Sunday, September 9, 2007

COLSON on God & Government: e.g. Terri Schiavo's Death

Charles Colson, former Nixon White House aide, founder of Prison Fellowship after his own years in prison for the Watergate coverup, has a book titled God & Government . It's an update of his former book, Kingdoms in Conflict.

Colson was not a Christian until after the Watergate problem. Many Christians in D.C., however, were his friends and witnessed to him of their faith. He read C.S. Lewis's book, Mere Christianity, and came to believe --and he had a spiritual experience that assured him that the Gospel of Christ was true.

He then wrote his own book, Born Again, which I would recommend as much as C.S. Lewis's book for the God-seeker. It's about his own journey to faith in God and Christ.

In his newly released book (above,) Colson observes that Christians today are under fire and labeled as "theocrats, fascists, and bigoted demagogues."

His book advises Christians on how to more winsomely represent God's truth in the public square and attempts to equip us to think "Christianly" on the issues of the day--and communicate that thought in an effective manner.

Colson gives an example about a prominent congressman who was invited to a medical school in his state to discuss the Terri Schiavo case. What follows is from Colson's article about this in Jubilee, the publication of Prison Fellowship.

He let the angry med students complain about governmental interference in this case. And let them vent and ask their questions first.

Then he said, "let me explain. Terri...was not on life support. What was done was to remove a feeding tube. Whatever state she was in, she was simply being fed." Did anyone question that, he asked? No one did. Then he drew from lecture series speakers Princeton Prof. Robert George and U. of Texas Prof, J. Budziszewski, both Christians.

He reminded the students that there was a nursing home nearby where some patients had to be fed for various reasons. He asked if they would object if the nursing home decided to stop feeding the patients, [to starve them,] and if the government should step in and force it to continue to feed its patients? Absolute silence.

Much of the opposition to his position was thus diffused."


Colson continued in his essay to report that Christa Lilly, a woman in Colorado, just awakened from a 6 year coma. Lately, we have been hearing more and more about the brain's ability to re-route itself --and procedures to help people with Parkinson's. Yet, the pressure is on regarding the high costs of caring for patients who seem to be no more than "vegetables." So we are not done yet with the problem of euthanasia for those who are in comas or seem to be brain dead --but are nevertheless living.

Request Colson's new book at 1-877-478-0100





"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

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