Monika Jezierski
Monika Jezierski, a Grade 12 homeschooled student in Kingsville, Ont., won second prize in the Fr. Ted Colleton Scholarship, co-sponsored by Niagara Region Right to Life and The Interim.
Hans Christian Andersen’s fable, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” is a prophetic warning for our generation. He understood 200 years ago how dangerous the contradiction of beliefs may be. In order to have justice we need truth. Justice, in society today is presented as seemingly the most important value, a cornerstone of civilization. At the same time people have stopped believing in absolute truth. In the story, the townspeople decide whether or not they “see” the emperor’s clothes, just like society attempts to change the understanding of truth from objective to a relative one, based on individual point of view.
The tailors in the fable convince the town that only the wise are able to see the “magic clothes.” In so doing they are dictating the townspeople’s beliefs, by taking advantage of human weaknesses. Likewise, society dictates our beliefs by suppressing the truth. Evil is masked as good, as is demonstrated by the fact that the Emperor’s nakedness, instead of being perceived by the people as shocking or wrong, is ignored and even accepted. Similarly, abortion is masked as good, often with deceiving words and lies. However, just like the little child points out the truth about the emperor’s new clothes, so do pro-life heroes raise their voices and unmask the horrific truth about abortion. Truth is a requirement for justice and as is evident in the fable, should always be objective, even when society dictates our beliefs and masks evil as good.
In order to have justice, truth needs to be presented as it really is, objectively, rather than subjectively, as society would have us believe. The Emperor does not have any clothes on, which is objective truth, however, the tailors want to make it subjective. Even though the townspeople pretend to see the Emperor’s clothes, it does not mean that the clothes are real. The truth about his “magic clothes” is that he has none. Just like the truth about his clothes will never change, so the truth about abortion is immutable. Society would like us to think that truth depends on our feelings and emotions. A woman who wants to be a mother and is expecting, thinks of her child as a human being. On the other hand a teenage girl who is facing an unplanned pregnancy, is told her child is just a blob of tissue. Pro-abortionists are implying that people can decide whether or not their children are human beings.
According to society today, right and wrong depends entirely on the individual point of view. However, truth is objective and as explained by Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica, “truth resides in things, not in the intellect.” Knowledge of things is gained through scientific pursuit. Since science, like truth, is objective, even atheists should accept its evidence that proves the humanity of the pre born children. Developmental biology and progress in prenatal medicine underlines the fact that abortion kills human beings. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “the virtue of truth gives another his just due,” and so we will be able to have justice when the truth is recognized again. The objective truth is unchangeable, no matter what society would like us to think.
Society today imposes certain beliefs by applying peer pressure and creating “politically correct” standards that contradict moral and ethical imperatives of past generations. One of those abandoned imperatives is a belief in the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. In the fable, the tailors persuade the town that only the wise can see the “magic clothes” and that they are invisible to the foolish, knowing very well that all will desire to be regarded as the former. The townspeople are willing to ignore truth and pretend to see the clothes to preserve their implied normalcy. In a similar way the social engineers were able to re-orient the system of values with regards to abortion. What was once held as an unthinkable crime is now accepted as a safe medical procedure. This dramatic change was achieved by a carefully designed campaign using courts, media, and a web of lies to change public opinion. Nowadays the bubble zones around abortion clinics prevent pro-life counselors from informing parents about the dangers of abortion.
At the same time, secular media mostly ignores pro-life awareness projects, and presents an exclusively biased pro-abortion point of view. The many lies about abortion are created to convince everyone that the procedure is completely harmless, normal, and should be accepted as a basic human right. “Pro-choice” activists promote abortion as an insignificant surgical procedure contrary to established scientific facts. Health risks include hemorrhage, infections, a higher risk of breast cancer and even death. Abortion not only harms the woman physically, but can also have a lifelong emotional and mental fallout on the whole family.
In masking evil as good, society distorts the truth in the abortion debate, and since truth is a requirement for justice, we need to reveal it. When the Emperor struts through town with no clothes on, he is still praised by the townspeople, even though he is naked. In the same way, the promoted “politically correct” view approves and supports abortion as inconspicuously named woman’s right to choose. The procedure is being marketed as such, hiding reality that it consists of killing of a human being and the mother’s own child.
The language used by the pro-abortion movement creates a harmless image by manipulating the meaning of words. The ugly, disgusting truth, that abortion disembowels and dehumanizes the unborn is hidden beneath the lies. In the fable, a little child, too young to be corrupted, points out to everyone that the Emperor is not wearing any clothes. Suddenly emboldened, the townspeople start whispering to one another, their voices becoming louder and louder, to finally changing into one great shout: “You are naked!” The child narrative can very well be describing the many people who have dedicated their lives to being the voice for the unborn.
Pro-life organizations are raising awareness and bringing the pro-life message in all kinds of different ways. Canadian Centre of Bio-Ethical Reform, for instance, is converting the hearts and minds of the public using graphic images and logical arguments. Campaign Life Coalition focuses on the political aspects, changing laws and supporting motions and bills in provincial and federal parliaments. National Campus Life Network is active on Canadian campuses developing local pro-life leadership among the students.
Only when we can stop society from making truth subjective, dictating our beliefs, and masking evil as good can we bring about justice. Just like the townspeople pretending to see the clothes didn’t make them real, the abominable truth about abortion will always be the same, regardless of current societal trends. Society tries to dictate our beliefs, portraying abortion as a safe and insignificant medical procedure by weaving a web of lies and myths. The evil of abortion masked as good through the manipulation of language is being revealed by the brave and passionate pro-life advocates.
