Today is A.’s second birthday. Last year’s post on this day was cutsie and warm. I’m not exactly feeling more serious, but I was quite alarmed last night when the Laura Ingram Show {yes, I listen to AM radio} implied that I don’t really love my daughter unless I make sure she has the HPV vaccine when she is older.
I don’t know how many of my readers are following this controversy, but it seems like ever since the governor of Texas made the vaccine mandatory for schoolgirls, there has been a lot of debate. What made the Laura Ingram debate so interesting was that every party who spoke during the short time I listened claimed to be a Christian.
Ingram’s argument was based on personal experience. She said that she had become a Christian at eleven years of age and did not become sexually active until she “made one mistake” {her words not mine} at the age of twenty-five and contracted HPV. I think it is very sad that she acquired an STD at all, but I think one needs to step back and analyze the argument: kids “make mistakes” that can lead to HPV {which can lead to cervical cancer}, therefore parents should make sure their kids are vaccinated against HPV.
HPV has been called “morally neutral” because, unlike other vaccines {such as varicella, Hepatitis-A and the MMR, just to name a few}, it is not derived from aborted fetal tissue. However, I believe that this is where its moral neutrality leaves off.
I could go on and on about this controversy, but I just don’t have the time, so let me try to be concise. God designed the world to run according to a certain logic that many call Cause and Effect, but I like to use the New Testament terms Sowing and Reaping. The basic idea is that every action has its consequence.
I think I have said before that I believe there is nothing noble about trying to escape from the consequences of our actions. A lot of folks arguing about this vaccine are saying that it assumes sexual activity for young girls, therefore encouraging them to engage in such activities. But I say it goes deeper than that, and acts in rebellion to God’s design of the universe: it rears its head against reaping what one has sown.
Even in the Garden of Eden, man has tried to avoid his consequences. Remember Adam hiding from God and trying to pass the blame to Eve, who tried to pass the blame to the serpent? This is the beginning of man’s knee-jerk instinct of avoiding consequences.
As parents, it is the job of my husband and myself to bring our child into adulthood. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defined “adult” as being fully grown and mature, and “mature” as being complete, prepared, ready or advancing toward perfection. How can we do our job of preparing them for the real world, making them ready for life on their own, while telling them that not only will they fail, but that we will help them avoid the consequences of their failure?
I do believe that children will fail in some way. I hope my children do not fail in this area. But regardless of where they fail {and don’t call this a “mistake,” as if they did a math problem incorrectly and could use an eraser to change their answer}, I will not help them hide from reality. This doesn’t mean I won’t be there to help them face their consequences. I simply won’t help them avoid them. I won’t, because I believe that avoiding consequences is rooted in rebellion against God, and reveals a complete lack of godly sorrow concerning one’s original sin and failure.
So refusing to give my child the HPV vaccine has nothing to do with believing she is perfect and immune to making sinful choices. It simply has everything to do with encouraging her to live in the best and highest way, which is at peace with God and in harmony with His design for life.
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