Unhitch From the Ten Commandments? No.

Last month we wrote about the unnecessary controversy surrounding Arkansas’ monument of the Ten Commandments. You may recall a group parked a satanic statue in front of the Arkansas Capitol Building for a short time to protest the state’s monument of the Ten Commandments.

As a result, more than a few Christians questioned whether or not the state should remove the Ten Commandments monument from the capitol lawn. We have written about why that’s a bad idea.

Today our friends at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview have published a commentary explaining why the Ten Commandments are still important for us today.

John Stonestreet writes,

What’s the only passage in Scripture personally written down by God? If you answered “the Ten Commandments,” you’re right on the money. Exodus tells us that God audibly spoke these laws at Mount Sinai and inscribed them on tablets of stone with His own finger.

Of course, that’s not the only reason the Ten Commandments have a central place in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Christians have long understood them to be the clearest expression of God’s eternal moral character. Not to mention, they played an instrumental role in shaping Western civilization, including forming the foundation of our legal system and our understanding of justice. It’s why Moses and those tablets can be found at the apex of the U.S. Supreme Court. . . .

The moral principles expressed in the Ten Commandments didn’t come into existence at Sinai. They’re part of God’s eternal character which He built into the very fabric of reality itself. Even more, Jesus relied on the Old Testament throughout His ministry and in His teaching, especially when making the moral case for something. The reason, from a Christian worldview, is clear: Whether we’re talking about the moral principles expressed in the Ten Commandments which Christ perfectly kept or the ceremonial regulations of Leviticus which foreshadowed our perfect High Priest, all of the Old Testament is relevant to Christianity.

We need to understand and appreciate the significance of the Ten Commandments — including their impact on our system government and their relevance to us still today.

You can read or listen to John Stonestreet’s entire commentary here.

“Bathroom Debate” Will Appear On State Ballot in Massachusetts

A conservative group in Massachusetts has collected enough certified signatures potentially to overturn a state law letting men in women’s restrooms and vice versa. The issue will appear on the ballot in Massachusetts this November.

This marks the first time voters at a statewide election will be asked to weigh in on whether or not men should be able to enter and use women’s showers, locker rooms, restrooms, and similar facilities.

Watch the video below to learn more.

Physician-Assisted Suicide Claiming Nearly One Life Per Day in California

Last week we wrote about public opinion polling on assisted suicide and euthanasia. In short, while Americans generally say they think physician-assisted suicide ought to be legal, weekly churchgoers strongly oppose assisted suicide, and support for suicide and euthanasia rises or falls depending on how pollsters describe the issue.

This week we want to highlight a report from California showing hundreds of people have ended their lives under the state’s physician-assisted suicide program since 2016.

Over the summer the California Department of Public Health published a set of findings that noted 374 people died by ingesting a lethal prescription from a doctor in 2017.

Adding to that the 111 people who died by assisted suicide in the last part of 2016, physician-assisted suicide claimed 485 lives in its first 18 months of operation in California. That comes out to nearly one death every day for a year and a half!

California’s 2017 report once again shows most people who opt for physician-assisted suicide are well-educated. This corroborates surveys conducted in Oregon and Canada as well as information published in California last year showing most people who inquire about assisted suicide are actually educated, affluent individuals who are much more concerned about losing their autonomy than they are about pain and suffering. Instead of being referred to a mental health specialist or offered other assistance, most of these patients simply receive a lethal prescription for drugs they can use to commit suicide.

Being pro-life means believing human life is sacred from conception until natural death, and it means opposing the taking of human life without just cause.

While the term “pro-life” is often applied to work related to abortion, opposition to suicide and euthanasia falls under the purview of pro-life work as well.

Just like abortion, assisted-suicide fails to acknowledge that God is the creator and giver of life. Human life is sacred, and no sickness gives us an excuse to end someone’s life prematurely — including our own.

Simply put: Physician-assisted suicide violates human dignity and the sanctity of human life.