On April 25, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s Gregg Cunningham debated Abolish Human Abortion’s T. Russell Hunter on the topic, “Pro-life Incrementalism vs. Abolitionist Immediatism.”
In the scheme of things, the “Immediatist vs Incrementalist” debate between AHA’s T. Russell Hunter and Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s Gregg Cunningham on April 25, 2015, was iconic. AHA’s immediatist philosophy was laid bare as contradictory, confused, and even nefarious.
Most extraordinary was that Hunter came so ill prepared, after beating his chest for months for prudentialists to “choose a man, and let him come down to fight me,” in the words of Goliath.
Witnessing social movement historian and master debater Cunningham methodically take down each of AHA’s talking points, only to receive such flummoxed responses by Hunter, was a sight to behold. Cunningham was quick to challenge Hunter’s “conflated” and “binary” arguments, and with no keyboard to hide behind, Hunter’s half-baked theories, groundless accusations, and inaccurate portrayal of history were laid bare.
by Jill and Kelli
Following the tradition we started four years ago, we’re posting all the upcoming summer pro-life teen- and college-aged boot camps we found listed around the country. If we missed any, please let Kelli know.
As I’ve said before, if I had teens in the house I’d not only send them to church camp every summer, I’d send them to at least one pro-life boot camp during their high school years. These provide a great opportunity to build strength and confidence in the sanctity of life and also launch lifelong pro-life friendships.
It’s great to see so many pro-life groups in so many states sponsoring these vital training programs for our young people.
by Clinton Wilcox of Life Training Institute
On one hand, a favorite punching bag of T. Russell Hunter is pro-life fundraising.
On the other, Hunter’s group Abolish Human Abortion is incorporated, has a for-profit arm through which it sells t-shirts and other wares, and rents office space (see screen shot right; click to enlarge).
It was these contradictory positions Hunter had to balance in his April 25 debate against Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s Gregg Cunningham.
Hunter contended (1:06:10 on the video) that one reason Christians aren’t actively involved in anti-abortion activism is because they donate money to pro-life organizations to do the work for them. (See also 1:14:24-1:16:26.)
by Clinton Wilcox of Life Training Institute
It is an honor to be able to contribute to Jill’s frankly devastating critique of T. Russell Hunter’s performance in his “Immediatist vs Incrementalist debate against Gregg Cunningham.
Late in the debate (timestamps 1:05:10 to 1:07:04), Hunter made the following claim: Christians are not practicing activism at abortion clinics because they don’t trust in the power of God, they trust in incremental legislation.
During cross-examination (timestamps 1:41:32 to 1:44:56), Hunter made the same accusation, adding pastors and churches, and asked if Cunningham agreed.
Cunningham rebutted that while he agreed churches aren’t doing enough to combat abortion, it is not the fault of incremental legislation. Incremental legislation is a good thing.
Rather, Cunnngham observed:
Abolish Human Abortion followers love to use the term “straw man” to dismiss pro-life arguments that point out their inconsistencies.
(For example, during their recent “Immediatist vs Incrementalist” debate, AHA’s T. Russell Hunter called it a “very, very silly straw man” when Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s Gregg Cunningham challenged Hunter for saying he would let a secularist save the life of his 2-year-old but not let a secularist help him save the lives of children marked for abortion [beginning at 1:20:20 on the video].)
So today let’s talk about straw men.
As I start, I’d like to reiterate why I’m pursuing this multi-part analysis of the “Immediatist vs Incrementalist” debate between Abolish Human Abortion’s T. Russell Hunter and Center for Bio-Ethical Reform’s Gregg Cunningham.
In a comment to my Part II post, an antagonized Hunter called my efforts a “freaked out obsession,” to which I responded:
by Susie Allen, host of the blog, Pro-Life in TN, and Kelli
We welcome your suggestions for additions to our Top Blogs (see tab on right side of home page)! Email Susie@jillstanek.com.
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.
