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costs
This is quite a sobering and sad testimony from the UK about women who undergo multiple abortions for the purpose of contraception.
According to a government statistics cited by the article, the number of women seeking more than one abortion is climbing. Approximately 1,300 women in the UK had their fifth abortion last year.
This, on top of another recent report from the UK’s Royal College of Psychiatrists, warning about the increased possibility of mental illness associated with abortion.
Is there any reason to believe this is much different in America?
Numerous faith-based ministries and pregnancy resource centers work to counsel women who feel trapped in their situations, and consider abortion to be the only way out. While there will always be folks who give the entire pro-life movement a bad rap (and they always somehow seem to be easy finds for the media), they are the minority compared to the folks quietly doing the blessed work of counseling women and providing help.
And there are encouraging stories out there as well, such as this one about a mother who’s delighted her child survived an attempted abortion.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” -Psalm 139:13
Man Under Fire
I’ve made a lot of promises about exploring cultural and biblical masculinity in more depth and detail this summer, and just have not gotten around to it. Here is my first installment.
Salvo Magazine did an amazing article on the educational system and media’s attack on boys and men, respectively. Quoting Christina Hoff-Sommers in her 2001 book The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men, the article details how America’s public schools consistently suppress developing masculinity, and “establish femininity as the norm:”
This book tells the story of how it has become fashionable to attribute pathology to millions of healthy male children. It is a story of how we are turning against boys and forgetting a simple truth: that the energy, competitiveness, and corporal daring of normal, decent males is responsible for much of what is right in the world. No one denies that boys’ aggressive tendencies must be checked and channeled in constructive ways. Boys need discipline, respect, and moral guidance. Boys need love and tolerant understanding. They do not need to be pathologized.
“My HomoErotic Relationship with Jesus”
Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue; And the fragrance of your garments Is like the fragrance of Lebanon. - Song of Songs 4:11
Popular Christianity places an emphasis on believers having a Personal Relationship with Jesus. As a Christian, I proudly proclaimed that I did not follow a religion, but that I had a relationship - a personal one-on-one with the Messiah. Looking back, I have no idea how to Biblically justify the idea of a personal relationship. I am pretty certain it is nothing more than modern Christian pop culture. And on a more practical level, I don’t think Jesus wants a relationship with any of us anyway. As a Christian, I talked to Jesus for years, but never heard a word back from him. That is in no way a relationship, despite all the effort I put into it. Read more »
The Value of Risk in a Risk-Averse Culture
When I was in high school, my Dad encouraged me to pursue a career in financial planning. I really did like the idea of helping people get out of debt, invest wisely, and build wealth. But the career I really wanted was in law enforcement. While my Dad wanted me safely behind a desk from 8-5, I wanted the freedom of keeping the peace in a roaming patrol car at all hours of the night.
I’ve learned over the last several years that I’m a bit of a closet adrenaline junky, and thrive in stressful or risk-inherent environments. But I’ve also learned that this is not necessarily the norm for our culture.
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