The Great Civil Rights Crisis of Our Time: Bigger than Slavery, Bigger than Discrimination, Bigger than the Holocaust
Posted by Jim Hamilton on November 10, 2008
There was a time when the elites of the United States of America thought it beneficial for the country as a whole for black people to be enslaved. There were economic advantages. It was convenient (for the slaveholders). It was accepted as normal in the society.
Then some people began to object. They objected that the right of some human beings to be free was of greater concern than economics and convenience. But let us remember—though there were times (too many) when slaves were cruelly murdered—the right of the slaves to live was not taken from them. It was a life in bondage. But it was life.
There was another time in another nation when a sophisticated people sought to exterminate a whole race.
Then some people began to object. They objected that the right these humans had to live was of greater concern than what was expedient for the nation. Millions of people died. At least six million. We cannot fathom these numbers. Perhaps this helps: one individual Jew was murdered, it was perpetrated by the State, and it happened more than six million times.
More recently, here in the United States, though black people were no longer enslaved, they were sorely discriminated against.
Then some people began to object. They objected that all human beings should be treated equally. All human beings should have equal access to the same opportunities and quality of life. There was a moral outrage that boiled over. But let’s remember that though the discrimination was awful, and though there were some who were cruelly murdered (too many), for the most part those discriminated against maintained the right to go on living. It was an oppressed life, but it was life.
What if there were a great Civil Rights Crisis today? What if there was some horrible injustice taking place? What if many people argued that this terrible injustice was normal, that it was economically advantageous, that it was expedient?
What if this heinous injustice had already resulted in 50 million deaths, right under the noses of the American people?
50 million.
That’s at least 40 million more than the number of Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Perhaps the cattle cars and the gas chambers made it more cruel, but that only makes the sanitary normalcy of the abortion clinic all the more heinous. At least the Jews were removed from sight before they were murdered.
One baby murdered, “legally,” and it has happened more than 50 million times.
Oh, by the way, the children of the black people that this country has treated so cruelly seem most in danger: half of all black babies since 1973 have been murdered by abortion.
Abortion is the great Civil Rights Crisis of our time. The weakest and most vulnerable members of our society can be killed. It’s convenient (for everyone except the victim). It’s legal. It’s sanitary. It’s swift.
And it is evil.
The blood of the children cries out from the ground.
The elites defend it. As with slavery and the Holocaust and segregation, there are even Christian theologians, such as Jim Wallis and Darrell Bock, who cast their votes with those who would ensure the continuation of the atrocities.
But we must object. The simple and clear right to life trumps all other “rights”—whatever those rights may be. If two legitimate “rights” are in conflict, what “right” is greater than someone else’s right to live? Our society is very concerned for those who are “victimized.” What about these victims who cannot defend themselves? Who will defend them?
Let me be clear: slavery, the Holocaust, and the Jim Crow south were awful. The human beings who were enslaved, slaughtered, and oppressed were debased and dehumanized, and the evil deeds debased and dehumanized those who perpetrated them.
50 million unborn babies dead. How much more debasing and dehumanizing to the perpetrators of these crimes? I know it is legal. It is still a crime against humanity.
Only a savage society could demand the “right” to kill an unborn baby. Only a savage society could consider it normal, safe, and legal. Abortion is dehumanizing and debasing to victim and victimized.
I submit that the great Civil Rights Crisis of our time is bigger than slavery and bigger than discrimination. The numbers of the dead outnumber those slain by the Nazis, which makes it bigger than the Holocaust.
Where is the moral outrage?
Greater than the Holocaust « Lured by Infinity said
[...] was timely (and not coordinated) that my brother-in-law posted a message on this today. His message confirms my comparison. At this rate, our generation will quickly [...]
Mark said
Jim,
Thanks for this post. I’ve been saying the same thing to anyone who will listen. Wilberforce receives our deserved acclaim, but who will be the Wilberforce against abortion? May God make a way! May God have mercy on us!
Mark
JB said
Jim,
Elegant, timely and forceful. Not a goad, but true question, “Could another sovereign nation declare and execute a just war against the U.S. because of her allowing the killing of the innocent?”
Jim Hamilton said
Interesting question. What do you think?
I don’t think it’s likely, b/c I don’t think there’s a nation that would defend the unborn.
But it seems to me that they could justify it,
Jim
jbeadles said
It’s not even close to likely nor do I wish for it. However, if such a sovereign and recognized nation existed (not an individual person or group of kooks), I believe it is possible for them to justify bringing harm in the interest of freeing the innocent.
It is probably far more complicated, so I make these statements with great caution.
The Great Civil Rights Crisis « Standing on Shoulders said
[...] Southern Baptist scholar and blogger, has written a very timely piece on abortion detailing “The Great Civil Rights Crisis of Our Time,” and you should check it [...]
Daniel Mikesh said
I wish I could weep as I ought for all the children made in the image of God who are slaughtered in this country. We are a nation deserving of the most severe judgment from God. The important issue in this election, it seems, was Americans’ greed and lust for more money, luxury, cars, retirement accounts, and the sickening habit of our incessant gluttony. We are unwilling to give up our “American freedoms,” yet we refuse to cast a sympathetic eye toward those who are deprived (without their consent) of the most basic human right – the life given to them by God Himself.
I am a student at SBTS, and I attended Darrell Bock’s lectures last week. At what point do we refuse to have fellowship with those who cast their vote for a candidate who will continue, even intensify, the murder of babies? What will future generations of Christians say about us for continuing fellowship with those in the church who lend their support to an atrocity greater than the holocaust? Surely history can teach us a lesson here.
Jim Hamilton said
Daniel,
At the very least, I would observe that our concern with when to continue or break fellowship relates most directly to those with whom are in covenant as members of the same local church.
There’s much more to say, but that’s where it starts for me,
JMH
Luke said
You’re honestly questioning about breaking fellowship with one of the nation’s greatest conservative scholars simply because he didn’t vote like you because he has different political (key word) ideologies (not moral convictions) than you? You honestly think Bock voted the way he did because he wants abortion to continue? I hate to break it to you, but even if Roe were overturned, abortion would still be extremely prevalent. This type of thinking is what’s so frustrating to people like myself who refuses to be a sellout to a particular party based upon the lip-service they give. If you think Bock (or those around him at DTS) is liberal, then you have no idea what a liberal is.
That is tragic indeed.