Sunday, January 20, 2008
FROM THE EMAILBOX
Spirit & Life®
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63)
Human Life International e-Newsletter
Volume 03, Number 03 | Friday, January 18, 2008
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www.hli.org
Ten Challenges for the Pro-Life Movement
in 2008
As we gear up for next Tuesday's March for Life in Washington DC, I offer this list of challenges to the pro-life movement in America. If we really wish to beat the abortion culture we have to mature as a movement. Thirty-five years of the same strategies and ideas have not gained us the victory we seek because the fight against the most pervasive spiritual evil that has ever entered the world can only be won on God's terms. The pro-life movement has invested more in political and cultural change than in spiritual change. Let us not be afraid to fight Goliath's weapons of mass destruction with the faith of David who came against the giant "in the name of the Lord of Hosts." (1 Sam 17:45)
1. Get down on our knees and ask the one true Savior to end abortion - the pro-life movement needs to humbly admit that abortion is such a massive evil and so deeply rooted in our social fabric that no human power can eliminate it. While we need to vote for pro-life politicians, they are not our saviors. Abortion needs to be driven out by the spiritual authority of Christ's church like an unclean spirit. Once the pro-life movement begins to seriously fight abortion in its spiritual dimension, we will see some real pro-life victories in politics and society. We can't say that prayer hasn't worked until it's actually been tried.
2. Fast for the conversion of abortion promoters - "Some demons are not driven out except by prayer and fasting," said the Lord (Mt 17:21). A regular habit of tangible sacrifices for those most immersed in the grip of the abortion demon will erode the power of this evil. The Lord just needs an army of souls who are willing to embrace this practice - then astonishing results will abound. Why not go back to fasting or abstaining from meat on Fridays for this cause?
3. Remind the Christian churches - again - that abortion exists with their permission - history will judge the churches of Christ that were apathetic toward abortion more harshly than the churches of Germany during the 30s and 40s. Christians living in a free society aren't being sent to gas chambers for speaking out, so we have no excuse. It has been said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in the face of a moral crisis, do nothing. Christians must know that we will be held accountable if we are silent and indifferent to the plight of Christ's least brethren.
4. Embrace the embryonic stem cell and euthanasia issues with the same fervor as abortion - let's not adopt the same logic as the pro-aborts who dismiss the pre-born child and the inconvenient handicapped person as "not viable" and look the other way when they are destroyed for profit, or worse, market them as material for extermination. Let's recognize that our defense of life must remain rock solid through the entire life spectrum, no matter how small or vulnerable.
5. Go on the offensive against Planned Parenthood's funding - abortion is not the only source of money for the Planned Parenthood baby-killers; they are awash with cash due to the profits from their "clinic business" (i.e., selling birth control and sterilizations) and senseless government funding for "family planning." Pro-life groups not willing to cut off their funding stream for contraception will just continue to see the PP monster grow and will never effectively undermine the demand for abortion.
6. Boycott corporations and organizations that fund or promote abortion - the abortion industry lusts for public support of any kind. Businesses and organizations that fund the baby-killers need to be awakened, and rather sharply, by the pro-life conscience of our society. Companies that refuse to see abortion's moral dimension must be made to feel - economically - that abortion is a really bad business decision. And don't hide your light under a bushel basket: make a public witness, write a letter, stage a picket. Let others know that you dissent from the culture of death.
7. Educate doctors that abortifacient birth control is chemical homicide - most physicians conveniently overlook the abortifacient nature of all chemical birth control methods. Doctors are complicit in the chemical deaths of millions of babies and need to be told that they will be held accountable before the Throne of God for every lethal prescription that bears their signatures. If you care about his or her soul, you will educate your doctor!
8. Challenge the accepted notion that condoms and birth control reduce abortions - reverse that lie with the truth: namely, that birth control does not reduce abortions, it increases them. Why else would a society saturated by birth control still have 1.3 million abortions? Almost 60% of women who go into abortion clinics cite failed birth control as their reason for aborting. Remember that the same folks who sell abortion also sell birth control, and they're making a killing.
9. Reject politicians who believe in rape, incest, life-of-the-mother and fetal deformity "exceptions" - political candidates who believe that these "exceptions" are legitimate are really saying that it's okay to kill some babies and save others. They are worse than false prophets; they are frauds who perpetuate the notion that we can adopt the values of the devil while still serving God. Vote pro-life, not pro-some-life.
10. Recruit Hispanics and other minorities into the pro-life movement - while we march on Washington DC, the abortion industry is scheming more ways to get minority women into their killing centers and capitalize on their vulnerabilities as immigrants, legal or illegal. Every pro-life group needs to put Hispanic outreach on the agenda immediately so that their largely Catholic values and culture will not be paganized by the politics of death.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer,
President, Human Life International
