Doreen Beagan
The Interim
“Jack Layton, Paul Martin, Dalton McGuinty. All had pro-life dads,” Campaign Life Coalition national president Jim Hughes told a surprised Charlottetown audience during a short visit to Atlantic Canada in mid-November. So why are they doing this to our country? “Because not enough good people are standing up and speaking out,” said Hughes. “When they don’t, all sorts of evil happens.”
We must speak up, all of us, no matter where we live, he said. “Are your MPs voting the wrong way on crucial life issues? Don’t just say, ‘Somebody ought to do something.’ You are somebody. You gotta do something.” To be well informed on the issues, he recommended LifeSite News (www.lifesite.net).
“We can all begin to turn the tide right in our own little neck of the woods. Wherever we are planted, opportunities open up in every corner of our lives. At work. At school. At the shopping centre, the bowling alley, the golf course, said Hughes.”
Hemke VanderZwaag, president of P.E.I. Right to Life, wholeheartedly agreed that we all have a part to play. “We should never be scared to speak up for God and his work. If all Christians did, we would not be where we are today,” he said.
Hughes said it is especially important to educate members of Parliament. “You think they know the issues? No, they don’t. So you have to become more active.”
He advised that personal letters and notes carry more weight than e-mails and faxes. Sacrificial giving is another important way to help. It takes money to maintain a website and central office, educate politicians and the public, train speakers, attend conferences, work at the UN and participate in court cases.
“Above all, in this hand-to-hand combat with evil, one of our greatest weapons is prayer and sacrifice,” said Hughes. “Prayer converted abortionist Bernard Nathanson. It can change the hearts and minds of Henry Morgentaler, our prime minister and other politicians. Hatred has no place in this battle. Prayer does. With a combination of prayer, information, action and donations, anything is possible. Everything is possible. We can change this culture of death to a culture of life. We can’t let up till we’re dead.”
