christians is that we must humble ourselves before the Almighty God. Everyone is a sinner and we deserve an eternity in Hell because of our sins against a Holy and Just God. One day we will have to stand before God and give an account of our lives. We are all guilty of breaking God's law. We can do nothing to save ourselves from an eternity in Hell. But God sent His only Son into the world, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life before God His Father. He was crucified not for his own sins, because He had never sinned, but for the sins of all who will repent and turn to Him in faith, trusting in Him alone for salvation. Christ then rose from the dead three days later and will one day come again and bring His children home with Him to Heaven. When God saves a sinner that person will no longer be seen as guilty before God, but will be seen as a person clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
~Virginia Cowperthwaite, age 15"
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