Heal Our Nation

Daily writing prompt

What would you change about modern society?

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Well, I’m reasonably happy to be living in modern society, particularly in Ireland. I do grumble, but if you asked me to randomly swop places with anyone else around the world, or down through history, I think I’d wisely say No.

But I’m not totally happy with modern society. In fact, I’m quite unhappy about the direction Ireland is taking on specific moral issues. I voted no in the recent referendums on same-sex marriage and abortion. Both passed, so I would like to change society with respect to these issues. I would permit abortion where there was a real risk to the life of the mother, but of the 10,711 abortions carried out last year (one in six babies):

• 108 were due to fatal fetal abnormalities
• 24 were performed due to risk to life or health (non-emergency)
• 9 were emergency cases involving risk to the woman’s life or health

When people argue for legalizing abortion, they frequently highlight such special cases, but as the statistics show, very few were special cases.

The hymn, How Long, subtly touches on the issue of abortion.

Lord, we know Your heart is broken, By the evil that You see,
And You’ve stayed Your hand of judgement, For You plan to set men free.
But the land is still in darkness, And we’ve fled from what is right;
We have failed the silent children, Who will never see the light.

The last line refers to the light of this world. He isn’t necessarily saying that these children won’t see the light of heaven. See Do the souls of aborted babies go to heaven? The whole song is about looking to God to come to our aid. Until then, we just need to work with all the sin and limitations of humankind.

I would like to see greater control of our borders and of borders across the world. I’m not against immigration, but we should exclude those who are dishonest, and we should definitely exclude those with criminal records. We have enough Irish people in that category already. I’d much rather the money be spent on those who are in genuine need around the world.

And I would like to see systems in place where housing is more widely available, particularly for those who are honest, hard working and acting to make society a better place. Perhaps we could build workhouses or labour camps for criminals.

I would like to see greater help for those truly in need in Ireland and throughout the world, but I’d also like to see less help for those who abuse social welfare systems or who provoke wars or engage in criminal activity.

I’m sure that this has always been a challenge. You even see it in the New Testament. There was a great effort to help those in need, but the church also sought to ensure that their systems weren’t abused.

We are encouraged to help the poor:

1 John 3:17-18
¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

We are commanded not to help people who abuse social welfare systems:

2 Thess 3:10-11
¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: “If anyone is not willing to work, don’t let him eat.” ¹¹ For we hear of some who walk among you in rebellion, who don’t work at all, but are busybodies.

1 Tim 5:9-10
⁹ No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, ¹⁰ and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.

And with respect to criminal activity, if criminals refuse to repent and become repeat offenders, I would like to see far greater punishments than currently exist. The dying thief next to Jesus accepted that he was being punished justly, and he repented. So instead of spending eternity in hell, he found himself in paradise with Jesus on that very day. That only happened because he was genuinely repentant and put his whole trust in Jesus.

Luke 23:39-43
³⁹ One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” ⁴³ Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

There’s much that I could get upset about, but ultimately, each of us will give an account of himself to God. So, I need to focus on living a godly life and supporting society as best I can. I needn’t get too uptight about those who destroy society because God will ultimately deal with them. However, for the present, I can use the ballot box to ensure that I’m electing politicians who will work hard at improving society.

Here are some hymns about improving society. They focus on helping those in need. You don’t get many hymns about executing justice on those who abuse welfare systems. Perhaps people feel that we can leave that to God, who will deal with them on judgement day. But if criminal behaviour is rewarded, ultimately, the innocent will suffer. And Ireland will end up like some of these nations that people are fleeing from.