Tolerating child sacrifice invites national judgment — doing justice forestalls it

§ 1 The argument

Scripture warns that a nation which permits the killing of children, and 'disregards' those who do it, brings God's face against itself (Lev. 20:1-5), and that nations are judged by their treatment of 'the least of these' (Matt. 25). Abolitionists identify abortion as functional child sacrifice and argue that establishing justice is not only obedience but the way a nation forestalls divine judgment — exactly as anti-slavery abolitionists warned Britain that trafficking in slaves would bring 'a day of retribution.'

§ 2 Supporting points

• Leviticus 20:1-5 assigns guilt both to the one who sacrifices a child and to the community that looks away.
• Matthew 25:41-45 judges nations by their care for the most vulnerable.
• The anti-slavery abolitionists framed abolition as forestalling God's wrath on the nation (Wilberforce, 1791).
• Ecclesiastes 8:11: unpunished evil multiplies — an empirical as well as moral warning.

§ 3 Discussion questions

1. Leviticus warns the nation that 'disregards' child sacrifice, not only the one who commits it. What is the modern equivalent of disregarding it?
2. If nations are judged by their care for the most vulnerable, where do the unborn fit?

§ 4 Related

§ 5 References