Someone Should be at the Foot of the Cross When Babies Are Being Cruicified Neil Patterson Originally published in Issue VI of Vulgata, April 2002.

I feel very confident that all of our readers are well aware that we live in a country where one out of every four babies, before they have the opportunity to be born, are cut up into pieces or poisoned by hit-men with degrees in medicine. I am also aware that there are a certain amount of people among you who are actively involved in the fight to win back their right to life. The most heroic champions of their cause in my experience are those whom you will find this summer, first in Ottawa and Montreal on the 24th until the 28th of June and then in Toronto from August 12th to 16th under the banner of “Show the Truth”. Three times on each of those days they will stand in public clutching rosary beads and wielding large signs depicting unmistakeably that abortion is indeed sterile murder. Every day they will be persecuted and every day they will save lives.

Legalized abortion is by no means new and it has been opposed from the beginning. Unfortunately, what opposition there has been has more or less steadily lost ground to radical feminists and other abortion enthusiasts for the last 30 years. There really isn’t anything that dedicated pro-lifers have not tried. Earl Emyotte summarises the situation in this way, “We lost in the legislature, we lost in the judiciary, we lost in the PMO. The street is the only thing left.” As the availability of pro-choice propaganda reaches absurd proportions more and more people are confounded by slick rhetoric and sophistic arguments into supporting this holocaust, if by nothing else then by their silence. It is no longer simply a matter of changing the law back, public opinion must be changed.

The Show the Truth presentations do this powerfully. They never, ever fail  to get a reaction from anybody. Abortion is nothing less than the worst atrocity of our time. To be confronted with it face to face is simply not something that anybody can just shrug off. They also serve to remove whatever vagaries someone associates with abortion and in their place bring into sharp focus the image of a little mangled innocent. Whether they are outraged or mightily edified, they will no longer be able to think about abortion without remembering the image of it’s victim. Reactions vary considerably but Elaine Arnsby told me a story which communicates the spectrum very well. At one presentation a truck drove by with two men in it. The first, whose face had turned purple for the occasion, was poised precariously with most of his body leaking out of the window and gesticulated wildly with his middle finger while unleashing a litany of curses and abuse. The other depressed the horn with one hand, gave us the thumbs up with the other and shouted at the limit of his voice, “Praise God! The truth is being told!”

There are a few objections that are very commonly levelled at the Show the Truth presentations. They can sound devastating at first but can actually be easily  overturned by a light breeze. Here they are in order of popularity, dismantled to their component fallacies for your edification and peace of mind.

I.    Many people will object in various ways to the pictures themselves. It is common to hear that they are too shocking, graphic, horrible, etc. and therefore cannot be shown  to the public. It is claimed that they will offend more than they will do any sort of good.

Yes, of course they are not very pleasant to look at. It is amazing how often someone will rush over and animatedly explain to me how repugnant the picture I am holding is, as if this could somehow have escaped my notice and might be news to me. I have explained many times that had we been able to find any nice pictures of murdered babies we would doubtless have favoured those, but no such pictures exist. No, putting the picture away will not bring them back to life and no, it will not save the next ones from a similar fate. We have tried ignoring the problem and it grew. Now we must face the truth. Joe Sheidler recalls a time when one woman made a similar complaint. He agreed to pack up and go home, but only on one condition, that when she arrived at the final judgement she would take responsibility for the lives that were not saved on account of her discomfort with the pictures. We have lost all sense of perspective. The sacrifices that we are called to make in order to save our children from the scourge of abortion are tiny. Predictably she decided that perhaps it were best that the presentation continue. Joe also points out that there is hardly a mass said where there isn’t a representation of the crucifixion in plain view. What could be more horrible? Yet it is necessary that we are reminded at what price our salvation was purchased. In the same way, we must all be constantly reminded of the price of our silence and inaction.

II. Children should not see those pictures.

If a child is young enough, they simply will not understand what the pictures are and therefore not be upset. Also, when a child does become upset, it is because the parent flips out first. If the parents stay calm, the kids stay calm. What is often the case is that the children are curious and parents don’t want to have to explain it to them. I have seen many a raving pro-life parent become instantly pacified as soon as someone took the initiative and started to explain the tragedy of abortion to the children in terms which they could understand. In the case of pro-choice parents the situation is a little different. There simply is no way that the pro-choice position can be communicated to a child. It requires far to much mental gymnastics to blind yourself to just how stupid it is and children simply have too much common sense to manage it. This is naturally very frustrating for these parents but this is in no way the fault of pro-lifers bravely proclaiming the truth. They have only the illogical and inhuman lies which they have swallowed to blame.

III. There are better ways of fighting abortion.

I would very much like to believe this, unfortunately people who make this claim are not actually able to come up with any. We are always open to suggestions. The only forms of action which may be more effective are either not possible because of the bubble zones which exist around the abortion mills and the hefty punishments doled out for breaching them or even less palatable to those who make this claim, such as picketing abortionists homes. On the other hand, Show the Truth consistently gets plenty of good results.

Now we come to the most irritating problem. Even people who are willing to concede that Show the Truth is a good and powerful ministry are very reluctant to actually participate themselves. Rosemary Connell, the groups primary organizer in Ontario, says that approximately one third of the people who commit to going will inexplicably cancel at the last minute. It is also reported that many of these people will promptly regret that decision as soon as it is too late to change it. The last minute temptation to not go through with it is as far as I can tell common to everyone. It can and must be overcome through persevering prayer. Most common of all are those who offer to stay home and pray for us instead. Rosemary will say to them, “Why not come and pray with us?” Every single person on that line feels just as intimidated as those who stay home and they would feel much better if there were more people standing by their side.

I fully acknowledge that not everyone is necessarily called to stand out on the front lines with a sign and rosary but everyone should hesitate to be sure that they are not until they have sincerely prayed about it, open to whatever answer God might give them. Also, please don’t forget that the Show the Truth cannot function unless it’s participants are fed and housed and that signs, literature and transportation run up a fearsome bill as well.

In The Golden Legend we read that when St Thomas the apostle, also called Thomas the doubter, was in Caesarea the Lord appeared to him and told him to go to India and convert the Indians. His first reaction was to say, “Lord, send me anywhere you will except India!” yet he submitted, knowing that neither he nor anyone else is in a position to argue with God, saying, “You are my Lord and I am your servant. Your will be done.”

St. John Climacus writes, “Fear is danger tasted in advance, a quiver as the heart takes fright before unnamed calamity. Fear is a loss of assurance.” We absolutely cannot afford to be afraid. God intends to win this battle, but He always favours human instruments, therefore we must make ourselves the clay in His hands and trust in His designs.

For more information about Show The Truth, visit www.showthetruth.ca