By Ben Purves, pastor, Occoquan Bible Church, Woodbridge
Ben Purves, pastor of Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge, submitted this open letter from Virginia pastors urging voters to reject proposed amendments 1 and 2 to the Virginia Constitution. He wrote Wednesday that the letter, posted at virginiapastors.org, had reached 250 signatures, including pastors at churches in Woodbridge, Manassas, Dumfries, and Gainesville.
Dear Virginia,
We write to you with prayer and concern for the ongoing vote (Sept 18–Nov 3) on the abortion and marriage amendments to the Virginia Constitution. We believe these two amendments must be rejected for the Commonwealth of Virginia because they will harm our state as they are opposed to human flourishing and contrary to the Word of God.
As citizens of Virginia, we are under moral obligation to vote for the good of our Commonwealth. Truly, this is what commonwealth means, for we are bound together here for one another’s common good. Let us seek one another’s true good and not mark our identity with the deprivations that these amendments would bring to the Constitution of Virginia.
Reject Amendment 1 because it will bring about more destruction of human life in the womb.
All human life is sacred and created by God in His image. We see this in the beginning in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. Our children’s fundamental right to live should be protected, and all children, born and pre-born should be loved and cherished.
Abortion is the killing of a pre-born child in the womb. It is moral distortion to present this violation of the sixth commandment as a moral good or as a fundamental right, and it is deceptive framing to present abortion’s destruction of life as healthcare. Mothers should not destroy the life in their wombs, and medical professionals should care for every human life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable. Human life must not be defined, devalued, or destroyed because of size, level of development, environment, or degree of dependency.
To the mother considering abortion, we implore you, let your baby live. Love and sacrifice for one’s child is part of the essential beauty of motherhood. The fundamental right of pre-born children to be born, to live, and to breathe is an inalienable right that must not be taken away nor usurped by the horrific idea that a parent has the right to take the life of a child. There is never a parental right to take the life of a child. No society should deny this fundamental right to its most vulnerable members. We must not dehumanize an entire class of the most vulnerable persons and enshrine a “right” to destroy innocent life in the Virginia Constitution. It is essential that we vote no and reject Amendment 1.
Reject Amendment 2 because it discards the truth of marriage and gender.
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two, distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Gender is determined by God, and it is one and the same with one’s biological sex (male or female), being irrevocably tied to human biology. As Creator, God alone determines the gender of each person and gives definition to all of his creatures. Rejection of one’s God-given gender is to rebel against God’s good design and is a futile attempt to usurp the authority of God.
The term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman into a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. God created the institution of marriage in Eden, and he is the one who joins husband and wife together. Marriage is created to point us to Christ and the church. When Jesus taught on God’s design for marriage, he declared, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6). It is likewise true to say what God has defined, let not man seek to redefine.
We live in a world created by God. The institution of marriage is part of the bedrock of human civilization. It is presumptuous to imagine it can be redefined, and it is modern arrogance to believe this generation knows better than all past generations. Similarly, every human is immutably male or female, and this self-evident truth is likewise embedded in our DNA. Denying reality only brings a ripple effect of harm to society that is acutely felt by individuals, families, schools, and sports teams. Ontology is not rooted in self, but in an objective reality that is immutably created by God. It is self-deceptive to imagine that one can redefine the institution of marriage or remake oneself in regard to gender. Let us not discard these fundamental truths of creation. Instead, we urge all Virginia voters to vote no and reject Amendment 2.
May Virginia be for love and truth.
If you support these amendments, know that we disagree with you for your good, and for the good of Virginia. The truth about life in the womb and the truth about marriage and gender does not originate within us, but it comes to us from God. Love will communicate truth and speak for the good of others, and it does not go silent when the need is great. We are to love with truth, for love without truth is not love at all. Truth exists outside of the individual, and we can only love one another when we serve the truth.
And as we hold the truth, we also affirm that every person should be afforded love, kindness, respect, dignity, and compassion. Jesus has taught us to “love our neighbor” (Mark 12:31) and so we repudiate hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual, for this is contrary to Scripture and the doctrines of the church.
We write this letter for your good and with love for the Commonwealth of Virginia. And as we say this, we recognize that none of us are truly good, and this calls for humility. We are all guilty of sin, and we have no hope in our own merit, but only in the grace of God as seen in Christ’s cross and resurrection. There is redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Christ’s death for our sins and his resurrection from the grave is the hope of the world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
We invite you to seek to know the Lord, to turn from your sin, and to set your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. If you don’t have a Bible, we encourage you to pick one up and read the Gospel of John. If you don’t go to church, we invite to you begin, and to visit one of the churches listed below on a Sunday morning as we gather to worship our Lord.
Let us pray for and seek the good of Virginia together, and let us vote no on Amendments 1 and 2.
May God give grace to the Commonwealth.
— PASTORS OF VIRGINIA —
The letter and the signer list are at virginiapastors.org.
