Pro-life activists: Suffering the consequences; an abnormal life
Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life has an inspiring op ed up at LifeSiteNews.com. The whole thing is good. Hard to excerpt, but I’ll try…
[W]hat the pro-life movement needs most [are] people who say, “I’m willing to suffer the consequences.”
The children living and growing in the womb right now endure a great risk without having chosen it. They live in a place that has become more dangerous than any battlefield or terrorist target, and their lives hang in the balance at every moment….
We who defend these children have to choose to accept a share in that risk. That is solidarity. We bear willingly the risk they bear unwillingly. Many ask what they need to do to stop abortion. But most know the answer already. They see the next step to take, but are just trying to muster up the courage to do it. Risk is involved, and there’s no way around it. We’re afraid to speak and to act….
We are always told of reasons why we can’t speak up against abortion. If we speak in Church, we’re told it’s too political; if we speak in the political arena, we’re told it’s too religious. If we speak in the media we’re told it’s too disturbing; in the educational realm, it’s too disruptive. On the public streets, it’s too distressing for children; in the business world it’s too controversial, in the family it’s too divisive, and in social settings it’s just impolite. So if abortion is wrong, where do we go to say so?
The answer is we have to stop looking for a risk-free place to fight abortion, and speak up in all those arenas! There is a calculus in the heavens that says, “Greater love than this nobody has, than to lay down his life for his friends.” If we want to protect the unborn, let’s be willing to give our lives for them. Let’s stop counting the cost for ourselves if we speak up and start counting the cost for them if we are silent. The pro-life movement does not need a lot of people; it needs people who are willing to take a lot of risk.
I agree Christians and pro-lifers sometimes count our personal cost to the extreme, to the point of incapacitation. But Jesus counted the cost and then walked forward to die.
Along the same line, Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America wrote in an email alert today…
Last week, my husband, Jonathan, and I took our boys out to dinner to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. On our way, he and I were discussing how different our lives are now than when we were first married, and how much our plans have changed.
Then Jonathan said something I’ve been reflecting in on since. He said, “Sometimes, I wish we had normal lives. It feels like we are right in the middle of the greatest civil rights battle our country has ever seen.”
I thought to myself: “how true.” The fact is, as pro-lifers, we don’t live normal lives, and we can’t because we ARE in the middle of the greatest civil right battle in our nation’s history.
How can we sit back and settle for a “normal” life when our actions (or inaction) now will be viewed by future generations as either enabling or ending preborn genocide?
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Compared to other social justice movements over the course of history, we have it relatively easy. Yes, some pro-lifers receive violence and/or threats of violence. I don’t mean to discount those experiences. But as Father Frank’s comments suggest, it’s more common for pro-lifers to be held back merely by fear of social stigma. Come on, guys– the foes of Jim Crow willingly went to prison! And you’re going to be silenced by a disapproving glance?
Mea culpa.
Well, if we don’t act NOW….WHAT future generations?
“Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us neither be dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers, nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead, where the battle rages, let us find ourselves. Run towards the roar of the lion! Run towards the roar of battle! That is where Christ’s most glorious victories shall be won.” ~ Boniface
My prayer is that neither comforts nor our fears of death & man keep us from fighting for what is just. I will not be silent about my abortions & am willing to do whatever it takes to save children from death & save women from the horrible regret I go to sleep with every night.
Families do not speak to one another over this “issue” … I refuse to be silenced by societal pressures – I count it all joy when I get the middle finger pointing to the heavens when I am praying outside the abortuary. For many years I was silent – no longer can I be silent.
Those who work at the abortion mills truly do believe they are doing right – we must be advocates for them before the throne of God. We must believe that our prayers make a difference and that the abortion workers will understand that they are worthy of being prayed for, they are worthy of God’s love.
Treat all with dignity and respect – speak out like John the Baptist – the consequences are GREAT!
Tell me who’d have thought that we would be so controversial
And stand against the normal
Are we too outspoken, loud, and messing up the comfortable?
Well we’ve been messed up also
But how can we be silent
When a fire burns inside us
’Cause we’re a million strong and getting stronger still
They’ll remember we were here
With a million voices breaking silence still
They’ll remember we were here
We were made to start the riot, take on the impossible
And we will slay the giants
We are done with fake religion fighting now to find the movement
Won’t stop till we find it
But how can we be silent
When a fire burns inside us
’Cause we’re a million strong and getting stronger still
They’ll remember we were here
With a million voices breaking silence still
They’ll remember we were here
We’re a million strong and getting stronger still
They’ll remember we were here
With a million voices breaking silence still
They’ll remember we were here
Million Voices, by Barlow Girl
“Well, if we don’t act NOW….WHAT future generations?” – how fatuous. Not all pregnancies are terminated.
“Those who work at the abortion mills truly do believe they are doing right” – you disagree with them but that doesn’t mean they are wrong.
“– we must be advocates for them before the throne of God.” – did they ask you?
“We must believe that our prayers make a difference and that the abortion workers will understand that they are worthy of being prayed for, they are worthy of God’s love” – that’s your choice. If there was a god then yes, they are worthy of being prayed for and of god’s love.
Written by Abby from Bound4LIFE International
Idk how i feel about this article it didn’t seem to really say much other then run circles around the belief to not abort. With this ever changing world, “some” people in areas that are less developed could benefit from abortion. Considering we live in a country lf many relgions, not everyone shares the same believe. I’m pregnant now; I wouldn’t get an abortion. I think the option to abort should be last, unlike it being the first thing brought up. “are you gonna keep it?” duh, its my baby! Abortion should only be allowed up to a certain amount of weeks unless there is a medical reason.
What i am saying is i am pro choice, despite my actions are prolife, people will goto their grave with their guilt let them deal with it in the end.
Reality: “If there was a god then yes, they are worthy of being prayed for and of god’s love.”
Why? Your proposition certainly doesn’t follow from any ethic pro-choicers apply to the worth of the unborn.
Are you implying that if there’s a God, the pro-choice ethic of de-valuing human life is itself called into question?