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Three young Jewish women converse at a mass demonstration in
to protest against the Nazi
persecution of German Jewry.* 1933 USHMM
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I've been thinking about the hatred and rage we experience when we are on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood. Sure, lots of people give friendly honks and thumbs-up. I appreciate those, even if the support is weak. (It would mean more if people actually joined us.) The opposition on the other hand is emotionally fierce, and it sticks with you.
The other evening Edie and I watched the Martin Scorsese film “Silence”, based on the novel by Shusaku Endo. I read the book years ago after seeing it on Marvin Olasky’s (editor of World News Group) essential reading list. The story is about the horrific persecution of Christians in 15th Century Japan. What we go through in front of Planned Parenthood is laughable compared to what Christians endured then, and in other times and places around the world. Still, we have time on the sidewalk to reflect on the daily bellowed “f___ yous” and up-thrusted middle fingers from passersby. It’s not hard to interpret these as intended to be meant literally. The ugly, vile, violent reference to what our Creator intended for human procreation is entirely consistent with the ugly, vile, violent response to the unwanted result of human procreation. You almost view those people who do this to us as being of the same spirit of the inquisitors in medieval Japan. I believe that if unrestrained by the law and encouraged, some of those bird flippers and shouters would attack us physically. You see that sort of thing with the present so-called Antifa, or antifascist movement, who themselves use fascist tactics.
I don’t want to leave the impression that we are at great risk out there. It is tense, but so far actual threats are almost non-existent. We are able to focus on our purpose, which is reaching out to abortion bound people.
*The photograph has been cleaned up from the original, to remove specks. And cropped a little.To see the original and the documentation, go to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. I considered using this photo in my novel, but getting permission to use a high resolution image was burdensome. The photo is in the public domain.
*The photograph has been cleaned up from the original, to remove specks. And cropped a little.To see the original and the documentation, go to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. I considered using this photo in my novel, but getting permission to use a high resolution image was burdensome. The photo is in the public domain.
