More Than The Bucket Dog

I watched on old Bonanza rerun about a female Irish Setter the breeder had determined at birth was to be drowned in a bucket because she did not fit his purpose. The episode, Season 14, Episode 11, is titled “The Bucket Dog.” The synopsis on IMDB says:

Jamie forms a bond with an Irish setter he names April. However, April was a runt and - according to her rightful owner - should be put to sleep because she was a disgrace to the breed.

“Put to sleep” is an euphemism. Drowning in a bucket or shooting, as the breeder tried, certainly is not “putting to sleep”, is it?

I couldn’t stop thinking of what is done to a fetus during abortion and what happens to the body of the tiny human who was determined an inconvenience. I’ve only known only two women who considered abortion. One declined to tell her husband, then discovered she was not pregnant. The other went through with her abortion because she didn’t want another child. Both stated openly the pregnancy was inconvenient.

An inconvenient truth remains in both cases. Pregnancy in humans is the joining of an egg and a sperm that creates unique human DNA. The fact that the cells divide and grow does not change the human DNA. Allowed to continue in a mother’s environment, these cells remain human. Removed from that environment because they are simply inconvenient, the cells remain human.

Human rights is a question that has global implications. There have been times in human history when societal segments were deemed inhuman, with powerful people taking them to be enslaved, discriminately taxed, or killed. At times, the killing was done for entertainment, crowds watching to see who survived. Once it was done with organized precision, in masses, out of simple hate.

Now it is done for convenience and for money. Body parts being sold in addition to charging the mother for the procedure. And, it is not called an execution nor surgery, just a “procedure”.  The human being killed is not deemed human, just a cellular mass – but all the cells are unique human DNA.

Scientists, ethicists, politicians, judges, citizens, mothers, fathers, and some clergy, all followed the convenience trend and found killing these humans is allowed. A few, a vocal few, state openly it is killing.

I’m one of those who agrees we are allowing the killing of humans by allowing abortion on demand. That concerns me as a human because when one segment of humanity can be dehumanized by another, it can happen again, and again. Human rights exist, or they don’t.

I also am concerned as a Christian. It would take a book to list all the verses that convinced me that God opposes killing humans – beginning with:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)

How about Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:1-24, Psalm 139:16, Galatians 1:15, Psalm 139:13-16, Isaiah 49:5, Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 8:29 – and I could continue for dozens more.

God knows us. He knows the ones who sought Him and chose to be of service to Him here. He knows just as well those who opted not to love God and his fellow man. He knows which sins we have committed, and the good works we have omitted. He knows which ones we have confessed to Him – and the ones we have never mentioned, nor regretted.

To God, there are no “bucket dogs.” He has an open invitation to “whosoever” believeth, according to John 3:16. Oh, He knows who will and who will not accept His gift of saving grace. He is not limited by the time and space that we are. He is not limited by a lack of knowledge, either. He has set His own boundaries on making us do as He pleases – He gives us the choice to believe or not. That’s an offer to all humans, a human right denied by abortion for convenience.

I’ve seen results from following His precepts, and following those who have rejected His gift. I prefer God’s methodology, though I understand little of it. I have faith in God.