As abolitionists we believe that no place in the public square is exempt from our efforts of agitation and assistance to eventually bring abortion to an end. In the words of William Lloyd Garrison,
“Henceforth I am ready on all days, on all convenient occasions, in all suitable places, before any sect or party, at whatever perils to my person, character or interest, to plead the cause of my colored countrymen in particular, or of human rights in general. For this purpose, there is no day too holy, no place improper, no body of men too inconsiderable to address….”
Almost without exception there is an argument made against us, if you can even call it an argument, that our presence in location X, is just the wrong place for us to be. Or it is the wrong time. Or it is both. We are forever told we should be somewhere else.
What seems to be forgotten, or at least there seems to be attempt to make us forget, is that there is a real slaughter of real people happening every day in our land. The sense of urgency has been lost on many and there seems to be a belief that there are efforts to save these children that are just too radical or too zealous. There seems to be a sentiment that the time and place to fight for the lives of the pre-born is sometime later and some place else.
At the high schools this argument often comes in the form of this objection, “How dare you show these ugly pictures to my child!” There is a very distorted an upside down mindset that the possibility of upsetting someone’s high school aged son or daughter is a greater evil than the certainty of someone else’s pre-born child being dismembered. In other words, in the economy of many high school parents, the feelings of their born son or daughter, trumps the life of another’s pre-born son or daughter.
As abolitionists we reject this proposition. We reject first of all that there is no sense of urgency. There is a real urgency. And I guarantee if any of these parents, faculty, staff or students at these high schools were actually in danger of being murdered by a state sanctioned “right”, and that most of the culture believed it to be a valid choice to do so, these people might think differently about the urgency of the matter.
When we as abolitionists follow the commandment to “love our neighbor as ourself” we do indeed ask the question, what if it was my own self that could be forcefully removed from my home and torn to pieces at any moment simply because a stronger person decided I was in the way or that my existence was inconvenient to their existence. It changes things when you think about it that way which is probably why God worded it that way.
It is natural to love ourselves. And we go way out of our way to protect ourselves. And we are to do the same for our neighbors especially those who are defenseless and without a voice. These are the ones whose own parents are not only failing to defend them, but are actually murdering them. These are the ones who are so poor they have no clothing on their backs. These are the ones whose only defenders are a remnant of people who are resisted and despised at every turn.
It will probably never cease to amaze me that people who get so animated and irritated by the images of abortion being presented in their path, are the same people who support abortion rights and demand that it remain lawful. Or they are the same people who believe their “peace” and cool of their day should not be interrupted by the plight of the pre-born. The self-absorption and narcism is off the charts really. And it is at such a level that it can almost persuade you of your apparent wrongdoing in their eyes.
But make no mistake abolitionists, this is exactly what the Scriptures talk about when it refers to those that “call evil good and good evil”. And we, grounded in God’s word and the critical truths therein, must be the voice reason in al the madness and the light in utter darkness. That is what God has us here for. To carry on the work of Christ and destroy the works of the devil. And do not waver when people tell you that you are wrong to do so. Do not flinch when people try to convince you that their feelings are more important than the lives of those being killed.
Abortion is murder. The children being murdered are the “least of these” and are made in the image of God. And God calls us to rescue them. God calls us as abolitionists to call the nation to repent and lay down their arms of rebellion against their Creator and Savior. We are to call people in the darkest places to repent, stop doing evil, and follow Christ.
With this as our guiding principal, we go to every place in the public square as no place is exempt. And we especially go to the public high schools as these are the places where we see a great need for salt and light. These are the places that promote the idea that sex outside of marriage is just fine and almost unavoidable. Let’s hand out condoms because these kids are going to have sex anyway and they might as well “do it safely”. These are the places that teach that our existence has an origin of chance mutations combined with natural selection. We have no designer nor were we created with a purpose.
These are the places that teach our young ones that morality is your morality and that someone else’s morality can be different and equally valid. There is no absolute morality because there is no absolute moral law giver. Therefore not only are human beings no different from animals but we have no objective boundaries to follow. Is it any wonder that are young people think it acceptable to kill children in the womb simply for the purpose of being able to continue to do what feels good? That’s their morality and who is anybody to force their view on them?
We reject this idea because there is a Moral Law Giver and His law is clear. And if we do not speak this truth who will?
The irony of these places is that they are the places that pretend to be “tolerant” and accepting of differing world views. These are the places that talk as if they celebrate all points of view but in reality it is only a celebration only of views that agree with their own view OR views they perceive agree with their view. Which means any view that says there is one God, His name is Jesus Christ and salvation can be found in Him alone, is a view they oppose. Any view that says all human beings are made in the image of God and therefore all forms of human oppression are wrong, including the oppression of dismembering children in the womb, is a view that will be met with utter disdain. They don’t say that up front but it is obvious when we begin working with any high school.
Before going to Hockinson High School, like most high schools, I notified the school resource officer who is a sheriff’s deputy with Clark County here in Washington. I notify them because in my opinion I would rather work out any differences we might have of the logistics and specifics of our project now, rather than later. If we show up on the first day and the police tell me we cannot stand on a public sidewalk that I know is a legitimate place to stand, it will interfere with our efforts that day and even sometimes completely stop the agitation for that day. Working out any issues ahead of time is preferred in my opinion. I also like to give the police a “heads up” so they know who we are before we arrive. Tensions are lowered that way and this give our initial interaction as one that is much calmer. If we show up as complete strangers, for all they know we are not the peaceful abolitionists we are.
So after notifying the resource officer, we know that the rest of the administration and usually the students and their parents will be notified. So everyone knows we are coming. In our letter to the resource officer, we remind them that some may object to our presence and that some might even think what we are doing is illegal because they find it so offensive. In other words, our presentation of the truth about the very thing most of them support or tolerate, they find distasteful to the point they would have us arrested if they could. That is no exaggeration. Many prevent our proclamation of truth if they had a legal recourse. Note an excerpt from the letter that the school administration sent out to parents shortly after our first morning at the school:
“This morning, anti-abortion demonstrators were outside the high school as parents and students were arriving. They were on public property and were not breaking the law therefore we did not have any recourse to stop their right to free speech. (emphasis mine)” – Dr. Slade McSheehy, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Hockinson School District
Notice the wording here. It is as if it is a given that of course what we are doing is wrong and would be stopped if they did indeed have some recourse to fall back on.
But the most powerful of evidence in my opinion is that of the overall behavior of the faculty, staff and security which I am certain has a great influence on the behavior of the students.
Not one teacher or administrator came out to speak with us. Not a single one. And this is their behavior almost every time. I don’t expect that they would roll out a red carpet for us, but a little respect of just coming out and hearing our point of view in a place where we are suppose to be tolerant of all points of view. I mean seriously, are we so pathetic in your view that we don’t even warrant a moment of your precious wisdom and knowledge that we so obviously in desperate need of?
I still wonder and scratch my head about this as well. And that is why do the teachers not encourage the students to look at this as an education opportunity? That is, why not tell the students to use this as an exercise in critical thinking skills? I mean if our abolitionist ideas are so radical and crazy and unreasonable, then ought they not be easily refuted? To them, could they not at least acknowledge that abortion is a topic of serious importance? Could they not encourage the students to take our literature in pick it apart with logic, science, philosophy and reason? And why is it these people can even call themselves abolitionists or “civil rights activists” or “reformers”? I mean aren’t these the same people you are studying in history and civics classes? If we are nothing like these heroes of old, then come out and tell us why?
But no teachers apparently have done this. In fact the overwhelming majority of students, avoid us like we are pariah. If they do speak anything to us it is laced profanity, ad homonyms, just simply the middle finger. Others chose to peel out in their vehicle while honking their horn. Are these skills of tolerance and acceptance they are encouraging before we arrive? Apparently so.
But I think we all realize what is going on here. Abortion cannot stand one moment of light.
The local Channel 6 news came out and did a story on this. But sadly the story is not about the thousands of children being murdered each day in our nation, instead the story is spun to be about the crazy lunatics who would show ugly pictures outside of a school. Again, the crisis is not that children are being murdered, the crisis is that people are showing pictures of those children who have been murdered. The news does a great job at spinning stories to match what will entertain most of their viewer base. And in Portland it is certainly a majority of those who support the right to murder ones own children. I hesitate to share the story here because I felt like it was a terrible story and that I personally did a poor job in my interviews (podcast to follow sometime soon to critique what I did wrong), but here it is anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ygY_AI0I04
We did have one conversation, with the man in charge of security at the school. He did go out of his way to come speak with one of our lady abolitionists who was at this point in time standing by herself at a driveway where students where exiting. The man who is presumably suppose to be the leader and example of promoting safety and security, came out and threatened and called names and insulted the lady. Not that threats or insults are uncommon, but coming directly from the school security is a bit odd. You can view the video here: link coming later
This is indeed what I have heard some call “the intolerance of tolerance”.
But there were a few students and parents that were able to reason with. And even if I first motivation to be there was not obedience to God, there are always a few conversations that I will say made it worth being there despite the majority behaving like animals.
One conversations was with a group of young men who said they were “pro-life” but were convinced that our methods of teaching that abortion is murder were simply wrong and “doing more harm than good”. We were able to talk about what it means to love people and that loving people often means telling them about hard truths especially those truths about sin and our guilt before God. We were able to talk about how Jesus, the Apostles and the Prophets of old were never liked by the majority. We talked about how they did not go out of their way to be offensive, but the truth was offensive. Because they made people angry, did not mean they were doing something wrong or that they should compromise the truth of their message. We talked about how Jesus said that they hated Him, and not to be surprised that they will hate His followers.
We will not compromise the truth for the sake of pleasing the ears of man. We will do our best to be good communicators, speaking the truth in love, and we are always open to criticism as to how we can do it better. But we expect that many will still hate us regardless. And we expect that when it comes to ending modern day child sacrifice, there will be a fight. The enemy will not give up this ground without one.
But the best conversation that I had in the two days we were at Hockinson High School was one with a young man I will call Joshua. Put simply, we talked about the Gospel. I asked him what his world view was or if he had a “religious affiliation” and he said, “My parents are mormon but I try not to think about religion too much.” So we talked about when Jesus said,
“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet forfeits his soul?” – Matthew 16:26
We were able to talk about what this means. And how the matters of “religion” or the things related to the condition of our soul before God were infinitely more important than anything else. We talked about the problem we all have as sinners who are guilty before a perfectly just and holy God. We talked about sin and God’s standard for righteousness and that we all fail. We talked about the solution to our problem being Christ alone and that He said,
“I am the way the truth and the life and noone comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6
“Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24
We talked about the fact that Joseph Smith was a known con-man and liar. We talked about that Jesus had the authority to speak on the matters of salvation and freedom from sin because he was and is God.
Initially I thought that Joshua would not be interested in talking because he was walking by us seemingly uninterested and he didn’t stop until I asked him if he wanted one of our handouts. But it turned out he was eager to talk and while we were talking his mother arrived in her car and parked a distance away and waited. Eventually I had to tell him he should probably go because I didn’t want him to get into trouble with his mom. But I challenged him with the fact that I don’t believe our conversation was some accident but rather the providence of God and that he should read the literature carefully that we gave him and consider seriously the Gospel message. That was the conversation that in my opinion would make standing out there a month worth it.
Almost every single time we go out to the high schools, we get a lot of grief from a lot of people, but I always have at least one and sometimes many great conversations with students about the Gospel.
We were there for only two days and that conversation would not have happened otherwise. If we had listened to the counsel of the many who tell us to go away, or that we are “only making people mad”, or like what the pastor of Crossroads Church said that, “we are wasting our time”, then we would not have been there to have that conversation or to have upset the false peace that exists in our nation of blood shed.
I am always left with conflicting feelings after our high school project. On the one hand after being there it could be somewhat discouraging if one focuses on the complete depravity and wickedness that exists in these places where the kids yell at elders to “f*ck off!” or “I eat fetuses!” or “I love killing babies!”. But at the same time it is a reminder to me that it is the darkest places that need the light of the Christ to shine the brightest. And so we go and shine our light. Some reject that light and others do not. Ultimately, duty is ours and the results belong to God.
“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” – John 3:19
“But as many as received him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:” John 1:12
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