Rant

Today I was driving, minding my own business when *WHAM* out of nowhere I was forced to look at images of aborted babies.  There was a baby so small it fit in a womans hand, a baby so small its foot was compared to an adult fingertip, a baby missing half its head because of some brutal procedure.

I realize this is a controversial subject.

I realize this is a controversial thing even within the church.

Sure we all agree abortion is wrong, but how we go about dealing with it can vary so strongly.

There are the silent protestors who walk around visible places with duct tape on their mouths to represent those whose lives have been aborted.  There are those who stand on street corners and hold up huge posters with extremely graphic images.  There are those who picket the clinics.  There are even those who are so far gone that they go and shoot doctors.

What are we doing?

Have any of these methods actually caused a woman to change her mind?  Have there been women who were going to have an abortion, only to change their minds after being assulted by crowds of people chanting and holding signs and pictures?  Has a woman ever decided to keep her child after seeing such vulgar pictures of aborted babies on the side of the road?

How helpful are these methods?

I, personally, have issues with these ways of doing things.

So you have a heart for the unborn, wonderful!  Why not donate your time/services in a positive way?  Why not volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center?  Or answer phones somewhere?  Or get involved in (gasp) Planned Parenthood as a means of being someone who can bring help and options from the place a woman most likely would go first?

I know that I don't post things like this on my blog.  I like to keep it light and fun.  But every time I see these people lining the street holding these pictures I just get fired up.  How UNhelpful can you be?  I always want to stop and ask them why they're doing it, what they think is being accomplished by this form of "helping".  How many women have pulled over and ran and thanked them, they hadn't really thought about it, how can they change their life?  I think of people who have had abortions.  Whether they admit it outright or not, they are suffering with the choices they made.  And do you think seeing these images helps them in their guilt?  Do you think it helps them get over the haunting memories?

Because I don't.

I think that love and grace and patience and mercy is what these women need.  Not another person telling them they're wrong.  Not another person saying they don't know what they're doing.  Even if they don't.

And what about those who've lost babies naturally?  These images cannot possibly bring any sort of joy or peace or resolution to anybody.  I have lost a baby.  A son.  I went into early labor and had him at 5 months.  And I held him on my chest as he slowly died from his underdeveloped lungs.  Did I rush out and wave him over my head in front of an abortion clinic or Starbucks?  No.  I grieved.  Like any normal person would.  And when I see these cruel images, they fling me right back to that moment in time over a decade ago.  And do I feel grateful for that?  Heck no.  If anything I feel incensed, furious.  I was having a good day.  I was doing my thing.  And who are these people to so rudely throw such a deep, intimate moment of my life in my face by having these images up at stoplights?

And what about children?  Those who weren't aborted?  I feel so bad for the mom or dad driving with their children.  "Mommy what's wrong with that baby?"  "Daddy what happened to that baby?"  How do you answer those questions as a parent?  How do you answer those questions as a parent who's maybe had an abortion in the past?

Why do we do this?

Why stop at abortions?  Premarital sex is wrong in the eyes of the church, why not stand on street corners holding up pornography?  Murder is wrong, why not stand with signs of gruesome murders (I guess technically we do)?  Gluttony is wrong, why not stand around holding signs of massively obese people?  The list goes on and on.  Adultry, gambling, drunkenness, idoltry, theivery, lying, cheating....

Oh I'm sorry, I suppose that would be offensive.