Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources A while back I attended an ethics seminar in which the speaker said that 50% of pain medication requests come from family members, not the patient. In another survey, nurses estimate that…
By Dr. Robert Balza Jr., Associate Professor of Biology, Wisconsin Lutheran College No one believed him. No one thought Dr. Shinya Yamanaka had managed to do the impossible. The 44-year-old physician/scientist from Japan had been encouraged to enter medicine by…
People don’t want to talk about dying. In 2015, according to the Funeral and Memorial Information Council, 69% of adults over the age of 40 indicated they would prefer to pre-arrange their funeral but only 17% actually did so. Conversely,…
By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources The exhausting effort to legalize assisted suicide is like so many other ill-conceived notions of our times. The persuasive forces of video and social media advocates for “aid in dying”…
By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources The tenets of evolution and creation conflict on many points but none as significantly as on the reality of original sin. The Lutheran Catechism defines original sin as: “The guilt…
By Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources In 2015 The Center for Medical Progress secretly video recorded conversations with executives from Planned Parenthood. The topic was the gruesome practice of selling fetal body parts to researchers. The expose made national…
In the Old Testament, Adam and Eve demonstrated shortsightedness when they ate the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). When Cain killed Abel (Genesis 4), he failed to consider the consequence of his action. Lot never considered…
By Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources This headline was actually a sentence buried in a July 28, 2017 article on gene editing of human embryos in the United States. For those of you who are new to…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources When the United States legalized abortion on January 22, 1973, the language changed. No longer was a little one growing and kicking in the womb referred to as a “baby.” Rather, the…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, Christian Life Resources National Director C. Everett Koop served as the U.S. Surgeon general from 1982-1989. He also served as a main speaker at an early Christian Life Resources convention. It was a tumultuous time in the…
Rev. Fred Toppe Do you know these initials? They stand for Glavnoe upravlenie ispravitel’no-trudovykh lagerei, the Russian words for Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps. The GULAG was in operation in the former Soviet Union from the early 1920s until…
Rev. Thomas Trapp An interview with Kenneth Schleef, a Christian with cerebral palsy. Q: Your appearance at a Life Chain told me you’re concerned about life issues. I also know you have cerebral palsy. Tell me about your cerebral palsy…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources “The path of least resistance is the path of the loser.” [attributed to H.G. Wells, 1866-1946] We have done it before, and it appears we are poised to do it again….
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources Upon fertilization, life begins an amazing journey of cell division, differentiation, and finally maturation. Between fertilization and differentiation, life is in its embryonic stage. The cells that divide are “generic” in nature…
Linda L. Bellig, RN, BSN My first job as a new RN in 1969 was in the special care nursery at Babies Hospital in New York City. The environment was cutting-edge. We rigged adult ventilators for babies, grappled with the…
By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources As life and family issues continue to expand, it’s often difficult to sort them out. Even church bodies differ on a particular issue though they claim to have the same Bible….
By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources “I sure miss kindergarten.” I know you have heard or read these words from me before. The older I get the more I miss the simplicity of life that I enjoyed…
By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources When I speak about artificial intelligence (AI), I suspect I sound alarmist. Some of what I read about AI development is concerning. Yet, I have long felt that technological advancements…
QUESTION: Is genetic testing of preborn children acceptable for Christians? ANSWER: The answer to your question requires some clarification, because there are many variables that come into consideration. Some parents are concerned about a genetic disease that could be passed…
Prof. Ryan MacPherson, Bioethics Professor at Bethany Lutheran College, Mankato, MN When does human life begin? This question has perplexed our generation and divided our nation. The stakes are quite high. If a human embryo is a person, then abortion…
By Ben Berger On June 22, 2015, Simona De Moor of Belgium was euthanized. She was a healthy 85 year old who saw her death as her only reprieve from the grief of losing her daughter several months before.[i] On…
This Christian Life Resources Position Statement on Euthanasia was adopted by the organization’s National Congress to state its position on issues that are addressed by CLR, in this case, on the subject of euthanasia. Christian Life Resources Position Statement on Euthanasia PREAMBLE…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources We tend to think biologically when it comes to death. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the top five leading causes of death in the United States are: Heart disease: 647,457…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources I live today because of medical progress. I was born prematurely in 1956 with a condition called “atrial septal defect.” That means I had a hole in the heart. Not just any…
David A. Kaufmann, Ph.D. What is stem cell research, and what is the Biblical Christian view of it? What is Stem Cell Research? Stem cells are living units that can grow and differentiate into multiple, different types of advanced, mature…
Mrs. Amy Schultz Editor’s Note: Much debate today about stem cell research should really be divided between (1) embryonic stem cell research and (2) adult or cord blood stem cell research. CLR has condemned embryonic stem cell research because in…
When People Say: “Embryonic stem cell research is necessary to further the work toward a cure for deadly diseases or injuries.” All of us likely fear that one of those “deadly diseases” may strike someone we love or ourselves. We…
Bobby A. Howard, RN, BSN, MDiv In this era of rapidly advancing health care technology, on a daily basis Christian nurses are confronted with critical issues that result in questions and doubt concerning the relationship between Christian ethics and modern…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources On February 24, 1997, it rocked the scientific community and stimulated the exaggerated imaginations of sci-fi enthusiasts. Scottish scientists cloned a sheep and named it “Dolly.” Fantasies fostered in fiction and played…
Rev. Robert R. Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources It is becoming more difficult to know what to do in life and death situations. Advancements in medicine, challenges in the court, and changing opinions have raised questions about when life…
Read the Following Passages: Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver…
Preamble Abstract Background Terminology The Issues Section 1: What the Scriptures Say About Human Life Human Beings are Unique and Prized in All God’s Creation Human Beings Consist of Body and Soul Human Beings Exist in the Womb Protecting the…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources The way in which people conduct their lives is often framed by their ethical standards — whether in business, medicine, the justice system, and even their Christian living. The problem is people…
QUESTION: I’ve heard about the eugenics movement, but I thought that essentially ended with the atrocities of the Nazi regime. Does the eugenics movement still exist today? ANSWER: The eugenics movement is more comprehensive than most people realize. A review of…
The 19th and early 20th centuries saw an emergence of the eugenics movement in which eugenic sterilization, anti-immigrant advocacy, and anti-mixed race marriage activism all played crucial roles in the goal of advancing social control by a small elite. This…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without…
In 1915 Dr. Harry Haiselden, the chief of staff at German-American Hospital on Chicago’s near north side, made national headlines for his contribution to the eugenics movement. Haiselden gained front-page notoriety on the issue of eugenic euthanasia. In November of…
Rev. Paul Prange When I was a boy, my parents took me more than once to visit Bethesda Lutheran Home (located in Watertown, Wisconsin). When it was still operating, it was a home for the developmentally disabled. I recall being…
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! (Excerpted from The New Colossus…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, CLR National Director I have had the opportunity to visit the Creation Museum in Kentucky (www.creationmuseum.org) several times. If you have not seen it – go! It is an incredibly professional testimony to the creation account and…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, Christian Life Resources National Director ac•qui•es•cence – [ak-wee-esuhns] – the act or condition of acquiescing or giving tacit assent; agreement or consent by silence or without objection; compliance. sin – transgression of divine law [Source: www.dictionary.com] In…
Pastor Robert Fleischmann Did you see the July 4, 2016 issue of Time magazine? In her lead story on the potentials and pitfalls of CRISPR (the process for DNA splicing) Alice Park overlooks the first ethical problem with her own…
QUESTION: If medical technology gives us cures derived from taking lives, should Christians refuse that treatment even if it means possibly a shortening of our own life? ANSWER: Underlying your question is the suggestion that using such medical technology may…
Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director, Christian Life Resources It can be dangerous to express an opinion on the state of sexuality in today’s world. Once it is known, such expression on this contentious subject can result in dissension among loved…
By Rev. Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources In 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in the infamous Roe v. Wade case, pro-life forces warned that this decision placed us on a “slippery slope.” It…
By Robert Fleischmann, National Director of Christian Life Resources, July 18, 2017 Charles (Charlie) Gard was born on August 4, 2016. He was diagnosed with infantile-onset encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (also known as MDDS). Simply stated, Charlie’s brain is…