Wasson: Morality on the ballot

Whenever politics and religion arise, people usually say those subjects are better left alone in polite company. However, professional sports teams violate this standard to the point that you cannot watch football, baseball, basketball, hockey or other sports without political messaging from the league. What is not political these days?

Pete Rose was banned for life for gambling on baseball games, claiming to have never bet against his team. Yet, we are being told that gambling is the solution to our financial woes in public education. How far have we strayed from basic morality? How can a Christian prey upon gambling addicts and their losses to fulfill promises of school funding? Remember, the Lottery would take care of this, and then, in Cape Girardeau, the casino would pay for our public schools. Those promises were not fulfilled, and now they want us to vote for more gambling.

While neither presidential candidate is 100% pro-life, one is radically pro-abortion. That position is opposed to placing any restrictions on abortion as birth control. Many states allow a full-term healthy baby to be aborted if the woman does not want the baby. This is immoral, and it is on the ballot. Amendment 3 also removes parental consent.

Think about how Christians are to look out for the weak and marginalized in our society. While many people twist this ethic to remove standards of morality and to excuse lewd public behavior, no one is more helpless than a healthy baby in her mother’s womb. When an abortion is performed on a late-term pregnancy, the baby is torn apart limb from limb without anesthesia.

Imagine being eaten by a shark. No one can hear you scream under the water, but that does not mean that you will not suffer unspeakable pain.

We also know there is a market for body parts of aborted babies. It is doubtful that potential mothers are aware of what is taking place. Many clinics are not up to code; not everyone performing these gruesome procedures is a medical doctor. We need restrictions.

Why should anyone with a moral objection to abortion be forced to finance this industry? We are told that it is between the woman and the doctor, but no one talks about the baby or the taxpayer who is unwillingly financing the abortion industry.

Some medical doctors say it is a myth that anyone would be denied life-saving medical attention. No matter who wins the election, there will continue to be abortions performed until the hearts and minds of people are changed. Abortion is not a civil right for the baby.

Someone asked me, “What if they do not want the baby?” My answer was if you do not want one, do not make one. Remember the Pandemic? How were people who refused vaccinations or masks treated? The idea was if you got sick or caused someone else to get sick, that you were a murderer. You could see the rage in the eyes of masked people as they encountered the unmasked, reckless people. How could they risk causing death by not taking precautions?

Many have claimed that sickness rates decreased when people regularly washed their hands, stayed home from work and school when ill, and were generally more careful.

Without getting into details, the same can be said of the person seeking abortion as birth control. Why did you not take preventive measures? Your carelessness is costing lives. The reality is the number of abortions has increased since Roe V. Wade was overturned. Are people more careless out of rebellion?

If we practiced abstinence outside of marriage instead of using abortion as birth control, we could significantly reduce the number of abortions. Remember, they sold abortion to us by saying it would be safe, legal, and rare.

As citizens, Christians have a moral obligation to vote in our elections. The gospel of Jesus is too important to be overshadowed by political campaigns. Our worship services should be Bible-centered. We are to pray for our nation and our representatives.

Churchgoers do not need to change or hide our morality. The politicians will willingly change if that is what it takes to get elected.

Shawn Wasson, D.Min., is the pastor of Bethany Baptist Church.