Unworldly, Unattractive, and Unpleasant

In case you were wondering about today's title, I've decided to tell you a secret I was just let in on about pro-lifers: apparently we're unworldly, unattractive, and unpleasant. You can imagine my surprise, when I regularly hang out with pro-life folks like these:

Aren't we adorable?

How can you not love them?

Alright, so these two could use a little work....

I think you get it, though. And because pictures don't convey one's personality in everyday life, allow me to assure you that these are wonderful, joyful, intelligent people. They're a blast to hang out with, and are absolutely, 100% in love with the pro-life cause.

According to the woman who wrote the article I linked to, people like us either don't exist or are being kept down by the Pro-Life Man. She claims that we are the 10% of the pro-life movement whose creativity is shunned and who are ignored because we lack "seniority". I have no idea what has given her this notion, but it is incorrect. Yes, there are middle aged and elderly pro-life folks, but I have never seen or heard of a great idea from someone my age being shot down by one of them because us young whippersnappers haven't clocked enough time with the movement. In fact, one of the biggest and boldest pro-life groups around, Live Action, was founded and is run by a woman who is not even four years older than I am.

Although I disagree with the article's main premise, its author does link to another article, to which I would like to call your attention. The author of this one points out four unfortunately common mistakes made by many pro-life folks when they argue or present their case to people who are pro-choice or neutral: arguing for life using the Bible, neglecting to educate about the consequences of sexual activity and other options a woman has when she gets pregnant, using graphic photos of dead babies, and making abortion a women vs. children issue. He's right, of course, that doing these things is a detriment to the cause for life, but I think he expresses undue pessimism about the situation. This might just be me, but none of the pro-life folks I know even use these tactics with each other, let alone with people who aren't pro-life. They're ineffective, and I think the author ignores the fact that people are smart enough to realize that these things don't work, although there is a minority that thinks they do.

I appreciate the authors' concerns about making the pro-life movement more vibrant and successful, but I think their scope is too narrow, and these kinds of circular firing squad tactics rarely solve anything. If the pro-life movement is going to gain more ground and convince more people that we're right, we need to be firm with each other when we're doing things that hurt the cause, but we shouldn't be displaying this kind of angry cynicism. Yes, some of us are doing things wrong, but you're doing it just as wrong if you think writing insulting articles about other people is going to get them to do things right. Unity is just as important as being correct, which is why the pro-choice movement is effective: they're cohesive, if tragically wrong.

So let's hear it for banding together to make the pro-life movement a joyful, hopeful, loving, worldly, attractive, and pleasant thing! It will make all our jobs easier, and imagine the lives we could save. Let's not forget, we're not doing this for ourselves, we're doing it for the babies.