“All these people were at the same table at the same time to talk about the same issue and that was to eradicate malaria….The United Methodist Church is a very important player on the world scene to eradicate malaria…” --- statements by Bishop Thomas Bickerton in article, “Nets Success Points United Methodists to New Goal” – October 10, 2008 issue of InterLink.
The Western PA Conference October 10th issue of InterLink had much space given to the subject of “Nothing But Nets” campaign. This is the effort to provide treated mosquito netting in parts of Africa where malaria takes a heavy toll yearly in human lives – an estimated 2.7 million per year.
Bishop Thomas Bickerton has been very deeply involved in promoting the campaign and has traveled extensively in promoting the cause outside the boundaries of the Western PA Annual Conference. Response has been most positive and huge sums of money have come in for the purchase of the nets. Comments from time to time mention this effort to “eradicate a killer” – never any hesitation to speak out and to state the need to totally eliminate malaria by getting rid of the mosquitoes which spread the disease.
This is not to raise any objection to the Nothing But Nets campaign – in fact, Jean and I have financially supported the effort through the W PA Conference. But there is a legitimate question to be raised and perhaps an explanation as to why Bishop Bickerton and the other UMC bishops are not concerned about another extremely critical issue which results in the very heavy loss of life each year here in the United States.
No statements have been made drawing attention to this issue and no campaign has been launched in an attempt to reduce the number of lives lost as in the case of malaria victims in Africa.
I refer to the fact that Bishop Bickerton and his fellow bishops have been tongue tied on the moral abomination of about 100,000 unborn children being brutally mutilated and murdered each month of the year in the United States!
And why is that? May I suggest the following as partial explanation:
A mosquito is an easy “killer” to attack for the following reasons:
- A mosquito will not rationalize in regard to what it does in spreading a disease that wipes out huge numbers of people every year. On the other hand, there are any number of people (including politicians and church people) who will rationalize until your head nearly spins off your shoulders as to why thousands of unborn children should have their lives terminated each week before they are born and have a chance to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. It is obvious that some leaders do not want to contend with that spirit of rationalization!
- A mosquito will not resist efforts to curb its deadly work. We can ship millions of nets and employ other methods to halt the spread of malaria and you’ll not run into any resistance from the carrier of malaria. But once you begin to speak out and support efforts to control the widespread killing of unborn children, you run into intense resistance. Well organized and powerful people will stand in the way of any attempt to control the “shedding of innocent blood.” It appears that among United Methodist leadership there is no desire to run the risk of stirring up resistance in an honest effort to put the brakes on a massacre which is now close to 50 million victims since January of 1973!
- A mosquito will not retaliate when its domain comes under attack and a large scale effort is launched to “eradicate malaria” – to use the words of a United Methodist leader. But once you protest publicly and support efforts to curb the extermination of unborn children, you become the villain – the bad guy who is to be labeled in the most negative terms possible. The paint brush used by those who vehemently support the ongoing destruction of unborn children is applied liberally to those who have adopted God’s view of human life, beginning with His identity and stated purpose for an individual while still in the womb of his/her mother. The labels are by no means flattering – we are fire-breathing radical fanatics, etc. There are leaders who simply do not want to be on the receiving end of such retaliation.
While the destruction of unborn children is a tragedy beyond human comprehension, a tragedy greater than this exists – the blindness on the part of church leaders and failure to see that Almighty God is going to respond to the U.S.A. brand of “Holocaust.” It will be far from a sunny afternoon experience at a Sunday School picnic!
Any hope that the United Methodist Church and its leadership will aggressively seek to end (eradicate?) mass killing of another kind taking place here in the United States? Highly unlikely -- whatever comments made will be in the form of "rationalization" as to why certain unborn children should live and others should die! See previous post about the spirit of Nazism in the "land of the free and the home of the brave."
And for more on this issue see A Quick Look at the United States' Massacre Tally! -- warning - you'll see a picture of a "victim" and this one looks a bit worse than a victim of malaria! Use return feature on your browser to return here.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. --- Galatians 6:7-9
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