Josie Luetke:
Interim writer, Josie Luetke, Talk Turkey
Imagine someone intent on climbing Mount Everest asks a sherpa for the lowdown. The sherpa would be doing nobody any favours if he omits the dangers of this climb, or focuses only on the joys of summiting, because he wants to spare the climber’s feelings rather than voice his doubt about the climber’s abilities. He has a responsibility to convey the reality of Everest accurately. The alternative could be deadly.
In the same way, we aren’t helping anybody by tiptoeing around the brutality of abortion.
It’s a trend seemingly afflicting crisis pregnancy centres that wish to appear apolitical but come across as amoral. Some right-to-life groups even shy away from branding themselves “pro-life,” because of the negative connotations our culture has associated with the term.
A pastor told me he doesn’t want to hold any “controversial” Life Chain signs. A fellow pro-life leader expressed sympathy with a different pastor and religious sister who don’t want any “Choice” Chains (or other pro-life demonstrations) on the public property in front of their church, because abortion victim photography is “aggressive.”
As usual, I am disappointed by the weakness of the clergy. Is it too much to ask for a priest who’s willing to be controversial? Jesus was controversial.
Holding a sign that says, “Abortion kills children” might be controversial, but precisely, the fact that abortion kills children is what’s controversial.
Abortion violently destroys the bodies of tiny humans or else deprives them of oxygen and nourishment. Photography of abortion victims is “aggressive,” because abortion is aggressive.
I’m irritated by “soft” pro-lifers who want to shield the public from the truth.
I’m sure they view themselves as just being kind and considerate. They’re not.
It’s non-compassionate not to present the fullest picture of a human rights’ injustice. “Compassion” means “to suffer with,” for indeed there is suffering.
There is no charity without truth.
Preferring to promote adoption than denigrate abortion, for instance, might seem safer – for you, not the preborn child.
Post-abortive men and women suffer for decades, because they can’t reconcile their grief with the refrain that abortion is just the trivial removal of a clump of cells. You can’t heal a wound until you realize there is a wound, and the full extent of it.
Exposition is not causation of the wound—and yes, while how and why we expose it matters, it must be exposed.
In one parable (Matthew 25:14-30), a man distributes talents amongst his servants. Upon his return, he rewards those who traded them to make more, but berates the one who buried his talent out of fear, throwing him into the darkness, “where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
It’s not a perfect fit here, because soft pro-lifers are still doing something with their talents and making some of the truth known. They’re just not doing enough.
God doesn’t reward us for playing it “safe;” we punish ourselves. So, go all in.
We can wring our hands all we want, and worry about being too harsh, or offending someone, but I’d much rather stand before God having made mistakes—been too rude, too rash, too unprofessional—in my sincere attempt to loudly denounce evil than to only quietly whisper my disagreement.
Part of it pertains to something the left refers to as respectability politics; I’ll reframe it as the attempt to achieve change while still adhering to the social mores protecting the status quo.
It’s impolite to accuse others of killing innocent human beings, or of being complicit in this slaughter through action or inaction, and so some pro-lifers don’t. They believe as long as they avoid directly calling out their peers, or placing blame, they can still be liked and win the world’s approval.
Hardened, tested activists are not going to be respected in most people’s eyes. As abortionists rip off limbs, we are going to step on toes.
Look around. Not only does Canada kill 100,000 preborn children through abortion and 10,000 adults through euthanasia per year, but our government is actively thwarting those of us opposing these evils. Bubble zones have been erected throughout much of the country, pro-life organizations are unfairly excluded from the Canada Summer Jobs program, and crisis pregnancy centres are on the verge of losing their charitable status.
You shouldn’t want to be liked by this world; that’s a sure sign you’re doing something wrong. Jesus told us over and over again that we will be hated. Are you?
That doesn’t give us an excuse to be impudent, etc., but telling the truth as it is, calmly and frankly, is not impudent. It’s the most loving thing we can do.
