I really get tired of being everybody's whipping boy, you know? Our local newspaper ran a story on 40 Days for Life. I don't know what the rest of my comrades were expecting. They seem to run with the theory that any publicity is good publicity. However, I was expecting something to be said about 40 Days for Life and our mission to save babies, maybe a few comments on how life begins at conception or the dangers of abortion to women (what was I thinking? I mean, really?). Instead, the article chose to focus on the controversial and graphic signs that we've been using this year. (I can't find the article back. It was published by the Kitsap Sun.) They made us sound like idiots using ineffective and offensive means to interfere with the legitimate business of a community partner for whom "abortion constitutes only 4 to 8 percent of their business."
Granted, the signs are very disturbing. They show pictures of early abortions, babies that have been dismembered. That's what abortion is. I'm not always comfortable with the signs. Sometimes I think they're very effective. Sometimes I think we'd be better off leaving abortion as a concept in people's minds and just using words. Sometimes the signs make me a little sick, (especially when I'm riding a hormone wave). But people need to appreciate that what we're showing with that sign is what's happening inside that clinic behind us. "4 to 8 percent of their business" equals 10 to 15 babies who meet that fate every two weeks. That's 300 children a year. Don't those children deserve to have their fates known?
The part that makes me feel the worst is that I know we are trying to save our community from a great evil, and being portrayed like this makes me feel like we've been kicked in the teeth. I know that we're blessed when people to say bad things about us because we stand up for what is right (Matthew 5), and I pray that these cursings will turn out to be blessings. Like the Apostle Paul told Timothy (2 Tim. 4: 1-5), people aren't going to listen to sound doctrine. They're going to listen to people who will tell them what they want to hear so as not to be inconvenienced. I suppose as a society, we're no more corrupt than any other society that has risen to the top of the world -- Rome, Constantinople, the medieval Court of Love. Lovers of self, lovers of money, not lovers of God or good, disobedient, disrespectful -- these are all the marks of human nature apart from God, and we were a part of that nature too before He saved us (Eph. 2: 3). So we keep going. After all, they can't make us leave.
But in brighter news, BooBoo is walking, and I have proof! We finally managed to capture her halting steps on video. And she's also developing other skills too. What a busy little bee I have! Praise God for life in all its tiny miracles.
2 comments:
Sorry your message was distorted. 1 baby a year is too much and I am glad you are a voice for those who cannot speak. It's such a shame.
The signs do sound disturbing- but abortion is disturbing.
Way to go with walking. I love,love, love, when babies learn to walk. So cute!!!
Walking AND drinking! She's a pro! :D
Ian's almost running, although we call it "linear falling", because it seems he's just going fast because he's trying to keep up with the momentum the weight of his head is creating.
As for the signs . . . you might have read my post at my blog about them. I didn't know they were part of your movement, but I wondered. I found them too disturbing for street corners where people should be concentrating on driving, not worrying about their children and explanations about disembodied baby body parts – when it's hard enough to explain where the baby comes from in the first place. I understand the importance of the message, but can't say I agree with the delivery – if that makes sense. :)
I wouldn't mind that kind of protest around an actual abortion clinic – even on the street outside an abortion clinic. But on random street corners? Where people are forced to stop at the light and stare at the sign (it's like a train wreck – I can't look away!)? I'm afraid the negative impact might outweigh the positive.
I do applaud your dedication to the subject, though. You have inspired me to think more critically about a subject that is usually just marked "socially complicated" in my brain, and develop convictions on it, myself.
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