Reflections on the Roman Defense of the Right to Life on the Eve of the Feast of the Nativity

As we prepare to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity, a reflection on how the Romans defended the right to life would be enlightening. The Romans had defeated Carthage, their Mediterranean rival in the first two Punic Wars in the Third Century Before Christ. As a result, the Carthaginians were no longer a military or economic threat. But Rome destroyed the North African city in the early Second Century B.C. in a third war strictly because of its cultural threat. The Romans practiced multiculturalism the reasonable way, accepting what they thought was good from other cultures and rejecting what they thought was not. The Carthaginians worshipped a god they called “Moloch,” to whom they sacrificed babies, a practice the Romans regarded as barbaric. Therefore, the Romans destroyed the Carthaginians’ entire civilization because it was evil. Today, some people worship a god called “Choice” to whom they sacrifice babies. They make idols of Privacy and Convenience. Worshipping such false gods undermines the right to life of all human beings, who are created equally human by their Creator. We should remember that the Romans defended the right to life of babies as we commemorate the birth two thousand years ago of a Child in their Empire.