The Biggest Story of the Summer and What it Means

WholeHeartEd is back, but you might not have known it. We’re going to get into the biggest story of this past summer and what it means, but first there are some things you need to know. Throughout the month of September, we were discussing the biggest stories of the summer, how they affect you and how they will affect your relationships. Every step of the way, however, Facebook, YouTube and Google have been throttling our videos in order to keep our perspectives on these important topics from being seen. They’re not *usually* outright deleting our videos, but they are hiding them from your newsfeeds and not allowing us to even pay for them to be promoted on the platforms. Effectively, they want us to stay in our lane and not dip our toes into the ocean of what is going on in the world around us. Our most recent video on politics was specifically held back from advertising on YouTube due to, in their words, “discussing social issues.” The definition of social has to do with living in relationship to one another, friendly companionship or community. We are a relationship education program, talking about social issues is literally all that we do and have done for the past 2 years. But, that is not the real issue. If you scroll up or down on your newsfeed on any of the major platforms for more than a couple of minutes, of course you are going to see countless videos about politics, social issues, lgbt and everything else. The problem is not that we’re talking about social issues, it’s about what we have to say about it. We’re not calling to violence. We are not spreading or encouraging hate of any kind. We are always careful to cite our sources when necessary and strive to operate with a level of integrity that is not just passable to the scrutiny of men, but which allows us to stand blameless before God when it comes to this channel.

WholeHeartEd is 100% about giving you the tools you need to build God honoring and healthy relationships. Sometimes that means that we will be talking about your relationships with your family at home, dealing with parents or your kids, overcoming difficult challenges and allowing your family to move forward together. Sometimes we’ll be discussing relationships on a more broad level, dealing with friends or coworkers, helping you learn how to establish meaningful and life-enhancing relationships with the people you encounter every day. Often, we’ll be covering your romantic relationships; giving advice about how to navigate dating, how to know if you’ve found “the one” and many times we’ll be talking about healthy decision-making regarding sex. This is the focus of WholeHeartEd and what we’ve been about from the very beginning as well as what we will continue to be about in the future. That being said, every one of these areas, these spheres of our social lives, overlaps and entangles itself with one another as well as the fact that they are being heavily influenced through our culture and circumstances. It would be negligent for us to tell you to go out and have healthy relationships without addressing the many roadblocks that you will be facing along the way. Friendships collapse under social pressure, families divide over politics, marriages breakdown due to “irreconcilable differences” all the while, more and more young Americans are looking at these institutions and seeing nothing in them worth all of the struggles that come with them. Instead, they’re settling for followers over friends, isolation over familial connection and hollow and meaningless sex over a committed marriage relationship. It’s not because they don’t want those things, it’s because they’ve bought into the lie that those things don’t actually work so there’s no use in trying for them. This is our target audience. These are the people we are committed to reaching in order to give them hope that, through Christ, their lives can be abundantly full in a way that the world’s offerings could never compare!

This is why we do what we do. This is why we cover the content that we cover. So, if you find value in what we do; if you want to be more than a casual viewer and lend us your support, it starts by sharing our videos. Across all of the different platforms that we are on, we are still reaching 10’s of thousands who are watching our videos each week from beginning to end. That is amazing, and we are incredibly humbled by how God has allowed us to grow, but we believe that these messages we share can actually help people and, in order for that to happen, they need to see it. Sharing our videos puts our content directly in front of the people in your circle and forces the algorithms on the different platforms to recognize our content and push it out to others who are looking for what we offer. The more engaged you are with us on a weekly basis, the greater impact we can have. And, if the day comes that they decide to just shut us down and ban our pages altogether, which has happened to us on one platform before, then remember that you can always find us on our website, askwholehearted.com. Now, let’s swing for the fences and tackle Roe v Wade.

Quote, “Roe v Wade sparked public opposition and academic criticism, 3 in part, I believe, because the Court ventured too far in the change it ordered and presented an incomplete justification for its action... I do not pretend that, if the Court had added a distinct sex discrimination theme to its medically oriented opinion, the storm Roe generated would have been less furious. I appreciate the intense divisions of opinion on the moral question and recognize that abortion today cannot fairly be described as nothing more than birth control delayed... The Court did not adequately explain why the "fundamental" choice principle and trimester approach embraced in Roe did not bar the sovereign, at least at the pre-viability stage of pregnancy, from taking sides. Overall, the Court’s Roe position is weakened, I believe, by the opinion's concentration on a medically approved autonomy idea, to the exclusion of a constitutionally based sex-equality perspective.” Ruth Bader Ginsberg, “Some Thoughts on Autonomy and Equality In Relation To Roe V. Wade” - 1985

(Ruth B. Ginsburg, Some Thoughts on Autonomy and Equality in Relation to Roe v. Wade, 63 N.C. L. Rev. 375 (1985). Available at: http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/nclr/vol63/iss2/4)

Over 35 years ago, feminist icon and renowned Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, had already made clear her thoughts that the historic judgement of the Roe V. Wade case was weak and faulty on a constitutional basis and would probably be overturned as “bad law” even though she was a vocal supporter of the outcome. When it comes down to it, the Supreme Courts decision this past summer to overturn that ruling was built on that same thought. According to RBG and many others before and after her, the 1973 case was constitutionally unfounded based on the arguments made, which is why almost 50 years later, the ruling was overturned. Regardless of any of our personal beliefs or preferences, those are the facts. Understandably, the media was a firestorm of outrage and fear as many around the country didn’t know what this turn of events actually meant for them.

While the June 24th ruling did not immediately ban abortions across the U.S., in a few states it did. That is because, rather than creating a federal level law that every state must abide by, the overturn meant that there was no longer a federal statute in place protecting abortion rights on a national level and now each state would autonomously decide whether to ban it or allow it and at which stage of fetal development. In New York state, for instance, when Roe fell, the state law had already codified legal abortions up to 24 weeks, which is just over midway through the average pregnancy. Vermont had a similar law but, due to an intentionally open ending wording, allows legal abortions throughout all 9 months of the pregnancy for any reason. At the time of the overturning, more than 25 states had some form of law already in place which protected abortion rights throughout various stages of pregnancy. Conversely, more than 10 states had trigger laws which banned abortions while seven states have legislation pending. With the November midterm elections quickly approaching, this is sure to be a hot button issue which could greatly impact how many people vote. So, now that we have a clearer idea of what actually happened and what it meant, we have to address the more difficult question; should abortion be legal or not?

On the medical front, a lot has changed since 1973. Medical advancements have allowed us to offer greater care and protection for mothers while increasing the viability for babies born prematurely. In 2021, a baby was born at just 132 days gestation, or just under 19 weeks, and is now over a year old. Recently, pro-life advocate Lila Rose was on the Dr. Phil show, debating abortion on national television. At one point, the host interrupted and tried to correct Rose on her claim that there is a 96% by scientists stating that human life begins at conception.

Dr. Phil stated that “There is not a consensus among the scientific community” and encouraged his viewers to “fact-check” him by looking up the data for themselves. Well, we did. A study by Steve Jacobs in which he asked thousands of biologists when life begins, a study he took on as part of his PhD dissertation for the University of Chicago’s department of Comparative Human Development, wherein he found that an astonishing 96% affirming the view that life begins at conception. Even more interesting, according to the study ““The majority of the sample identified as liberal (89%), pro-choice (85%) and non-religious (63%). In the case of Americans who expressed party preference, the majority identified as Democrats (92%).” The median threshold for what defines a “consensus” is typically agreed upon to be 75%. 96%, then, is not only a consensus, but a resounding statement of biological fact, especially considering that the majority of those biologists are ideologically opposed to their own findings. According to the vast majority of biologists, life begins at conception.

So, the embryo, the fetus, the zygote, is a distinct living human being. Or, in the words of Dr. Seuss, “a persons a person, no matter how small.” So, when is it allowable to take the life of another human being? If we have scientific grounding that the baby is actually a baby and not just a clump of cells or any other non-scientific word salad that has been used to describe them, then you should be able to answer that question the same for any scenario when replacing the months in utero with years old. For example, “My husband left me so I am no longer financially capable of providing for my 9 year old. I guess I’ll have to take his life.” If they are just as much of a distinct human life at 9 years old as they are at 9 weeks, then if it is not allowable at one stage of development then it is not allowable at the other. Of course, there are many more nuanced situations; situations that are horrible atrocities that no mother should have to endure, but ethically and morally, the reality doesn’t change. If, in fact, these babies are distinct human beings from the moment of conception, then they should have the same legal protections and rights that any other human is afforded, starting with the basic right to life. Now, while it has taken a long time for the science to catch up, the Bible has been clear about human life for thousands of years.

Psalm 139:13 – 16

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God created us, formed us, and gave us life before we were even aware of what life was. He was the one who bestowed upon us humanity, identity and personage. Genesis tells us that humankind was created in His own image, we are living reflections of the Almighty. We are called to love one another as we love ourselves, and that commandment is just as strong before birth as after. This also means that we have a duty to care for the pregnant teen mother who is scared and doesn’t know what to do or where to go. It means that we are called to open up our lives in order to share the burdens and meet the needs of the widow, the unwed mother, and the orphan, the fatherless and motherless child. Historically, Christians were the ones to establish the first and the best hospitals, orphanages, homeless shelters, care facilities and even schools. The fall of Roe V Wade, while many saw it as a great conservative victory, was also a loud and thunderous call to arms for all followers of Christ to meet the needs of those mothers, children and even the fathers who are now in a place of uncertainty and fear. It’s time again for the Church to be the lighthouse on the hill and bring the light of the Gospel to the world that so desperately needs it.

This wraps up our summer recap. It was a wild season with a lot of changes that had the potential to greatly impact our relationships with those closest to us and it looks like there is still plenty more change on the way. In this time, you may be feel compelled to give in to worry, anxiety and fear but, remember, perfect love casts out fear. Love God with everything you have. Love your neighbor as yourself.