|
|
First thing to remember: The election of Barack Obama as President is not the end of the world. The pro-life movement survived eight years of Bill and Hillary Clinton. We will survive the next four years under Barack Obama.
That said, Priests for Life will NOT waver or weaken in the face of an Obama Presidency. Rather, Priests for Life will be more radical and more aggressive in our fight to end abortion. We will employ tactics we were hesitant to use in the past. These tactics will include:
Grassroots Work:
- Alternatives to abortion. Priests for Life is activating Churches to be the first place to which people will turn when they are pregnant and in need. We are teaching pastors how to provide alternatives to abortion and to work closely with pregnancy resource centers in their communities.
- Showing America the consequences of abortion. Operating on the dictum: “America will not reject abortion until America sees abortion”, Priests for Life will facilitate massive exposure of graphic images of aborted children – on the internet, on campuses, even on TV.
- Stage media events that force Americans to see the corruption of the abortion industry. We have to do to abortion the same thing the abolitionists did to the slave trade; namely, make it morally repugnant for all clear-thinking Americans to tolerate its continued existence.
- Help organize mass demonstrations. We need more marches and more rallies ... dozens and dozens of them. Every weekend. In cities and states all across the country ... just like was done back in the days of the Civil Rights movement. And we have gotten started already!
- Give women harmed by abortion a platform for speaking out. The “Silent No More Awareness Campaign” is the perfect vehicle to do this. The gripping testimonies of women who have had abortions are extremely effective in disarming the proponents of so-called “choice”. The media try to ignore them, but we will bring these women – and men, too – out by the thousands this year to talk about their pain and subsequent healing.
- Get local. Along with the concept of mass demonstrations, Priests for Life is going to help organize local resistance to the abortion industry, making it hard for them to do business.
- Launch a lobbying organization to be the voice of the unborn before lawmakers. For 35 years much of the pro-life movement has had to fight with one hand tied behind its back because Churches can only do limited lobbying and no political intervention. It’s time to take off the handcuffs. The only way to make a difference in the world of politics is to be able to name names during election campaigns and get “down into the mud” of legislative battles.
- Increase the use of technology, especially those relating to the Internet. The only effective way to swell the ranks of our pro-life movement and spread our pro-life message is through the
Internet. In a nutshell, the Internet is the present and the future. The pro-life movement MUST modernize. And Priests for Life is once again ready to lead in this effort – we already have the pro-life message on You Tube, Facebook, and MySpace sites. This is where the young people are ... and this is where we need to be! We will do constant Internet broadcasting (audio and video) and use the power of the Internet to mobilize groups for action.
Church Work:
- Encouraging the Institutional Church to take the lead in the fight to end abortion. In 2008 over 100 bishops issued their own statements more forcefully and more clearly than during any prior political election campaign. The bishops must continue to do this ... all of them! Priests for Life will work especially hard over these next four years to assist our bishops as they proclaim the Gospel of Life to all Americans. Priests for Life will amplify their voices in order to clarify the Church’s teachings on the life issues while at the same time encouraging even more bishops to make strong, clear, bold pro-life/political statements. This is the only way to dispel the confusion spread by pro-abortion apologists who are at work both inside and outside the Church.
- Continue to advance pro-life collaboration across denominational lines. Championing the pro-life cause with evangelical leaders like Dr. James Dobson, Priests for Life has shown that Catholics and Protestants can work together to end abortion to a degree never thought possible. Over the coming years, Priests for Life will once again take the lead and push this partnership to the max; while at the same time encouraging our Catholic bishops to interact and collaborate more with pro-life Protestant leaders.
Conclusion:
There is a major election in two years. We must start working on it today. One major obstacle holding the pro-life movement back is a decided lack of funding. With the notable exception of one or two large groups (who are themselves, struggling), the entire pro-life movement is woefully underfunded and broke most of the time. Roughly half of all pro-life organizations are still working out of their houses and cars. Meanwhile, vast amounts of money continue to poor into pro-abortion coffers. Planned Parenthood is a billion dollar industry. Scandalous groups like Catholic for a Free Choice and Catholics United receive obscenely large grants from major foundations and corporations. And “pro-choice” candidates for elected office can always count on funding from a wide array of sources, especially Hollywood. Enough is enough! The people of life need to invest in the pro-life movement in the same way and to the same degree as the enemy has been investing in the culture of death. The alternative is to abandon our nation, our culture and God’s innocent unborn to the ravages of the abortionists. And that, my friend, is totally unacceptable. It’s time for the people of life to decide where their real treasure is: Here on earth ... or in heaven. For as Blessed Mother Teresa said: “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” All those who recognize the truth that every person – born and unborn – is endowed by His Creator with the unalienable right to life must also recognize the fact that they have a moral responsibility to fund the fight to end abortion. Priests for Life will assume the lead in this vital part of our Post Election Strategy.
|
|
