Tag Archives: Christian values

Lives Matter Less in DC

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Euthanasia is the intentional killing of a human in order to relieve their suffering. When life-sustaining treatments are withheld from a patient with a terminal condition, it’s called “passive” or non-voluntary euthanasia. When a suffering patient asks for their life to be terminated, it’s voluntary. The moral, ethical, and legal issues surrounding the practice are divisive around the globe. On one side, those that uphold the sanctity of human life; on the other, those that argue for self-determination and personal choice.

On November 1, the District of Columbia City Council voted 11-2 to pass the “Death with Dignity Act” that allows a physician to legally prescribe drugs to mentally competent people who have a terminal diagnosis of 6 months or less. You can read the article here.

Ironically, shouldn’t this decision spark a whole new discussion from the Blacks Lives Matter groups? This is, after all, Washington D.C., our nation’s capital with a 50.7% black or African-American population! Why is legalizing murder/suicide not opening another can of worms—could the District also use a suicide option to remove the suffering of the most marginal citizens?

syringeFor example, take a hopelessly down-on-his-luck drug-dependent homeless man on the street who walks into a doctor’s office to demand assisted suicide. He has no future, no hope, and no means to overcome his dependence on a drug that will eventually kill him anyway. He complains that he is suffering, probably more so than anyone dying from cancer or another fatal disease. His lifestyle is his fatal disease. He demands to be put out of his misery and appears to be mentally competent in his demand.

The terms of the euthanasia law that just passed is fairly narrow now, but many social justice laws were narrow at their first passing (like abortion) and became more lenient over time as society grew used to new norms. By passing this law on assisted suicide, are they not emphatically declaring that some lives do not matter?

Modernism and Moral Liberation

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Modernism is defined as character or quality of thought, expression, or technique, or a style or movement in the arts that breaks with classical and traditional forms. In the Church, it’s considered a movement toward modifying traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs in alignment with modern ideas.

What modern ideas? News headlines, movies, novels, classrooms and contemporary society in general bombard us daily with more than a few basic concepts of modernism.

It’s modern to commit adultery if both spouses give consent or if the adulterous spouse simply conceals it so that the other spouse’s “feelings” are not hurt.

It’s modern to condone homosexual behaviors because everyone is entitled to love whomever they choose.

It’s modern to celebrate assisted suicide if the person ending their life is making what they believe is a rational, conscientious choice.

It’s modern to enjoy sexual freedom outside marriage as long as the couple loves one another because even Jesus taught that love is the most important thing.

It’s modern to make a choice to be a woman or a man because individualism and feeling good about one’s self is important.

It’s modern to ignore certain religious convictions in the name of compassion, especially for pregnant women who don’t feel like having the child they conceived.

Modernism has given way to moral liberalism, a political philosophy or worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality. Moral liberalism agrees that if men can cheat on their wives, so can wives equally cheat on their husbands. If men and women can marry and have children, so can two men or two women marry and enjoy child-raising as well. If a woman becomes pregnant but doesn’t want to give birth it’s okay to procedurally end the pregnancy. The problem is the destruction of virtue.

In society’s quest for tolerance and equality in the name of love and freedom of choice, the things that build character—self-denial and moral courage—are sacrificed. We live in an age when our leaders become role models for compassion as they “modernize” our Constitution and ways of thinking. They convince us that we are being moral without the trials and sacrifices that go along with actually being moral and good. We risk exchanging moral conviction for tribal mentality and exchanging doing what is right for doing what feels good.

At the Stewardship Foundation, we promise never to exchange our original credo of working for the common good and being good stewards of God’s abundance for the temptations of modernism and moral liberalism. We believe that feelings are a poor replacement for decency and common sense. If you agree, we hope you will work with us and share our vision with your friends, family, and colleagues.

The Meaning of Stewardship

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The dictionary defines stewardship as ‘responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving’. This indeed is what we do for our clients who invest with us and for the nonprofits who use our stewardship skills to assist their major donors.

parable of the talentsWhile stewardship is an ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources, the concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, property, information, theology, etc. At the Stewardship Foundation, we extend this to the protection of human life, religious freedom, and the sanctify of marriage.

There is also a biblical definition that work is the stewardship of all the creation that God has given us. “Remember then the LORD, your God, for he is the one who gives you the power to get wealth…” —Deuteronomy 8:18. When we manage the possessions (money, valuables, investments) of another, we know that one day we will be called to give an account of how we have managed those things.

We often refer to the Parable of the Talents. Because God has called us to be stewards, we are not allowed to rule over what others entrust to us as we see fit, but to exercise our knowledge and resources under the watchful eye of our Creator, managing all these things in accordance with the principles He has put forth. “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” —Matthew 25:29

We believe that when we are good stewards of God’s abundance, we are being faithful. At The Stewardship Foundation, we believe that when we are being good stewards with our donors’ money, we imitate the good servants—increasing our donor’s wealth for the good of all.

Please share this article with family, friends and colleagues whom you believe need our stewardship, and if we can help you with your investments, or if we can help the major donors of your nonprofit, please call us at (614) 800-7985.