On Thursday night, September 20, I was asked to join a rally at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford, Connecticut, one that was organized to support Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The occasion was the Connecticut Forum, as they hosted a panel discussion on women's empowerment. The marquee speaker was Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Connecticut Forum always has a good turnout for its events in the 3700 seat auditorium.
So as thousands of people passed by, I had four of my pro-life signs in place. [Addendum: What I did not realize until I reviewed the pictures later, is how most of these people had already seen the sign I was holding. Their cars were backed up, inching past where I was standing, from the State Capitol to the parking lots beyond the Bushnell.] Whereas the purpose of the organizer (and the one taking the pictures) was political, my purpose in joining was primarily theological (for which he was also glad). We used signs like these at New England's largest abortion center (Preterm in Brookline, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston) virtually every Saturday from June, 1989 to June, 1991. In that time, some 200-300 women walked away from their abortion appointments, and there were hundreds of activists with the Boston chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) to counter-protest us. After nine months, the leadership of Boston NOW told their recruited volunteers (mostly college students) to stop coming down to Preterm, because we "we were persuading too many of them." Click here. And click here. And also click here.
I held the sign: Can You Imagine Jesus Performing an Abortion? Why Not? Our slogan sign says: You Have the Power to Choose Life. Two other signs said: Why Does "Feminism" Abort Unborn Girls? and: Is the Abortion Industry Racist?
You can see the pictures here.
As you look at the first one, look at the young man and woman behind me, as they look at the sign. Notice the greatest difference in terms of posture, gaze and disinterest versus interest. The vast majority of abortions happen because the man who gets the woman pregnant refuses responsibility, indeed, often rooted in explicit male chauvinism. The man and woman had just stepped out of a chauffeured limousine.
[And, a day after this post, a new picture was sent to me, now the second one below. (Correction: I first thought it was a reflection of some other light, looked at the possibilities, but concluded there was no other source to cause reflection, and on a granite wall. So I came to believe it was the invisible realm of the heavens interfacing with the visible human world. I even visited the site again and saw no natural explanation. But days later, the chairman of the TEI Team of Advisors drove past, and noticed it was streetlight. The lamppost is to the left, against the lines of the building. But the arm is obscured by the bright light, and as I focused on the light, it seemed to stand alone without natural explanation. The folly of an incomplete review. Still a cool and surprising photo).]
[And later, I learned that this man and woman were part of a group of young persons recruited to be trained by Planned Parenthood, and that they were to meet with Cecile Richards at the event.]
Here are some observations:
1. The Connecticut Forum has many season subscribers, others come to various events to hear opposing ideas (as I have done across the years in various venues), and thus not all those attending were necessarily in favor of legalized abortion. But I believe most were.
2. As several thousand people walked past over a 45-minute period, within feet of these signs, many eyes avoided looking at them.
3. But many did look and pondered briefly or more engagingly.
4. Of the half dozen or dozen of negative reactions that occurred, they were mostly by women in deep pain. This was clear in their curses, body language and gestures. I interacted with some, and was able to say that my deepest concern is the male chauvinism that drives the abortion industry. I had some positive responses.
5. For several who cursed us, I said "God bless you" and they did not further curse. Jesus teaches us to bless those who curse us. To do so employs spiritual power to minister to their hurting souls, and it is their persons, as created in the image of God, that we bless, not their actions or curses.
6. One woman, standing behind me, said to some of her friends, "I wish I could take that sign, You Have the Power to Choose Life, and trample it on the ground." So I turned and said that I would never do that to any sign she might be holding in favor of abortion. But she responded, saying I was intolerant, and such a sign should be destroyed. I thought afterward, how much pain is in her person, so that she would destroy such a sign? Does she believe she does not have the power to choose life, whether for herself or the unborn? Indeed, this sign is the Gospel -- for only in Jesus do we have the good news and godly power to choose life for all people equally.
7. Some passersby quietly approached us and thanked us for being there.
8. I spoke with a young woman -- with her mother and grandmother with her -- for a good amount of time. She asked good questions, and responded well to many of my answers, as did her grandmother.
9. Toward the end, one women looked at my sign: Can You Imagine Jesus Performing an Abortion? Why Not? Then she called me a fascist. Does she also believe the same about Jesus since that was the sign I as holding? I did not assume this was necessary so. But ...
10. Then a young woman passed by, and almost tripped when she looked up at the sign, being caught off guard by it. She was wearing a bright yellow dress that distinguished her from everyone else, and was suggestive in it, along with her gait and attitude. She looked at me, said something disparaging about the mention of Jesus, and then said "Rapist." I was taken aback, but then said, "Are you calling Jesus a rapist?" And she said, "Yes!" There has to be very much pain in her soul to say such a thing, and we pray for her that God will indeed bless her, minister to her pain and draw her to faith in him as Savior.
11. [Added to the original post}: Toward the end, a man approached me from the Bushnell and offered me a ticket to attend the event. He said it would good if I listened to the other side. So I told him a little of my history, how for decades I have gone out of my way in listening to those who disagree with me, and for example, in my Mars Hill Forum series, where I have paid honoraria to such people as Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), at Smith College, to pose me her toughest questions before 550 people, 90 percent of whom were not on my side of the issues; and Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), whom I paid likewise at Georgetown University before some 300 people, and broadcast live on C-Span. His stereotype of me vanished. I said, yes, I would be pleased to accept the ticket, but first I had to put the signs away and attend to another detail, and thus, I might be up to ten minutes late for the event. He balked, and said he had to talk with someone about it, and would let me know. He did not return, and we had more fruitful encounters with the passersby and Bushnell staff. To what degree, I muse, was he simply trying to mute my witness as well? Several years ago, when we had these signs in front of the Planned Parenthood abortion center in the Bronx, they kept asking us how long we would be there. Women, in seeing the signs, were turning away from their abortion appointments.
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