I remember going to a grocery store in the former East Germany and seeing shelves stocked with few items and no options. If you wanted toothpaste--your only option was a tube with plain black lettering reading "Zahnpasta." Walk into a pharmacy in a western country wanting toothpaste and you may be befuddled by the vast array of choices. We are a people who demand choice and are very fortunate that in so many aspects of life we hold the power of choice. If we are not completely satisfied with a particular product, service, fashion or church, there are more providers waiting. The luxury of choice is great in some ways but it adversely affected our way of thinking in other ways. We make the choice to end human life far too glibly.
War, abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and poverty are justified and perpetrated with incredible ease. But millions of people die as a result of the choices other people make. We all need to reflect upon how sacred human life is and pray for the conversion of our culture, which is prone to violence and death. Pray that we as a nation embrace the dignity of human life. What would our culture look like if we had a consistent commitment to uphold human dignity? We are so blessed that we can make so many choices in so many facets of our lives, but we have to realize that freedom of choice does not extend to someone else's life (or death).