Around the 1970’s, a man by the name of Francis Schaeffer was on a mission. It was a mission to warn the Christian church that an unbridled culture of death was just around the corner. Today, fifty-five years later, the unimaginable has indeed arrived! “Having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy [and] murder” (Romans 1:29).

These words describe not the hardened criminal, rather, seemingly everyday people. People who are so relativistic in their thinking and have become so callous, that cold-blooded murder is accepted as a medical procedure on the same level as removing a defective appendix.

The News

Case in point. A medical doctor informed a mom and dad, who excitedly waited for the birth of their first child, that medical scans indicate their baby has a defect. The news was devastating. The parents are then told of the possibility their child will face many surgeries, life long disabilities and substandard quality of life. And, they now must decide whether to “terminate” the pregnancy.

On hearing the above story, what came to my mind were images from Dr. Schaeffer’s 1979 film “Whatever Happened to the Human Race.” To illustrate the coming tsunami of death, the scene depicted a conveyor belt moving baby dolls one by one in front of a man in a white coat. When a defective and unwanted doll was observed, the doctor dutifully picked up the doll and tossed it into an execution bin. A bin soon to be overflowing with death-by-doctor babies. This horrific scene graphically portrayed the barbaric atrocities that had already begun.

The Unthinkable

On January 22, 1973, government-sanctioned murder became a reality. That conveyor belt of death was now in full motion and picking up speed. Upon viewing Schaeffer’s film forty-five years ago it was difficult, if not impossible, to imagine the arbitrary murder of babies. Yet today we now see that his foresight was spot-on.

Murder would not only become normal, but common among everyday ordinary people. That seemingly average people would actually think murdering unwanted babies, children that did not meet their expectations, was OK. Not only that, but an action that must be done as right and good!

Death Society

Now, decades later, the full scope of peremptory nature of murder has become a reality. The cold hard fact is, we incontrovertibly live in a culture of death. Materialism has reduced boys and girls, men and women to mere things with no distinguishable or unique value.

During this couple’s distress, their family traveled to give comfort. But did anyone counsel them that it was their baby they were about to murder? Apparently not. “Although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

Now the guilt becomes widespread. What is astonishing is why the distress? It certainly was not for the baby. Rather, it was for the soon to be “ex-mom and dad.” Because they did not get what they wanted. The tears and heartbreak of this couple was for themselves. They could not bare the thought of how inconvenient and burdensome for them, to raise a defective child. This life they conceived did not meet their expectations, therefore it needed to be disposed of. This is narcissism to its very core.

Death begets Death

We are seeing on a broad scale the results of Roman 1:28. When God gives “them over to an unfit mind.” Minds void on rational thought. This is insanity and is the only outcome when given over to an insane mind. What is the evidence of this truth?

• When a society normalizes infanticide, euthanasia and suicide (self-murder).

• When murder becomes common among the populous.

• When barbarisms hides behind the facade of medical science and clinical murder is committed behind closed doors.

• When death becomes just and is considered morally right.

• When it is acceptable to simply dispose of the imperfect and unwanted.

• When one political party morphs into a death cult and a second one is right on their heels.

• When ordinary moms and dads who believe their baby may have a defect, he or she is therefore worthless and only worthy of death.

• When a culture takes to themselves a sort of divine status, the right to decide who is inferior and therefore subhuman.

• When abusing your dog will land you in jail, but snuffing out a babies life is considered healthcare.

• When the love of death is masqueraded as something merciful and compassionate.

• When one objects to murder, they are considered the wrong doers and vilified and punished.

• When death becomes a protected “right.”

Unfit minds are depraved minds. A society "dead in ... transgressions and sins" (Ephesians 2:1), is at best morally listless or worse void of morals all together. As John Stott puts it "their depraved mind leads to a whole variety of antisocial practices, which ought not to be done, and which together describe the breakdown of human community, as standards disappear and society disintegrates."

Death Becomes You

When murder is accepted and practiced within the general population, have we not then, become a culture of death? A nation of “little Nazis?” Without a doubt, the above mom and dad would be repulsed at such a comparison. Regardless, it does not change the reality - purge the imperfect, they must die.

This defines insanity- a civilization that is no longer civilized. A nation of unfit minds. When people love death, the death of that culture is at hand. "If your heart turns away and you will not listen, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish" (Deuteronomy 30:17-18).

The Next Corner

Romans 3:18 speaks to our day, "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." People believe they are not accountable, leaving nothing to restrain their evil. For such a people it becomes evident, that “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts” (Romans 1:24). But what does this mean? The Psalmist provides the answer, "So I released them over to the stubbornness of their heart, That they would walk in their own devices” (Psalms 81:12).

Our culture has become unhinged and belligerent in their rejection of our Creator. So much so, that killing babies has become a punchline for standup comedians, the audience laughs and applauds!

When people are given over to their “own devices,” the question becomes, what is around the next corner? The answer? The permissible will become mandatory. Today it is culturally permissible to kill the unwanted. Next, killing will be compulsory. Then no one will be safe.

Decades ago it was difficult to imagine where we are today. It is far less difficult to imagine what tomorrow will bring. If Dr. Schaeffer were with us today, I can hear him saying, “you were warned!”