A Right to Choose

By Eddie Griffin

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

A recent survey of elementary school girls revealed that the majority wanted to be mothers, but they did not want husbands.

What!?

That was my initial reaction until I realized something about young pre-pubic girls. Isn’t this the age group that still hates boys and still believes in Santa Claus? Of course, they want babies, as in baby doll, while fanaticizing the real thing.

What are we teaching our kids in school? It’s certainly not sex education. And, it is a question of what age should we start. We certainly can’t teach toddlers who are still discovering themselves.

Little girls may imagine they can have a baby like the Virgin Mary. But later in life, they will discover that it takes a male and female to procreate.

Some people are troubled by the fact that God knew Jeremiah before he was born, before he was conceived in the womb, and that his purpose in life was predetermined (as set before him to be a prophet to nations). People have an issue with the question: When does life really begin? Does life begin when God breath into man the breath of life and man became a living soul? Or, did life begin when God said, “Let us make man after our own image”?

I believe life begins in the mind of God.

In order for a woman to conceive, she must have a man. This is a biological fact of life. It takes both male and female to procreate, but God plays a part in the conception. Bringing life into the world is a divine miracle. Who can deny this truth?

The problem arises when God is not part of the baby-making process, during the engagement of sex. Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled, the bible says. But young men and young woman do not aspire to marry as much nowadays, as in ages past. They want the sex, but not the commitment. They want the sex, but not the baby.

What choice does a pregnant mother out-of-wedlock has? She can either have the baby, along with the responsibility and whatever shame that comes with it. Or, she can terminate her pregnancy? This is her choice, her conscious, a matter between her and God.

What about the sperm donor, the young man? Is not the baby the product of both? Are the two (male and female) not One? Of course, they are not One, except in holy matrimony. Otherwise, it’s mama's baby and daddy’s maybe. But if it is the dad for sure, then the male sex partner must have a word in the termination of a pregnancy. This should not be a unilateral decision to be made by the mother-to-be alone.

That a woman has a right to do with her body as she so wishes, who doesn’t have suc a natural right? We have the right to blow our brains out, but is that the best choice? Some people have two choices: Good or Bad. Some people have no choices, because they are "bought with a price" by the blood of Christ.

Making good choices that strength the institution of family as the basic unit of our society requires that we teach that marriage is an "honorable thing", something to wish for, something to hope for, something to prepare for. Too many single and divorced mothers, along with shiftless, irresponsible fathers teach, by example, the worse lessons about life and marriage, making it something to dread and avoid.

Children’s first role models are their parents. But today, parents are not teaching the right lessons. The schools are teaching the wrong lessons. And, most churches are teaching nothing.