I looked at my Death Clock today. That was a big mistake.

Actually, I looked at one of the many websites that will use some basic information about you to calculate your average life expectancy. The good news is I have 225 million seconds to live. The bad news is that is only about seven years. So naturally, I looked for a second opinion. The next website says 20 years to go. Much better.

The Roe v. Wade Death Clock

But then I looked at a far more accurate and deadly Death Clock. This one tracks the number of abortions in America since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its infamous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. The toll is breathtaking. Sixty-two million babies — each one made in the image of God — gone.

Digging a little deeper, the data are even more shocking. Of the 62 million babies aborted, more than 18 million (30 percent) are black babies. Yet blacks make up only about 13 percent of the population. Thus, the allegation of black genocide. Since abortion is voluntary (with undeniably coercive exceptions), that allegation of genocide seems hyperbolic. Yet, it is indisputable that the outcome is the same as if it were attempted genocide.

By the way, according to published research Planned Parenthood alone accounts for more than 8.6 million of those total abortions since 1970. And yes, significant portions of its federal funding still remain intact. Incredible.

We Are Living in a Culture of Death

One thing is undeniable. We are living in a culture of death.

Now it is true that in a spiritual sense we have lived in a culture of death ever since the fall of mankind into sin and death so many millennia ago. The Scripture tells us that the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of those who are perishing (2 Corinthians 4:4) and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). Jesus Himself called Satan the father of lies and a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). He remains our ardent adversary who “prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

A Startling Moment of Darkness

One of those “devoured” in startling circumstances was Tine Nys, a 38-year-old Belgian woman. She was put to death (euthanized is the polite euphemism) by Belgium’s physician-assisted suicide apparatus. She must have been very sick, right? Some terminal illness? She had Asperger’s Syndrome.

Asperger’s, as you may know, is a high-functioning form of autism. It presents a wide range of characteristics, from awkwardness in social settings due to speech and language challenges to depression and anxiety. But remarkably, Asperger’s sometime comes with special abilities, ranging from high IQ to amazing focus, persistence, and analytical ability.

But in Belgium’s death culture, Asperger’s was enough to do away with Tine Nys. In a moment of darkness, she asked to be euthanized. She was one of more than 124 people (over a ten-year period) euthanized solely for mental or behavioral disorders.

Death by Dehydration

Things are no better in the neighboring Netherlands. Fifteen years after decriminalizing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, more than 25 percent of all deaths in the nation are induced — rather than by illness or other natural causes. And in 2017, some 32,000 Dutch people died under what is called palliative sedation. In theory these died while sedated to avoid physical discomfort. But in actuality, many die of dehydration while unconscious. A culture of death on steroids.

But let’s get a spiritual grip here. There is little question that the darkness is getting darker. The real question is: What are we to do in a culture cloaked in the depths of darkness? The answer is to shine the light of Truth — for darkness is by definition the absence of light. For those who are in Christ, we have been entrusted with the light of God’s Word — sharper than any two-edged sword. This is a time to stand for truth and defend the freedom of those most vulnerable in our midst. This is a time to stand for life in a culture of death.

Frank Wright, Ph.D., is President and CEO of D. James Kennedy Ministries, DJKM.org.