Reformation

The Reformation of the 16th century was intended not to "reform" the Church as in make it good again, but to "re-form" it as in to make it what it was originally intended to be. It wasn't a move forward; it was a move backward. It looks like America is attempting something similar, at least for children.

If you look at history, children weren't of particular value to most cultures. In biblical times, they were sacrificed to Moloch (2 Kings 17:30-31). God found it disgusting and warned against it, but Israel still picked it up (Ezek 16:20-21; Ezek 20:31) and it cost them dearly. In later times, they were considered chattel. Sell them or use them or do what you want with them. They are property for your use. The original story of Saint Nicholas involved a father who was planning to sell his daughters into slavery because they had no dowry. Abandonment, sexual exploitation, murder, slavery, all this and more was legal, normal, and acceptable in earlier times. Because, you see, children were not considered persons.

All this changed with Christianity. Jesus rebuked His disciples for sending children away and said, instead, "Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 19:13-14) Parents weren't to abuse or abandon their children; they were to teach them (Deut 6:7; Eph 6:4) and love them (Titus 2:4). So ingrained is this new view today that we read this and scratch our heads. "You have to command parents to teach and love their kids?" Yes, indeed. This idea is a product not of culture, but of Christianity.

But in 1973 we declared that the unborn children were not persons. They had no rights. Killing them was legal. And despite all efforts to change that, it remains the law of the land today, fiercely defended as a "women's rights" issue. While we stand outraged at the death of a single innocent child outside the womb, universally recognizing their worth and dignity as people, the law holds that only by exiting the womb is that worth and dignity applied. Prior to that, anything goes. We can make them and experiment on them. We can cut them up and throw them away. Our world is outraged that someone might suggest that these children have worth and dignity.

It's a reformation, of sorts. It's a return to pagan times when children were not persons and, therefore, not valuable. We call it "progress" and we have presidents and candidates rejoice in it, declare their intention to defend it, and even declare that religious beliefs must be changed^[1]. That's "reformation" in the very sense that the Reformers meant to reform the Church. It is a return to an earlier time, a re-forming. Unfortunately, it is a re-forming to a pre-Christian time when paganism ruled and children were not people. But in a day and age when Christianity is no longer considered a good thing, it is what we should expect. The real confusing thing is when we hear it coming from people who call themselves "Christian".
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^[1] Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told the 6th annual Womens in the Word Summit, “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed."