The March for Life is Not Enough

Welcome home to all those who have recently returned from the march on our nation’s capital, and thank you for standing up and being counted for life!!  It truly is an inspiration to see the number of people that make their way through the ice cold snow and refuse to be silent, especially when the majority of those people are our youth.

I’ve heard it said so many times, even at the March for Life Vigil at the Basillica of the Immaculate Conception, “The youth are the future of the pro-life movement.” To which there is always tremendous applause.  However, I disagree with that statement and any statement that sends across that message.  Not that the youth aren’t important, but rather the youth are the pro-life movement now!!

We (I still consider myself to be pretty young) have been ushered into this movement by those that have come before us.  They have set us up for success. They have blazed the trails.  They have made the laws. They have set the rules. They have written the books. They have opposed the arguments. They have found the answers. They have been a part of the solution for 41+ years. I am tremendously grateful for them and everything that they have done.

But now it is our time!! No offense to any of the people that have been in this work for ages, but when you get older you start to move a little slower. Not through any fault of your own, but it is a fact of life. Another thing that happens when you get older, for some reason our society has stopped listening to the elders, saying that they need to catch up with the times.  In times before, the older people were, the more they were sought for wisdom and guidance. We respected those of old age.  But now, old age goes hand in hand with religious zealots who need to get with the times and learn how to use a computer. It’s very unfortunate.  But because of this, we must now take the torch that they have set aflame.

We must act now!! We are the pro-life movement of today!! I call all youth to step up and make a difference.  For some reason, abortion proponents think that pro-lifers will just die out.  It is time to show them that they are horribly and incredibly mistaken.  The pro-life movement is alive, strong, and kicking harder than it ever has.  If you don’t believe me, look at pictures and videos of the march.  Watch interviews and read the blogs. The number of young people there is incredible.

However, the March for Life is not enough.  It is not the end all and be all of the pro-life movement. You cannot attend this march and think, “Oh, I’ve completed my pro-life duty for the year.”  There is much, much more to be done.  And I challenge you to do it.

What do we need?  We need strong, courageous young people to step up and make a difference.  We need people who are ready to commit their lives to bringing an end to injustice. Do you think that segregation came to an end because a bunch of people marched.  No!! The injustice of segregation and the legality of racism was brought to an end because people committed themselves to the cause.

They were arrested, they were abused, they were mistreated, they were beaten, they were bruised, and yes they were even killed, fighting for their cause.  This is why their march had such an impact.  It was because they could and would be arrested for marching.  They could and would be arrested for conducting sit ins.  If someone spoke out against the injustice, they were marked for abuse.  Should we expect any less?  I’m not encouraging violence, but rather non-violent direct action will bring us to negotiations.

Yes, this work is difficult, but it is needed.  The generations that have come before us have prepared the fields, but now we need laborers to tend the harvest.  I promise you that there will be times when you think you cannot do this.  I promise you that there will be people that constantly insult you and hate you.  I promise you that there may be times where it seems like you are fighting a battle that you cannot win.

However, I promise you that we will win.  I promise you that your purpose will be fulfilled.  I promise you that the friends you make will outnumber your enemies.  I promise you that you will save lives.  I promise you that you will change hearts and minds.  I promise you that the injustice of abortion will come to an end.

But in order for these promises to happen you must take the first step.  You must fight for life. You must make a stand.  If not you, then who.  If not now, then when.  If you truly believe that abortion is taking the life of a living human organism, then you must act on it.  You must take a stand against it.  I encourage you to get involved.  Don’t know how…ask me.  I’ll help you out.

First things first, get educated.  Why?  Because, did you know that it is not just a belief that abortion takes the life of a living human organism, it is a scientific fact.  It cannot be debated. We are not in this because of a mere belief, we are in this because we know that 1.3 million people are being murdered each year.  If you think that it is ok to sit by and let this happen, then you are wrong.  Every person who strives for goodness and equality should be doing something to bring this genocide to an end.

I challenge you again. Get involved.  Many of you can start now.  Some of you can actually dedicate your lives to this.  There are many people that can’t do this work, but who are willing to pay for this work to be done.  I bet that you know at least a few of them, and you could be one of them.  Support raising is a legitimate means of devoting your life to a cause.

I ask you to join me in full time ministry against the works of the abortion industry.  Why? Because abortion will not come to an end until there are more people working full time against it than there are people working full time for it.

We have to make a stand and say, No more! No more will I sit by and watch the injustice of abortion take the lives of my brothers and sisters. No more will I allow for the violence of abortion to run freely through my state.  No more will I allow countless women to be violated and torn from the inside.  No more will I allow my sisters to be told that they can’t handle a child.  No more will I allow society to tell women that they aren’t strong enough, smart enough, or ready to bring a child into this world.  Women are so much stronger than abortion gives them credit for.  No more will I sit still and shut my mouth when 3,500 children are being murdered a day.  No more will I let blood flow through our streets.  No more will I sit idly by and let evil reign.

Evil’s reign has come to an end.  Be the Voice in the Desert crying out, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”  Justice will come.  Good will prevail.  We will bring an end to the injustice in our world, if we actually work to do so.

For those who aren’t religious:  I know that there are many who don’t believe in God that are also in the cause for life, and I thank you.  By the light of reason you have come to understand the injustice of abortion and I ask you to fight along side me as well.  Your commitment to bringing an end to abortion is very much appreciated.  Thank you for your service as well.

Again, I wish to thank the generations that have come before us and set us up for success.  You have been extremely amazing.  But now, it is our time!!  We will bring an end to abortion, if you do something to stop it.

In God’s Infinite and Eternal Love,

Please keep in mind that if you disagree with anything I said, please bring it to my attention and you may prove me wrong or we can discuss.

Why We March

So…there I was, sitting in an airport, about to leave for Washington DC for the Geaux Forth Youth Rally and other March for Life events. I was soo super pumped!! But preparing for this trip called me to reflect on something very important. The question, “Why do we march?” Seriously!! What is the purpose of hundreds of thousands of people traveling to our nation’s Capital to “March for Life”? Does it really make a difference?  Will this annual gathering just continue to happen?

This one question, “Why do we march?” brings so many other questions along with it. But while I was being bombarded by my brain with all of these questions, 3 things came to mind. 1) Letter from a Birmingham Jail. 2) Evangelium Vitae. 3) 1 Peter 3:14-16.

1) Letter from a Birmingham Jail

In this letter, written by Martin Luther King Jr., he responds to a number of pastors that have questioned his purpose of traveling to Birmingham to march for civil rights. As a quick aside, we must recognize that the civil rights movement, at it’s very heart, was a movement and fight for the acknowledgement of the equal and unchanging value of every human person.

Now, while MLK Jr. was sitting in jail, he decided that he had nothing better to do than to respond to the letters from the pastors. In response to his presence in Birmingham, King writes, “…I am in Birmingham because injustice is here“(emphasis mine).  He continues, “Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states, I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.  We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”(emphasis mine)

These words ring true today as well.  This “inescapable network of mutuality” ties together people of all races, genders, beliefs, and even ages.  This “mutuality” that Dr. King speaks of is the bond of the living human organism.  He speaks of the fact that we are all tied together and knows that when we devalue one, we can devalue others.  Also, he speaks to the fact that the betterment of the living human organism is better for society, whereas when the living human organism is made to be less than what he/she is, society suffers.

Just as Dr. King was in Birmingham because injustice was there, we are here in our nation’s Capital because injustice is here.  We have been fighting this injustice for 41 years.  This March for Life has been happening for 41 years.  But why march?  Why this direct action of marching at our nation’s Capital?  Dr. King says, “You may well ask: ‘Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?’  You are quite right in calling for negotiation.  Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action.  Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.  It seeks to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.”

Well what’s the problem?  We’ve been marching and taking direct action for 41 years, but for some reason the injustice of abortion is still being ignored.  I think it is because we lack the ability to “create a crisis and foster such a tension”.  Each year, hundreds of thousand of people from around the country travel to DC and put their money in the nations Capital to march for 2 hours.  How is this going to change the governments mind.  Few if any of the elected officials will even be in the DC area for the March this year.  How will this have any impact on them? How will they hear about it?  The media won’t help.  They pretend that we don’t exist.

We have to act outside of just being here at the March.  We have to push for acknowledgement.  We have to do something different.  One definition I’ve heard for insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.  I know that each year the March adds new and exciting things, and hey, I’m here in DC right now, but do we really expect a different result.  We must do something differently.  I’m not saying that I know what we can do differently, but I am acknowledging that something different must happen if we are expecting different results.  Maybe bring on a few famous people that happen to be pro-life. Give them some material, put them in the front of the March.  Maybe we can garnish some recognition from news sources besides FOX News or EWTN. Granted, maybe the leaders have tried that before, and again, I humbly say that I don’t know the solution, but there has to be something we can do besides pouring millions of dollars into the Capital’s tourism funds.

Now, at the same time, I want to encourage more and more people to come together to show the nation and the world that we are Pro-Life and that we will not be silent, but something must be done in order to actually show the nation that we even exist.  If we are not here to “create such a crisis and foster such a tension” as to move us into negotiation, then why are we here?

2. Evangelium Vitae

Soon to be St. Pope John Paul the II wrote this beautiful encyclical on the “Value and Inviolability of Human Life” titled Evangelium Vitae.  This masterpiece calls and further explains “the Gospel of life” which “is at the heart of Jesus’ message.”  I want to call attention to one paragraph in particular.  It reads, “To all the members of the Church, the people of life and for life, I make this most urgent appeal, that together we may offer this world of ours new signs of hope, and work to ensure that justice and solidarity will increase and that a new culture of human life will be affirmed, for the building of an authentic civilization of truth and love.”(emphasis mine)

This “urgent appeal” to “all the members of the Church” and to “the people of life and for life” is a call for “new signs of hope”.  How do we offer these “new signs of hope” in order to ensure the increase of justice and solidarity?  Well, I think that the March for Life is one way to do that. Year after year the number of young Pro-Lifers at the March increases.  From Louisiana in the past 4 years, we have gone from 400 to 1400 just on the known Youth Pilgrimages (not including any Lafayette groups).  A growth of an average of 250 students per year.  That may not seem like a whole lot, but if there is growth like that across the country, then things start to heat up.  If we continue to grow, and being Pro-Life becomes more of a thing for young people to get involved in, then these new signs of hope will bring an end to the injustice of abortion.

The March for Life is the perfect place for these students to come and be inspired by the number of people, touched by the powerful testimonies, and educated by the phenomenal speakers.  However, I have heard of too many groups that come to check out the sights and do the March and then they are done.  Do those groups even know what they participated in?  We must strive harder to reach these young people’s hearts and minds the very minute they sign up for this March.  We must educate them on the issues and teach them the facts, but we must also teach them compassion and love.  If we give them tons of information, without teaching them first how to love, they will push away more people than they will convince of the truth.

Again, I think that the March for Life is the perfect place for these students to come, however the trips must be done appropriately.  If they come and just pour money into the area without understanding why they are here, then we have failed them.  If they come and check out the sights, but do not see the injustice that is occurring in our nation, then we have failed them.  If they come and do not go back home with an intensity and passion for life, but had a fun trip, then we have failed them.  We cannot, we must not fail our young people.  We need more ways to reach out to their hearts and their minds so that we can show them what it means to be passionately Pro-Life.

This is one purpose of Geaux Forth.  Geaux Forth is an event that is run by Louisiana Right to Life.  The goal is to educate, motivate, and activate students that have made their way here from Louisiana, and send them home with this new passion and spirit to fight for life.  We have great speakers from across the nation and Canada, who come to share, with our students, their passion and knowledge in order that the students hearts and minds be better formed and they become more edified.  Honestly, I do not know about every single event that happens in the DC area, during the March for Life, but from my experience, this is one of few that actually seek to educate the students (please note that this is from my own personal experience).

Education is a very powerful tool.  If the truth is taught, it is difficult to refute.  Many people try to water down the situation for our young people.  I’m not entirely sure why.  They are the ones that have been denied friends and family members because of this.  They are the ones that are the survivors.  They are the ones that will fill the shoes of the heroes that have gone before us, but how can they fill those shoes without knowing the gravity of the situation.  Too many hearts and lives are being lost to this.  We must act now.

3. 1 Peter 3:14-16

This brings me to the last thing that came to my mind.  1 Peter 3:14-16 “14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed.  Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.  Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”

Particular emphasis on the second half. “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.” I want to encourage you to become educated so that you can make that defense to anyone. It is not enough to say, “God doesn’t like abortion.” We have to be able to talk with people and use facts. Scientific facts and philosophical discussion is how we are to talk with people. Why? Because meeting people where they are is what Jesus did. We need to take the time to learn the facts and arguments, of both sides, so that we can understand our position better.

Now I want to focus on the very end of the verse. It says, “yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” I think a lot of times, people forget this part. Gentleness and reverence are extremely important and you cannot let it fall by the wayside. We must treat people with the respect and dignity that they deserve. The respect and dignity that each person deserves is not based on what they have done or will do with their lives, but rather that they are living human organisms, and because of that, deserve equality.

So…yeah, that’s where my brain takes me sometimes. I don’t want to claim that everything I said is 100% Gospel truth, but rather just what I was thinking about different things. Please feel free to discuss with me. I do not claim to know everything and truly enjoy intellectual discussion.

In God’s Infinite and Eternal Love,