Karl at Summa Contra Mundum (the link to the specific story is not working; see first entry on Fri, Nov 8) has a good post on the conventional thinking on pro-life candidates in elections in states where pro-abortion politics holds sway:
- We need to explain the gospel of life. It is not that there has been a debate between life and death, and death won, but rather the debate hasn’t happened. Abortion is accepted as a fait accompli, contraception is thought to be a natural and normal as sunrise, and casual sex is the rule, not the exception. The opponents to the culture of death have left the battlefield.
Amen, Karl. I’m not ready to concede the fight as so many political conservatives have. I think that even in Massachusetts a pro-life conservative could win a statewide election if he was willing to intelligently argue the case. But now we have politicians who run from the issue. Pro-lifers were ecstatic at the election of Mitt Romney as governor because they think he might be a closet pro-lifer or at least sympathetic to our cause, despite his public pronouncements. Is this the best we can hope for? We shouldn’t have to settle for that. No, we must demand more—from our politicans and from ourselves. Don’t apologize for being pro-life. When your friends or co-workers or family bring up abortion, assuming that any right-thinking person must be pro-choice, say a prayer to the Holy Spirit and stand up for life.
Even better, when speaking in mixed company, don’t be afraid to use their own tactic. Speak as if any compassionate, logical person would be pro-life. You’d be surprised at how effective that is. That’s how I speak. And it’s been more effective than you’d expect.
