Once again we can thank God for stirring Hollywood to drop another LIFE gem into the mainstream of American culture. Those with prophetic ears and eyes will certainly see what Hollywood surely had no idea they were showing us. That’s because God can even speak through a donkey. Let’s pray adults nationwide see what a theatre full of children have no trouble seeing – the value of life no matter how small.
Stephen Schwartz in his book “The Moral Question of Abortion” lists four differences between the born and the unborn, none of which make either less of a person.
1. Using the acroymn SLED, the first difference between the born and the unborn is SIZE. The unborn is smaller than a newborn. But Gary Coleman is smaller than Shaquille O’Neal and it would be absurd to say Gary has less moral value than Shaq.
2. Second is the LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT. An adolescent is more developed physically than an infant but that doesn’t give it a greater right to life. A person is no less a homo sapien in its earlier stages than in it’s latter stages of development.
3. ENVIRONMENT is the third difference between the born and the unborn but it too is irrelevant to personhood. Where one is is irrelevant to who one is. A newborn in her mothers arms is no more a person than one still in its mothers womb.
4. Fourth is the DEGREE OF DEPENDANCY. If dependancy is a factor in determining one’s intrinsic value than it would follow that people in nursing homes somehow lose their humanity when they lose their ability to live on their own.
What we have in Horton Hears a Who is a prophetic parable or a timely allegory for America. He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit is saying to this nation.
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March 14, 2008 at 10:17 pm
William
The “D” for dependancy strikes a particularly strong chord for me, as my mother passed away just 3 1/2 weeks ago after 7 months in hospice.
My mother “passed away” over an extended period of time. The mother I knew had passed months before her body failed. Her comfort and peace were the best treatment option available, at the end.
That said, as my mother declined and became more dependant, although her condition was frustrating, in many respects I saw her in more raw, human terms than I had before. Just to make her comfortable, to smile, to feel peaceful were accomplishments near the end. At the very end, just to be there to hold her hand in her final moments was one of the closest moments we had.
Perhaps, recognizing our dependancies and accepting responsibility for those dependant upon us, is really one of best expressions of humanity.
If we refuse to accept our dependance on GOD, with our families and with our congregation it seems to me that we’re really refusing to accept our humanity. We must be independant enough to accept Christ as our Savior but accept our dependance on Christ (and his church, our congreations) as our foundation in the secular world.
March 15, 2008 at 8:18 am
Nikole
We went to see the movie last night and thought it was excellent. There are so many hidden “nuggets” (as Steve calls them) in this movie that speak volumes.
An example of this is when Horton’s best friend and only advocate tries to get Horton to compromise and lessen his standards. Horton’s moto is “I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An Elephant’s faitful 100 percent.” His friend Morton asks if he could just be faithful 99% of the time because that is good enough. How many times are we asked in life to compromise our values to conform to the ways of the world?
And don’t forget the message that EVERY VOICE COUNTS when JoJo lets out his “YELP”! Horton Hears a Who is funny, well done and most of all brings forth in incredibly timely message! Definitely a must see.
March 18, 2008 at 7:00 am
jthelmsdeep
Two thumbs up. My family and I went to see it on Saturday. Loved the priceless moral lesson. Especially the fact that your deliverance and survival rest in the hands of someone that you can’t see but have to believe in by faith. The Who’s couldn’t see Horton and so didn’t necessarily believe in him, yet their very survival depended on his goodwill and his willingness to put himself in harms way to save them. Wow! what fabulous parallels.