Abortion and Why a Monarch is not a Messiah

Whilst I am, obviously, a monarchist, this essay touches on why I have little love for 'crowned republics' masquerading as constitutional monarchies.

From The Mad Monarchist (25 January 2013)

In the United States at least, January is “Pro-Life Month” due to the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that ruled state laws prohibiting abortion to be unconstitutional; effectively making the barbaric practice legal nationwide. Today it is legal throughout almost every country in the western world, which says a great deal about not only how far we have fallen from traditional moral values but also the extent to which western civilization seems intent on eradicating itself. Being a quite reactionary sort there is much about modern society that displeases me but I do not think there is anything so widely accepted that is more blatantly immoral than abortion. It is a disgusting act of the most horrific cruelty and, even as bad as things are, it astounds me that anyone could ever think it to be acceptable. When I see people actually cheering the legality of abortion and the fact that it is so widely available, I cannot help but think of my sisters. They were two beautiful twin baby girls who were sadly stillborn. They had death certificates but no birth certificates. I think of them because, according to the pro-abortion crowd, they were not ever even considered human. I cannot comprehend that, especially seeing the pain my parents carry with them to this day over the loss of my sisters, even after several decades have elapsed. The hurt is real and it has never gone away.

My parents have had to bury three of their five children and that is something no legitimate human being would ever want anyone on earth to experience. Yet, it seems to me that a great many do not seem capable of understanding such suffering. The pro-abortion crowd, again, would say that my sisters never really existed. I never got to see them myself but I can see them in my mind, I can see their grave with their shared headstone with the phrase, “Budded on earth to bloom in glory” and it never fails to make me emotional. I do not see how any person could not understand this. I miss them. I never laid eyes on them, but I miss them more than I could say, just as I so badly miss my older brother who has crossed over that river, so badly that thoughts of him still bring tears to my eyes. I miss my sisters growing up with me, I miss not knowing what they would have done with their lives. There is a hole in me and in my family because of their absence. I wonder what they would be doing now, would they be married, would they have children of their own? The fact that they died in the womb makes absolutely no difference. I miss them. They were real and the pain is real because they are not here. Whenever I think of a child being aborted, I think of them and I think that there is one more child, just like my identical twin sisters who never got a chance and without whom the world is a poorer place. How on earth can anyone celebrate such a thing or try to wrap such cruelty in a cloak of righteousness?

It seems utterly perverse to me that an act as heinous as killing your own children, purposely inflicting the sort of pain my parents, I know, would have given their own lives to avoid, is considered a “human right” by so many people. I cannot understand it and I know I never will. It makes me admire all the more the monarchs like HM King Baudouin of the Belgians (RIP) and HSH Prince Alois of Liechtenstein who took a stand against such barbarism. However, those names seem rather lonely even among the greatly thinned ranks of the crowned heads of Europe. True enough, the queens of Britain, The Netherlands and Denmark and the kings of Spain, Norway, Sweden and even Belgium have all seen pro-abortion laws passed in their countries. Many traditionally minded people, even monarchists, have, I know, been outraged by this. I am saddened by it but not outraged, at least not so far as the monarchs are concerned. Abortion is only one (though perhaps the worst) symptom of a vastly more widespread disease. It is evidence of a sick, irresponsible, selfish and also self-hating culture. After all, it is not as though Spain, for example, was as solidly and devoutly Catholic as during the reign of Felipe II when the Cortes one day passed a law legalizing abortion and foisted it on the people. No, the public as a whole aided or allowed those who would do such a thing to be given power and approved of the decision because their traditional morals were lost, little by little, over time.

Yet, some still blame the King, just as some blame the monarchs in other countries. Even in the case of Belgium, though it astounds me, some still blame the King for not doing more because, unlike in Liechtenstein, the opposition of the monarch was not enough to stop abortion from becoming legal. I say, what more could he have done? When a bill is presented to the King, all he can do is sign or not sign and King Baudouin refused to sign. Even in Liechtenstein, things would be quite different if the public favored abortion or considered the principle of that to be of greater value than their monarchy. If the public there had been of the same mind as the Belgians, abortion would be legal there too but, I would think, it would also be a republic as the Princely Family would either be voted out or leave voluntarily if not allowed to rule as they please. Holding a monarch responsible for this would be like holding a parent responsible for their grown child committing suicide. At some point, people have to answer for their own decisions and we cannot expect a mere monarch to be a messiah and save us from our own wickedness. Even the absolute monarchs of eras past were not so powerful as to be able to control the hearts and souls of all.

How can any one person be expected to change the morals of an entire country? The case of St Joan of Arc comes to mind. Personally, I believe that young girl was touched by the hand of God for a specific purpose. To my mind, nothing else could possibly explain her remarkable life and the fact that a near illiterate peasant girl was able to defeat the magnificent power of the armies of England. Yet, even then, Joan of Arc could not have accomplished her mission were it not for the fact that those around her made a conscious decision to follow her and fight for her. She alone could not have forced the French knights to charge the English works at Orleans against their will. No government, no matter how democratic or tyrannical, can function if a majority of the people do not support it or at least accept it. A single monarch cannot turn a population of upright and moral people into a nation of murderers and a single monarch cannot turn an entire society that has turned away from God and traditional morality back to righteousness. That is expecting far too much of them, yet that is what some seem to expect.

Consider, for a moment, what those are saying who would hold their monarch responsible for the sad state of western civilization. The people vote into power the governments which propose laws that are totally repugnant to basic human decency and then some still blame the monarch for not stopping them from doing what they were elected to do. In effect, these people are saying that it is the monarch who should save the public from their own wickedness. A constitutional monarch is quite limited and yet some seem to still mistake them for God. Perhaps even more as even the Almighty gave humanity free will and did not force people to do the right thing. In a Christian context, this would be like blaming God for our original sin because He did nothing to stop Adam and Eve from eating the apple beyond warning them not to. He told them not to eat it but they exercised their own free will and ate the infamous fruit which resulted in very real consequences.

As I hope I have made clear, I will take second place to no one in my abhorrence of abortion, and there are other issues I could cite as well but that seems the most grievous to me, so I do not want anyone thinking I am trying to give a pass to monarchs who have assented to such laws because I do not consider the issue to be all that serious. However, I have to say, those who would heap blame on monarchs for these things seem rather hypocritical or lazy to me. It seems to me that they are really expecting their monarch to save them from actually having to do the work of changing the culture by converting those around them to traditional moral values. Are all of those who blame and accuse really doing everything in their power to convince those around them of the error of their ways, to build support for a government that would be better or are they simply cutting themselves off from the wicked world and blaming their monarch for not doing their job for them?

It is a hard job and it can certainly seem unfair that we have to bear the punishment for the decisions taken by those generations of long ago. However, we were not promised a life of ease and comfort and the struggle to stay on the path of righteousness is the most arduous and unending struggle of human existence. We have to do our part just as our monarchs must do their own as well. However, how they do is for the Almighty to judge and there seems something just slightly republican to me about those who would sit in judgment of their own sovereign and rule on whether or not they have done their duty to your satisfaction. Let God be the judge of princes and let each of us focus on our own duty, stop worrying about whether the King or Queen did all they could do and worry about whether we have done all we can do to restore our countries to the straight and narrow path. I will not condemn a reigning monarch for not being able to drag people into the temple of God but I will point to the example of those like the Prince of Liechtenstein and the late King of the Belgians and applaud them for their moral courage in standing up to an insidious evil. And though my own health seems to be worsening, so long as I am able, I will keep trying to convince people to return to traditional values and traditional authority until, if God has mercy on me, I am reunited with my departed loved ones. Until that day I shall remain … The Mad Monarchist.