I know it is Christmas season (yes, I refuse to call it “the holiday season”). I know we are mostly thinking about joyous and happy things this time of year, and I really don’t want to spoil that for you.
But as much as I enjoy Christmastime, it also brings another season along with it for me to begin preparations. Every year at this time I kick into full gear with my planning and for the annual March for Life in Washington, DC.
This year is probably one of the most significant I have ever planned for as we are entering the 40th year of the decriminalization of abortion in America. I was 4 years old when the Supreme Court once again decided to strip the personhood from a group of people, as they did back in 1857 with the Dred Scott decision. I don’t have much memory of life at 4 years old, so in my lifetime I have never really known a time when babies were not being slaughtered.
Anyone who knows me knows I can be a very emotional person and I am honestly fighting back the tears right now as I am typing these words. 40 years! It is so hard for me to grasp the fact that we as a society are still justifying the systematic slaughter of sector of society as some even fight for it existence as a human rights issue.
I just got back to the United States last night from a trip to Brussels, Belgium and The Hague, Netherlands. I spoke at and participated in the March for Life, Netherlands on Saturday. While I was standing on the side of the crowd I tried to talk to a woman who was dressed as Jesus and screaming obscenities at the march participants. As I spoke to her and asked her what she was so angry about, all she could say to me over and over again was “f@*k off”.
Normally I would think that someone protesting would love to have a chance to share their opinion, to explain why they would take the time to come and protest. The fact is that most of the time the pro-abortion side will not talk to us because they know their position is truly indefensible. They know that abortion is the killing of a human being and that they can only argue from emotional rabbit trails that go away from the core issue at hand.
This is one of the reasons I believe this is a spiritual battle and not just a matter of showing the facts. Of course showing the truth, presenting a good factual argument and using scientific truth is important. Even with all of that, this battle is first and foremost, spiritual warfare. This girl was obviously angry with God and hated Him enough to mock Him openly in the streets. I realized that talking to her at that point was useless so I decided to just pray for her as that is what she needed most.
I have noticed over the years while doing outreach at abortion clinics that the pro-abortion volunteers get most angry with me while I am praying or reading my Bible. They hate it when people gather and pray a rosary or the Psalms. They hate when preachers will just read out loud the word of God; it simply drives them insane.
The spiritual battle does not just exist outside of the abortion clinics; the war is raging inside the churches as those who call themselves followers of Christ continue to ignore this battle. The spirit of apathy is alive and well inside of churches and it is winning.
Can you imagine if those of us who called ourselves Christian and claimed to be pro-life actually stood up and said, “No More”? What if the pastors and priests led their congregations to the gates of hell, the killing centers, and got on their faces before God to cry out about this blood being spilled in the streets? What if every single person in each city where these death camps existed marched to the front doors and said, “No More”?
Maybe you are one of those who think that this is just too big of a hill to climb, just as some thought that William Wilberforce could not climb the hill to abolish slavery? Maybe you are one who thinks that we must just accept the way things are because they will never change, just like those who thought Martin Luther King, Jr. would never change things?
I see things differently. I know what God did in my life, pulling me out of the muck and mire that I wallowed in for so many years. I witnessed God perform miracles in my life that kept me alive when I thought death was imminent. During my drug years a man opened my camper and pointed a gun at my head to kill me, but instead he walked away after holding gun towards me for several seconds. Later I talked to this man; he told me when he looked into my camper it was empty.
I know how big God is. I know he is bigger than abortion. I have seen God take a scumbag like myself and allow me to go out and help lead a generation of the most amazing young people to take a stand against the killing of their generation. I still believe God is bigger than abortion and that we will win this battle.
This generation also believes that and that is why this is the generation who will end abortion. This will be the next William Wilberforce generation; they will take action and be the generation to usher in the abolition of the worst human rights tragedy in history, abortion.
As we enter the 40th year of decriminalized child killing in America it is time for Christians to break off the chains of 40 years of apathy and rise up, stand true and cry out for the abolition of abortion. Are you with us?
LifeNews.com Note: Bryan Kemper is the president of Stand True Ministries, a pro-life group that reaches out to youth and young adults. He is the author of a new book, Social Justice Begins In The Womb. Kristan Hawkins is the president of Students for Life of America.
