Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Once again, let us look at what happened after 1973 when America went pro choice

Before 1973 the intellectuals who had been developed in religious universities were respected and articles by such thinkers as Paul Tillich were even printed on the editorial pages. The activities of such activists as the Berrigan brother priests were reported in the news, even when they headed anti-war protests. One of these protesters, a veteran named John Kerry, a Catholic, even rose in such importance as to become the democratic candidate who ran against George Bush. By that time, he had abandoned his pro life beliefs as did Al Gore, another politician who started his career in politics as pro life but became pro choice to became Clinton's running mate.
Thanks to the legalizing of abortion religious pro life viewpoints disappeared. Reagan, a republican by then, even went pro choice, it was believed, in order to get the support of Hollywood who it was feared might not support a pro life candidate for president.
Instead many columnists from newspapers such as the Boston Globe, Washington Post, New York Times etc were printed regularly who were able to put a positive spin on legalized abortion repeating such successful slogans as, "It is woman's right to choose what to do with her own body." These included powerful women columnists like Maureen Dowd, a New York newspaper columnist, Molly Ivins from Texas and Ellen Goodman writing for the Boston Globe.
In hooking up to national pro life activists this last year more than I ever have, I found out that their view of the media pretty well matched my own. They concurred in the opinion that the press did not support pro life activism. In fact, pro life activists were on their own gathering in Washington to attempt to rally enough pro life congress members to block abortion funding from being included in the Obama-Democratic party health care plan. My own liberal pro choice newspaper, the Arizona Republic, finally grudgingly conceded that for the first time pro life activists were able to make a national impression with their fight against government abortion funding.
The attitude of the pro choice press seems to have been to make it as tough on pro life activists as possible to get favorable press, or indeed publicity at all.
So there has been a dearth of input for years from pro life thinkers printed in the newspapers.
So when a woman like Sarah Palin becomes a pro life activist making speeches on the subject I sit up and take notice. It has been part of her run for president. This is the biggest break the cause has gotten in years, and I intend to make the most of it.
Most Sarah Palin critics do not seem to think more than a million abortion deaths a year is even important. I thought when Reagen was running, and went pro choice, what a disappointment. Al Gore. John Kerry. Ted Kennedy. None of them stayed pro life. All went pro choice. The Bush presidents both put pro life on their platforms but both of their wives, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush have gotten a great deal of publicity by announcing they are pro choice. If those two guys could not even persuade their wives to go pro life, I don't know who else they could influence.
When I hooked up to the 40 Days for Life ministry this fall run by Catholics I developed a great deal of respect for the Catholic priests involved. I respect people of Mormon faith, the church I grew up in, for their strong pro life support, but Mitt Romney waffling on this issue cost him my support and that of many pro life activists. I do not believe that he would make a strong case for life if he were to be the republican presidential candidate.
I don't know if Sarah Palin can make it all the way to a run for president, but right now I think the biggest good she is doing is calling attention to the results of years of legalized abortion in this country and many other countries in the world. This takes guts and a great leap in faith.
I applaud her speeches to pro life groups, her hook ups to pro life political office holders across the land.
Her grasp on historical fact might not be as good as some people's but her grasp on the value of a child's life is extraordinary. As usual, the pro choice people or the ones who just don't care will try to denigrate her intelligence from now on, but I don't think she is going to back down. As long as there are some people in the United States who think what she is saying is valuable, I think she will be out there saying it, just as I will.
I will die saying it. I have been a pro life activist since 1973. I have written volumes of letters of protest on this issue, even when I knew none of them would be published. The newspapers promised they would be read, and I had to settle for years for that. But I did not let abortion propaganda go without protest, not one column if I could help it. I focused on the pro choice media because I felt that they were apt to do the most harm, teaching a one sided view to the young.
The young do not know about the pro life intellectuals who have spent their lives fighting such wrongs as abortion. I have been told by Catholics that some activists in their ranks spend all day long writing protest letters. This is pretty much what I have done, spent hours and hours writing letters and thus honing my thinking about this issue.
Because abortion was so abruptly legalized in my time, it has become my primary work for 35 years. I have worked on other issues but none have required so much effort as legalized abortion. Things changed so drastically when it was legalized. When you are always watching and taking the pulse of the newspaper you notice every change alarming to you.
Abortionists started to get a big play in my newspaper, Planned Parenthood heads, to say nothing of the columnists gone pro choice. Being legal made a big difference. Young people reading these newspapers and being influenced by them, by TV, talk shows, could not know what it was like before. What dismay I felt as civilization as I knew it began to go down the drain. Being pro choice was glamorized, made to seem sophisticated, embraced by Hollywood movie stars, top models, stage actresses, TV stars.
Nobody seemed to miss those activists that protest wars and now had a holocaust of the yet to be born to protest, and could not get publicity one eventually. Pro choice ruled!
Well, activists who really believe that violent solutions are wrong do not go away, they can't, they have to keep doing the work, trying to impress somebody. Because that is how wrongs must be dealt with if we are make any advances in becoming civilized less violent people.
I say less violent because I think there will always be violence. But the less violent we are, the more we can accomplish. I really believe that. The less violent we are the more we can come to a consensus of opinion, the better we can work together.
I say acknowledge the violence in your solutions if you really want to move forward. Quit trying to justify violence. If a law legalizes killing it is bound to be wrong. It is like war. Perpetual war. I don't believe in it, I don't believe war is the best solution and I always work for less war. I don't believe abortion is a good solution and I will always work for the preservation of the child, seeking non violent ways to control child bearing.

3 comments:

Paula said...

Gerry in answer to your question I don't know about cows bloating on cabbage but I would bet they could. I think around here it is clover but not too often. You probably know if they find them in time they make them walk or stick a pin in them. I think its a pin and I couldn't believe this when John first told me.

Gerry said...

My dad would stick a knife in them, but they would rarely save them when they got down, so we had to be on the alert all the time when the cows came home from summering on their mountain range so they would not bloat on the green alfalfa still growing in the fields.

kanyonland King 2.blogspot.com said...

Yes, we tried to keep the cows alive, and pulled the calves when needed. No one ever thought of letting a baby die...if it could live. At least I didn't think they did until I knew pro-choice meant killing children. I was appalled.


Herrad

Blog Archive