As I distributed literature in downtown Chicago last week, I heard some crazy excuses for not taking my pamphlet (and thus educating themselves about abortion).
My top two favorites were, “I’m too old to have children” and “I’m not an American, so I try to stay out of it.”
It’s like people think they’re not allowed to take a position on abortion because they’re not planning to have one. This is one of the pro-aborts favorite arguments: “If you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.”
I like the answer given by author Jamie Whyte in his book Crimes Against Logic:
Begging the question is especially common in disputes about prohibition… [T]hose on the liberal side often appeal to some general principle of tolerance, despite the position of their prohibitionist adversaries being precisely that the behavior at issue is intolerable. The most egregious example occurs in the abortion debate, where a common riposte to those who would criminalize it runs, “If you believe abortion is wrong, that’s fine, don’t abort your pregnancies. But show tolerance toward others who don’t share your beliefs.” Surely everyone, whatever their personal views, ought to be pro-choice…
Anti-abortionists don’t think abortion is some kind of lifestyle faux pas, like serving white wine with beef or driving a 4×4 despite never having seen the countryside. They think it’s murder. They think killing a fetus is no different morally from killing an adult…
Tolerance is irrelevant in the abortion debate. If abortion isn’t murder, toleration isn’t required; if it is murder, tolerating it would be a vice. (p. 109-110, emphasis added.)
Like Whyte explains, pro-lifers are against abortion because abortion is intolerable. It is an issue of morality and of basic human rights. This is something everyone needs to take a stand against because it is immoral.
And yet people think they can stay out of the debate by simply saying they don’t have a preference!
Tolerance As a Liberal Virtue
The funny thing about tolerance as a liberal virtue, though, is that those who claim we should tolerate all abortions are the same people flinging our signs into the street.
I continue to find it sadly ironic that people who call putting a crucifix in urine “art” are the same people who cannot bear to see the reality of one of America’s most common medical procedures.
Shouldn’t a student of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago be one of the most liberal, tolerant people in the world? Instead, he’s the one tossing our signs in the street and trying to steal my video camera so I can’t record his illegal activities.
In order to charge this young man with his crimes, though, the Chicago Police must first know his identity. If you recognize this man, please call Officer Glen Lorenty at 312-744-8263 regarding case HS408508.
Rude Pro-Abort Antics
Alex Debates Mr. Pinstripe
One particularly angry man came by on Tuesday while we were showing our signs to the evening commuters. I’ll call him “Mr. Pinstripe.”
Since he was swearing at our volunteers and at me, I trailed him, keeping my video camera on to document anything illegal he might do. Mr. Pinstripe posed for a picture, giving me the bird.
As he walked down the street, he spit on the ground so I’d have to walk through it (but with the sidewalk being ten feet wide, I easily sidestepped it). Then he farted so I’d have to smell it behind him—it was very reminiscent of the Monty Python skit, “I fart in your general direction.”
This man was unique among all the people I’ve met doing Face The Truth over the years, and that’s saying something.
Mr. Pinstripe Taught a Lesson by Pro-Life Teen
The debate I captured between Mr. Pinstripe and a pro-life teen, Alex, was priceless. Unfortunately the streets of Chicago are pretty loud, but you should be able to hear enough to hear Alex schooling this man. The actual exchange was over 15 minutes long (talk about pro-life patience!), but these excerpts should give you an idea of their discussion.
Mr. Pinstripe was very angry that someone under the age of 18 would even be holding a sign—referring several times to the teenage girl he spoke to before confronting Alex. The funny thing is, when she told him that she was old enough to have aborted a baby like the one she was holding a picture of, he couldn’t handle her answer and walked away.
The man said he thinks a person has sole dominion over his or her own body, thus no one should be able to tell a woman not to have an abortion. I answered that argument above: It’s murder, so we do get to have an opinion on the subject.
And of course Mr. Pinstripe made the usual argument about the unborn baby not being able to care for itself. Alex replied by saying that if his eight year old brother was left completely to his own devices he’s not sure his brother would survive either: Does that make his eight year old brother less than human?
My favorite moment, though, comes when Know-It-All tries to answer Alex’s argument that abortion is deadlier than childbirth, but…um…but…
Priceless.
When Mr. Pinstripe’s friend called to ask where he was and why he was late, he bragged that he’d been “harassing the anti-choice protesters.” I’ll bet he forgot to mention to his friend that he was out-debated by a teenager.
We Must Have an Opinion About Murder
Thank you to our tireless volunteers who came out to our 24 stops, showing the truth of abortion last week and thank you to all who prayed for our work.
You know the value of this mission, and you know that we do need to have an opinion about the murder of over a million children each year in America.
