CHARLOTTE, N.C., The following commentary is submitted by Dr. Michael A. Milton.
The New York City Department of Education is now in the contraception business. But who really is surprised?
The "Plan B" "CATCH Plan" pill can now be administered to students of any age or grade without any parental involvement. This should not be shocking to anyone. The NYC school district already dispenses several other birth control pharmaceuticals as well as condoms. The Department of Education has, for some years now, required classes on proper placement and wear of the contraceptive devices. Yet 7,000 school girls were with child last year. The New York Post reported that 64% of those received abortions. Is abortion supposed to relieve our concerns? That is a success story according to some. At least children weren't born. The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, reminded us, at his press conference on this initiative, that having children at a young age is a difficult situation for all.
Thank you Mr. Mayor. I am sure that Plan B will not make things better.
The practice is objectionable from a medical perspective according to Dr. Manny Alvarez, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Hackensack University Medical Center in NJ and a host of other physicians. In fact, Dr. Alvarez says that such medications are "life threatening." Alvarez does not believe that this will stop the greater issue of premarital sexual relations but would accelerate it, leading to the further spread of venereal disease. Yet, somehow, one gets the distinct impression that making moral stances on human sexuality, even among children, is hardly on the minds of the mayor or the NYC Department of Education.
It is on my mind -- and my heart.
The radical, moral anarchy that has lurked in the hearts of men since the Fall was given license in pseudo-intellectual circles of the early 20th century by the likes of Margaret Sanger, the mother of Planned Parenthood ("motherhood" being an admittedly ironic and cruel metaphor for this malicious woman and her menacing creation). Her influence was coupled with Marxist-Socialist movements in the 1960s and birthed far-reaching ethical and social changes that we have yet to recover from. That which was forbidden was soon, however, codified by the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
Warnings made by those like President Ronald Reagan in his book, Abortion and the Conscience of a Nation (1984), about the national consequences of such immorality (immoral not only on the standards of both the Bible, the Western Civilization that was erected through the Old and New Testaments, but creation itself) should be renewed. Life is holy. Sexuality is the spark of life and human bonding that is intended by the Almighty, supported by His creation for those in a consecrated God-ordained covenant of marriage (between one man and one woman). Respect for human life is a supreme act of reverence for life's Creator. Such respect will produce respect for the act of marriage. And such respect will produce modesty in women and nobility in men and appropriate restraint; modesty and nobility being the very essence of a civilized people. Yet immorality has bred immodesty and disrespect for God, His gift of marriage and sexuality, and thus, humanity itself.
Can it be reversed? I cannot fathom how wide-sweeping transformation of this nation's moral condition can come about short of spiritual revival. Yet the nation has known the undeserved blessing of God before. Perhaps we have our Pilgrim forefathers and mothers to thank for that. Their covenant with God and the prayers of devout people may be our only hope for getting out of this "Plan B" nation we are living in now. We have never been this far along the downward spiral of sin and shame, but as a believer in Jesus Christ I retain hope.
As a pastor, I must decry this recent decision of a major school district, sure to spread to other parts of the nation, as the height of ungodliness which will, undoubtedly, produce infinitely more harm than good. The action is indicative of a confused people. As I pray to God to have mercy and send revival, I plead with right minded people to condemn this sordid mess and call it what it is: a misguided, immoral attempt to stop the cycle of sin and shame that they cannot even understand. For the sake of common sense and self survival as a people, if you will not speak for the sake of God, New York parents must take back, not their schools, but their children! They are yours, my friends, not the mayor's or the school board's.
Yes, we have lost our way. The sexual revolution's unintended consequence was the killing of the unborn. The unintended consequence of that is that those who survived the sinister scalpels of Planned Parenthood over the last three decades are now, themselves, producing children outside of marriage. They are living out the immoral choices of their parents and grandparents. The only way to fix it, say the muddle-headed proponents of policies like the NYC Department of Education, is to dispense Plan B drugs. Why? I will tell you why: Because Plan A is not an option to them. Yet Plan A remains our only true hope for redemption of this sin-sick society. And Plan A is God's Word and God's Way which leads to God's blessings.
There can be no Plan B and still have a future as a people.
Michael Anthony Milton (Ph.D., University of Wales) serves as the chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary (one of the largest accredited seminaries in the country), a U.S. Army chaplain (instructing at the Armed Forces Chaplain School) and the James M. Baird Jr. chair of pastoral theology at RTS/Charlotte. He is an author, songwriter, singer, ordained minister, former pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., and he previously served as the president of RTS/Charlotte. Dr. Milton also hosts a national Bible teaching television program, Faith For Living, broadcast on the NRB Television Network, and a radio program broadcast on several stations in the southeast. For 16 years he served in the business world and has also served as a top-secret Navy linguist.
