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SUPPORT UNCLE RAISIN |
A Breach of Trust Introduction There is a trust to which we are party by the very citizenship with which we are endowed at birth. A culture has been given to us: a society of customs and laws. Sacrifices were made to establish, shape, and preserve that culture. To damage or destroy this inheritance is to violate the trust of one's ancestors. There are many singular instances that serve to illustrate breaches of this trust. The most egregious general breach has been our state-by-state tolerance of federal injustice. We the People have permitted federal judges to subvert our national Constitution as well as our sovereign state governments. Our union of sovereign state governments has been transformed into a centralized federal government. In the recent film presentation Amistad (1997)- the story of the revolt or "mutiny" of slaves on board a Spanish slave ship, La Amistad, off Cuba in 1839 - Anthony Hopkins argues before the U.S. Supreme Court for the liberty of the Africans. In the person of ex-President John Quincy Adams, the defense lawyer for the captives, Hopkins urges the Justices not to betray the principles which the Fathers had laid down in the Declaration: reverence for humanity endowed by God with certain inalienable rights. The motion picture makes a particular point about a trust which is handed down from generation to generation. The generation living at any given time is not without obligation to those who bestowed upon them the particular blessings of the culture in which they were born. Such is the point made to Adams by tribal chieftain and lead revolter, Cinque, the night before the closing arguments of the trial. There is a specific breach of the public trust occurring in Rockford, Illinois. In a time when our national Christian culture continues to suffer death throes from the assaults of those who would replace its foundation with one of atheism, the duty of churches to address the civil arena increases. Yet the churches of Rockford have failed to protect the trust handed down to them In Rockford First Assembly of God (RFA) we observe a particular sin of omission. We speak of RFA and the radio stations, WQFL and WGSL, which it owns. Two radio stations accept advertising dollars from a hospital that permits an abortionist to remain on staff without revealing the fact to the public. Background: The Hospital SwedishAmerican Hospital is one of three hospitals in Rockford, Illinois, but it stands alone as the only one involved with abortions. This involvement is not direct; the hospital permits no abortions to be committed on its premises. However, it provides "admitting privileges" to Abortionist Dennis Christensen of the Northern Illinois Women's Center (NIWC) where abortions are his business. Should one of his patients be injured in the course of his efforts to relieve her of her baby by abortion, he may take her to the hospital for emergency treatment as necessary. The medical profession ought to be trusted to preserve and protect rather than to destroy human beings - per the Hippocratic Oath. The commission of abortion, despite toleration of the same by the powers that be, ought to be shunned and exposed by the medical profession wherever it occurs. Rather, SwedishAmerican's policy gives aid to the abortionist by supplying him a place to remedy his emergencies and comfort to him by allowing him to advertise and feel legitimate and honorable. Christensen advertises his "abortion field" services as follows: Procedures are directed by Dr. Dennis Christensen, a board certified OB-Gyn, with 30 years experience in the abortion field. In the rare situation someone requires hospital care our doctor is on staff at a local hospital. Though "on staff," he is not listed on the Hospital web site and when one calls the hospital, as we did, to inquire after Christensen's status, even whether he had "admitting privileges," we could get no direct answer, but were transferred to Christensen's office. Is it wrong to provide emergency hospital services to a woman who is suffering from a botched abortion? It may well be that incidents of rape or incest or pedophilia being covered up by an "abortion procedure" might be exposed at a hospital where the acquisition of testimony from the victim/patient is controlled by personnel other than those collaborating with the abortionist. In the case of a botched abortion, especially one occurring with young girl to destroy evidence - the child - which might serve to prosecute the father of the child, it would be better to have another authority involved to take the opportunity to check into the age of the woman and circumstances of the abortion. Such an exploitative situation, discoverable through review of botched abortions, is less vulnerable to criminal cover-up when the culpable abortionist is excluded from the emergency hospital remedies. Welcome entry to the hospital by an abortion "clinic" customer, but leave the abortionist back in his den and off the staff. In fact, a hospital which follows this morally sound course in our time would probably subject itself to a lawsuit from the abortionist. And the hospital would suffer a mortal financial blow. The cost to pursue justice is - indeed - high. A Particular Breach of the Public Trust When a city's most cherished institutions fail in a fundamental task of protecting the weakest of its citizens, there is cause for a people to be disheartened. The greater violation of the public trust here is not the hospital accommodating the abortionist but a pair of Christian radio stations and the church which owns them. WQFL accepts advertising from SwedishAmerican Hospital. By advertising for SwedishAmerican, the Christian radio stations imply their approval of the services supplied by the advertising client. The owner of WQFL and WGSL is Quest for Life, Inc. which, in turn, is owned and controlled by RFA. Quest for Life, Inc also owns Christian Life Center School, licensee of WGSL FM and Family Values Organization, Inc., licensee of WQFL-CA (channel 8 TV). The President of the corporation is Paul Martin, Pastor of RFA. Church members, listeners, and supporters have all had their trust violated by the radio stations. In the present case, it appears that the stations have scrupulously avoided disclosure of Abortionist Christensen's staff position at SwedishAmerican. The stations, together with RFA, have effectively covered up an evil which they ought to have exposed. And as they keep this sordid news quiet, they appeal for donations from their trusting prolife Christian listeners twice in the year over the air waves. Enter: The SwedishAmerican Hospital Task Force Local activists established a task force to investigate and expose this association. Members have been trumpeting a call to Rockford First Assembly of God and the management of radio stations WQFL and WGSL to disassociate from SwedishAmerican. The SwedishAmerican Hospital Task Force headed by Adrian Horien reports that RFA and the Stations were advised of the offense in January of 2006 and that the Church Council discussed the matter on two occasions and concluded that since the Hospital committed no abortions, there was no need to rebuke or shun it. After continued importunities by the Task Force, RFA determined to discuss the matter again in October of 2006 and came to the same conclusion: SwedishAmerican does no wrong in its partnership with Abortionist Christensen. Advertising money from SwedishAmerican to the Christian radio stations would continue and not make for an ethical problem. The best handle we see on the ethical issues in play is expressed in an email correspondence sent to Pastor Martin by the Task Force on 16 September, 2006. (A courtesy copy was sent to then-WQFL General Manager, Ralph Trentadue.) It begins: "As I was driving this morning, listening to WQFL, I heard a spot promoting the upcoming fund raising radio-thon for WQFL." It speaks of "a family friendly quality that listeners ostensibly would appreciate" and goes on to describe an appeal for donations in which the Station announced its financial loss due to its principled refusal to "sell advertising to those who sell liquor and alcohol products." This announcement, as the Task Force recounted, "stated that a policy had been established, for the well being of its listeners." WQFL was suffering financial loss because they had done the right thing. The appeal for financial support from the audience was based on the anticipated "impact this policy would have on ad-sale revenues," reported the Task Force. The Station's management knew what was in play: conscience and money. As the saying goes, they needed to "choose the hard right over the easy wrong." The point is that the management understands and believes that a Christian station must "abstain from all appearance of evil"(1 Thes. 5:22)! This is a principle which many Christians of the pietist and holiness traditions - the AOG, especially, included - follow to a fault. And yet in this particular instance of the Hospital where the principle has real application, it is abandoned! How can this be? Abstain from the appearance of evil. This isn't wine sipping in moderation. This is candid child killing. It is evil - by their own "pro-life"standards. And Christians ought not only to avoid it, but avoid any association or appearance of association with it.Let us review this because the error is so commonly made by legalistic Christianity. Now, we know that Jesus did drink wine, so drinking wine cannot of itself be an "appearance of evil," since Jesus - perfect as He was - stayed clear of sin. On the other hand, we know that he did not butcher any babies or approve the same. (On the contrary he advised that those who even offend the "little ones" might as well take a dive in a lake with big rocks tied around their necks.) Sometimes God's people swallow camels while they strain gnats. This is such a case. The principle of abstention from appearances of evil is misapplied. Christian leaders suborn the morals of others by tolerating sin among themselves. Those who look to the leaders, to teachers, to the light of Christian radio, may well be misled by such an unsavory association as the one at hand. The policy of the Stations and their overseeing RFA Board serves the public poorly. In fact, it suborns the morality of the people because it helps perpetuate the great lie which says that we really are not participants in a national Abortion Holocaust. (In fact, this Holocaust is worse in both numbers and ethnic "inclusiveness." No restriction to Jews, slavs, and sundry ethnic minorities this time; babies of all races and national origin are included in this holocaust.) Yes, to the extent that the Stations tolerate a self-proclaimed thirty-year veteran practitioner of baby murder, they do harm. By their tacit, albeit indirect, approval of Abortionist Christensen, RFA, WQFL, WGSL, and others involved with these entities have engaged in both betrayal of the public and subornation of the people's morality. Christian radio stations are comparable to the "teacher" referenced in the biblical book of James, chapter 3. The teacher of the Scriptures is to be subjected to a "stricter judgment" because he is responsible for guiding his listeners in Truth. Christian radio purports to teach and expound upon the Word of God. It broadcasts a message from God and His Word to thousands. The responsibility is great. It must, therefore, avoid giving the impression that it supports in any way the continuing medical abomination known as abortion. This is the message of the SwedishAmerican Hospital Task Force. A Solution? A good faith solution to this problem would be that the Stations denounce the work of Abortionist Christiansen and use the opportunity to warn the public of the dangers to women attendant with "safe and legal abortions." Announcement of the casualty statistics associated with Abortionist Christiansen's particular practice could be included with the Station's advertising. In this way, the stations can expose the danger of abortion to women, keep SwedishAmerican honest, and fund their ministry.The Heritage: Forefathers of Rockford On July 14, 1918, SwedishAmerican Hospital opened its doors as Rockford's third major hospital. Just three months later an influenza epidemic struck the city and Camp Grant. Schools and all public places were closed. In the end there were 323 dead. The tragedy must have called to the minds of the very old citizens the Cholera epidemic Summer of 1854, the same year that First Lutheran Church is organized. It was the city's first Lutheran and first Swedish Church. The piety of the people of Rockford is in evidence as it is in many cities of the United States. April 19, 1865 is marked in history as a "Day of fasting and prayer" in the Rockford area following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln four days prior. In 1911, William Bennett, a "dry" crusader was elected mayor and re-elected in 1913 and 1915. In that same year of 1915, women voted for the first time and helped with the "anti-saloon ballot." It wasn't until 1917 that Sunday movies were approved by a close vote. And intolerance of Godless communism prevailed in 1920 when 180 Rockford citizens were arrested as Communist agitators and anarchists. Twelve were indicted. The most revered citizen of Rockford's history was a pious Christian man, Pehr August (P. A.) Peterson, who died on June 9, 1927 and bequeathed $500,000 to build a home for the Swedish aged of Rockford and $500,000 to build a new Rockford YMCA. Born in Sweden in 1846, he was on the first trainload of Swedish immigrants to Rockford. His father was a tailor. Peterson was the largest contributor in the United States to the Anti-Saloon League. Although a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, he contributed to many other Rockford churches. He was a major supporter of the Allen Chapel, an African Episcopal Church. He regularly contributed money from his personal account to widows of his employees. And he was a founder and major supporter of SwedishAmerican Hospital. Peterson and his wife, Ida never had children of their own, but adopted two girls that they found on the street. On the day of his funeral, factories and businesses throughout the city closed. When Christian influence through schools was assaulted by the "outlawing" of prayer in the schools by a Supreme Court opinion in 1963, the Lutherans founded their own schools that same decade. The Christian influence was not limited to Lutherans or other Protestant churches. The strong Roman Catholic Christian influence is also signified by the Polish Roman Catholic church, St. Stanislaus Church established in 1912, St Thomas High School, established in 1910, a Catholic high school for girls in 1929, and St. Anthony Hospital in 1899. The ancestors of the city and the culture which they produced was distinctly Christian. Ethics and civil law, though arguably misguided in the case of ascetic preoccupation with abstention from liquor, were grounded in Christian revelation, the Scriptures. This culture was passed on from generation to generation. It was a gift, an inheritance which has been squandered. The descendants of these Christian forefathers have not faithfully guarded that which has been given to them; they have allowed the culture bequeathed to them to disintegrate. As the Christian radio stations and their supporting church has broken faith with their listeners, so also has this generation broken faith with the forefathers. A Christian culture has been incrementally sliced apart along with innocent children. And those who have the sword of Truth in their hands refuse to lift it in defense. The citizens of Rockford have been entrusted with a heritage by their
forefathers. In their name, citizens of Rockford ought to cry out against the
attack upon their unborn children. It is a mindset which permits the
establishment of the abortion culture - a culture of death. Consider the motto
which in colonial times was featured on the Great Seal of Maryland:
Crescite et multiplicamini, "Increase and Multiply." There is a
fast forgotten cultural principle. What an apostasy! An attack upon our
children is an attack upon the children of our ancestors as well as our
descendants. Cinque, the African, was not wrong. We have broken a trust with
our ancestors just as Christian radio has with the citizens of Rockford. May
God move us to repent! |
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