I went to pray outside an abortion clinic this morning. It’s not a Planned Parenthood, but rather a run-down clinic numerous people were going into and coming out of. My group sometimes goes to sidewalk-counsel, but today we were there to pray peacefully. What I saw happen outside the clinic was a disgrace to the pro-life movement.
A man with a large, graphic sign (and using a traffic cone as a megaphone) was outside the clinic yelling at people.
He was very, very helpful in saving lives. Not.
People walking in and out of the clinic quickly walked past him, trying to escape his condemnation. People in the parking lot parked backward so as to avoid contact with him. When he yelled at the abortionist walking in, it turned into a yelling match. My Catholic group prayed the rosary, and another (larger) Catholic group walked over praying as well. This man proceeded to yell at us – people who are on his side – about how we as Catholics were praying to a dead woman (Our Blessed Mother Mary) and needed to repent and turn to Jesus Christ. It reminded me of this video I saw last week.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PY__kj-oow&w=640&h=360]
I’m not one to get extremely angry about things, but people like this make my blood boil. Yelling at women, abortionists, and clinic workers is not how we change hearts and minds.
Imagine being a scared teenage girl being coerced into an abortion. Do you think a person yelling about repenting and calling you a murderer is going to give you the courage to choose life?
Imagine being an abortionist whose heart has been hardened by abortion. You’ve done it for years, and it’s become routine. You don’t really think about the significance of it anymore. Do you think a person yelling about repenting and calling you a murderer is going to give you the courage to leave the abortion industry?
Imagine being a clinic worker who has a couple kids at home and desperately needs to make ends meet. You don’t have time to search for a new job, so you stay put. It’s become routine. Do you think a person yelling about repenting and calling you a murderer is going to give you the courage to quit your job?
The answer to these questions is no. Yelling at people is an immature tactic often resorted to if a better strategy cannot be found. It’s not a tool for conversion.
All these people need to be shown the truth. They are looking for help, for truth, for love. If we do not present those things to them, they will not be changed. We must always preach the truth, but we must preach with love. Love is the anthem of our movement. It is the life of love we invite mothers and fathers to as we show them the truth about life.
I stand outside clinics not because I want to condemn women. I stand outside clinics not to tell the workers how evil they are. I am there to be a witness to the truth. I am there to give options. I am there to tell people they deserve better. They are worth more. With love and understanding, we can show the truth to anyone inside a clinic and turn hearts away from the culture of death.
Our movement is a movement of love. It’s high time we as pro-lifers all started to show that to the world.
