Letters to the editor are supposed to be less than 300 words. I believe my submission was around 280 words. I did not want to write anything more so that Portland Press Herald did not have reason for editing anything out for the sake of length. But here I do not have a word limit so I can write as much as I want. Here is the letter I wrote to the paper:
"Recently Caroline Herriman wrote a letter to the editor about the Christians outside Planned Parenthood in Portland. My family ministers with the Christians there and I would like to respond to the assertions in Caroline's letter.
God is loving and forgiving. However the Bible also says that "God is angry with the wicked every day". God is loving but He is also just, and must punish sin. Justice must still be served, otherwise God would no longer be just. We cannot pick and choose which attributes of God we want and ignore the rest. We must remember all the attributes of Almighty God.
God created our minds with the ability to reason and make choices, but He also gave us commands to obey. You can make the choice to have an abortion, however God commanded in His Word that "you shall not murder". Abortion is the premeditated murder of a child created in the image of God in the womb. Abortion therefore is not a matter of exercising your "God given right to choose." Abortion is a matter of someone making the choice to disobey God's commandment.
God is not "proud of His creations" killing their children and calling it "choice." Do not invoke the name of Almighty God to justify sinful actions which violate His express commands. Pro-abortion is pro-death. Abortion is murder! People who try to justify executing innocent children are pro-death.
Christians should never "thank" an organization that murders children no matter how much good they do otherwise. Christians should not support Planned Parenthood.
Those wishing to engage in civil discussion are encouraged to email us at prolifemissionary@gmail.com"
At the start of the letter Caroline identified our group as "Evangelical Christians." She correctly identified our group as Christians instead of "anti-abortion protesters." Usually we are the "abortion protesters" so someone recognizing that we are Evangelical Christians is a welcome change.
Caroline talks about trying to engage some of the protesters. I was not there but I would have loved to talk to her. Caroline talks about learning that God is all-loving, and all-forgiving. People like to think about God as a nice friend who is always there to help you when you need it but otherwise he just sits on the shelf next to all their others idols that they have created in their own mind. Yes, God is love, but as the Bible teaches a father who loves His children disciplines and instructs his children. He does not just leave them to continue to wallow in their sin and say "Oh, It's okay I love them no matter what they do." God chastises us when we sin. God hates sin He does not love it when His creations use the resources He has given us to fulfill our own sinful desires instead of using them to glorify Him.
Caroline talks about how she thinks that God would be proud of science that betters the lives of His creations. I do not understand what this has to do with murdering 3,000 of His creations everyday. That certainly is not bettering the lives of His creations it is the exact opposite, it is destroying them.
God would like it if every innocent person was given the ability in our society to exercise their God-given rights. One of these rights is the right to life. But this woman is arguing that people should be given the "right" to take away the God-given right to life of the child in the womb. She is trying to justify taking away a child's right to life by saying that it is a God-given right to murder that innocent
child.
God does not want us to give people the liberty to murder someone. He has commanded, "You shall not murder." That does not sound to me like He was giving people a choice. It sounds to me like He gave people a command to obey.
Caroline says that no one is pro-death, no one wants to see innocents killed. She is very deceived or ignorant. If you stand outside an abortion mill you will see lots of people that are pro-death although they prefer the term "Pro-choice". Since abortion is murder, anyone who is pro-abortion is pro-death.
I have a question. How does abortion heal someone's wounds? Murdering someone does not heal wounds. Yes, I agree that abortion lets the mother live her life in most circumstances except when something goes wrong and she dies from complications of the abortion as well as the child. But it still murders the child! Abortion is never good because it murders an innocent child. You cannot justify it simply because it lets a mother live her life the way she wants without having to deal with the consequences.
In the last paragraph Caroline asks if we should consider that we cannot save everyone. Oh yes that is something we should consider. Only God can save anyone, but He has also commanded us to rescue those being taken away to death and to preach the Gospel. So that is what we do. Also should Christians thank an organization that provides healthcare but also murders children made in the image of God. In the words of the apostle Paul, "By no means!" No Christians should not support anyone who murders innocent children.
Pro-Life Missionaries of Maine does not usually get letters to the editor published in the newspaper. I hope that I get to talk to this woman at some point to try to explain to her our position. It is always nice to be able to talk to people and have a pleasant conversation. Please pray for her Salvation.
With love in the Lord,
Virginia
