Thou shall not   

Off the Wall             

Jan. 25, 2007

 
   It doesn't take much for people to conclude that one is going to do what he or she chooses regardless of laws or rules put before him. I also surmise that no matter what I say today or what I have shared over the years will make much of a difference if the opinion readers have are different than mine. Yet, my gut feeling tells me to expound on a subject that may be controversial to some, but to me of major importance. It deals with Roe vs. Wade, the so-called right for women to have abortions.

   Before I thought about writing this text, I was reminded of a conversation I had over the Internet concerning the differences a friend and I had concerning the Holy Scriptures. She, a Protestant, was quite surprised that I, a Roman Catholic, viewed various facets of our religion differently.
 
   Even though I stuck to my guns, as my mother would say, and she, hers, we both concluded that abortion was wrong.

   But over and above that, she made a remark that I never forgot. She told me, "I try to abide by the Ten Commandments the best I can." At that time, the only thing that went through my mind was, "good," and let it go at that.

  Now, I am well aware that the removal of the Ten Commandments in various public places has certainly been an issue. But even though the media seemed to splash the events over the airways, I still never so much as gave the words of these instructions from God a thought until I had that conversation.
 
  I wonder if our Lord was speaking to me through her.
 
  So, I got out my Bible and turned to the 20th chapter of Exodus and proceeded to examine the text. Reading each passage, I paused, meditated and went to the next. All of a sudden, each spoke to me in such a way that neither had done so in the past. It was as though I was reading something for the first time, but really not.

   When I got down to the 13th verse, God spoke the words, "Do not commit murder." Five, ten or even 15 years ago, I may have told someone, "I've never taken a life, and in all probability, don't plan on it. It's just not the kind of thing I'd do." So, not thinking much more about it, I moved on to some of the other Commandments reading through them with the same conclusions.

   Then while lying in bed one evening, I rekindled my thought process concerning murder. Nothing could have been more simply put, "Do not commit murder." No where in the Bible will one find the words, "A woman or a doctor has the right to murder if" or, "Because of convenience, I, God, give women permission to abort children whom I have created" or "The lives of babies may be terminated at any age in the womb, thus sayeth the Lord."

   Just the act of taking another's life is really getting out of hand.

   How often do we turn on the news only to hear about someone killing another for no apparent reason at all? Maybe it is over a drug deal gone badly, an argument concerning a female companion or a random shooting. At least to me, people haven't just lost their morality. They are numb to the rules of our society. Where did these directives originate?
I can't help but conclude that the Ten Commandments had everything to do with them.

   This is an extraordinary time of the year for all those promoting life, from the time of conception to the years after birth. Many gathered and bused to Washington, D.C., to take part in the annual March for Life. Efforts were made to contact members of the government to let their views be known.

   It is also the month our son was born, on that very day when March for Life was celebrated. It is not coincidence, we feel, that he was born on that day. We look at it as a sign from God that He was giving us a gift of life in form of a newborn boy, someone we would cherish and love to this day forward.

   So as has been the custom in all my columns, I have once again shared my opinion. Will it make a difference as to what others think? Probably not, but who's to say. 
 
 
Paul j. volkmann
12/08/06

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