In the Heat of the Night

Back in 1967, more than forty years ago, "In the Heat of the Night" was a movie that was meant to bring some racial things to light, and to give actors like Sidney Poitier a leading role in a money making movie. Some looked at this movie as a way of opening up doors for other minority actors to make it 'big'.

To me, it was good chance to see Sidney Poitier again. I had seen him in "A Patch of Blue" a couple of years earlier and enjoyed it immensely. There were characters in the detective movie that I didn't care for. One of these was the deputy. Another one was the diner guy. He just seemed so dirty. And the chief wasn't a favorite either. One of the worst though was the woman Sidney's character, "Mr. Tibbs" went to see in her little store.

This story wasn't just about a colored man who deserved respect and failed to get it because of his skin. It was about a teenager who evidently didn't have any moral compass to guide her, used her body to gain the interest of grown men, and engaged in sexual activity with them. Sexual activity involving a girl under the age of consent with grown men... who know better or don't.... is a crime.

This activity led to pregnancy, a man being murdered for his money, a framing of others for the crime and a planned abortion to cover up the reasons and dispose of evidence. The murder of the child would be paid for with the stolen money from the murder of the wealthy man.

The guy who had sex with the girl took her to the woman's place for the second murder to take place. Her brother found out, Mr. Tibbs was there, a gun fight ensued and the rapist/murderer was killed. But Mr. Tibbs, when asked by the woman who performed abortions if she was going to be put in jail, declined to arrest her.

We all know that the planned and forced death and expulsion of a baby from its mother has been made 'legal', but it is no less repulsive than it was when that movie was made. In fact, it's worse because it is now abundantly clear to all that what is being 'expelled by force' is a baby human, with a beating heart, a working brain and nerve endings to its little fingers and toes. And young girls no longer go to see an old aunt Martha, Mary or Sue for a few months. They go down to the local 'clinic' and pay to kill the baby instead of having him/her and giving them up for adoption. 

Unborn babies can hear, suck their thumbs, hiccup, and a lot of other things they do after birth. Ultra sound and other technology has advanced so far that many mothers take home their baby's first photo from the doctor's office a few weeks into the pregnancy and not from the hospital after birth.

And yet, there are still people who are okay with, and even promote, the killing. How many babies would be allowed to live if more people had a moral compass to guide them? Only God knows. But there are many of us who care.