Bookshelves for life

In the quarter century since the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of nullifying the laws in all 50 states with the Roe vs. Wade decision, a plethora of fine books on the issue of abortion have served readers well. Though I have three jam-packed shelves of them, I find that there are only a handful that I return to over and over again. These are books that have really stood the test of time, continuing to serve me as invaluable pro-life tools, year in and year out. Randy Alcorn's Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments is a kind of compact handbook covering every conceivable aspect of the issue-from the practical to the philosophical and from the medical to the political. It is so well-documented, so well-researched, and so well-organized, I have often told inquirers that if they only have room for one pro-life book in their library, make sure it is this one. The Vision of the Anointed by the brilliant social economist Thomas Sowell is not specifically about the abortion issue, but it throws more light on the pro-choice establishment than almost any other book I have read. It ably exposes both the ignorance and the high-handed arrogance that characterizes the apologists for a movement that has done more to undermine Western Civilization than any other. The State of Humanity is a magisterial and encyclopedic survey of the current economic, cultural, industrial, medical, demographic, and sociological estate of the human race. Edited by the esteemed scholar Julian Simon with contributions from some of the most respected researchers from around the globe, this remarkable volume sunders the assumptions of the utopian social planners that the planet is in danger, that the population is exploding, that the rain forests are expiring, that our ozone is disappearing, that our most vital resources are endangered, and that governmental intervention is our only hope. Here are the facts, and the facts simply do not support the machinations of the pro-abortion elites. The New Medicine by Nigel M. de S. Cameron is a sobering look at modern medical ethics and practice. It is a clarion call, an urgent and prophetic warning for these post-Hippocratic times. But besides examining all the progeny of abortion's death-on-demand logic, this book also sets forth a cogent philosophical defense of a Christian worldview in the medical world. Though disturbing in many respects, this is a book that points the way to substantive philosophical solutions to the seemingly intractable problems we face. Innumerable activist books have been published over the last 25 years. Most have indulged in understandable though rather unhelpful histrionics. Not this one. Why Does a Nice Guy Like Me Keep Getting Thrown in Jail? is a reasoned and scriptural look at Christian social involvement by leading pro-life activist Randall Terry. Actually a practical application of the Ten Commandments to the issues raised by the current culture war, this is a very helpful volume for anyone wrestling with his own personal involvement.