Dialogue with pro-abortion student. (I got the shade; I was there first.)

This is our 8th day of GAP in the last 3 weeks.  If you count our Pro Life Training Academy, travel, and prep work, it’s my 16th day of hard labor in 19 days.  By hard labor I mean up at 6:00 am and to bed at midnight or later on GAP days … with only slightly more sleep on the other days.  There would be 3 more days after this one.

But God is good.  He knew that we were all tired.  He didn’t test us.  After we got the exhibit set up, I propped myself up on a wall underneath a shade tree, right near the poll table.  They would have to come to me.

At the poll table, students answer the question, “Should abortion remain legal?”  A “no” response means pro-life; we sign them up for the Pro Life Collegians.  A “yes” response means pro-abortion; we initiate dialogue with the goal of helping them rethink their position.  For most of the day, I just quietly asked the “yes” responders, one at a time, “May I ask why you responded that way?”  If they answer, we’re off to the races.

For a nice change of pace, God didn’t send any combative people over to the table this day.  The combative types can offer awesome opportunities, especially if they draw a crowd.  But they are rarely thoughtful and it is hard work to be reasonable with somebody who is unreasonable.  I just wasn’t up to it.

So God sent to me (and all the rest of us) a steady stream of people who were willing to have civil discourse.  He also sent a number of pro-lifers who gave us encouragement.  It was very different from most GAPs, including most GAPs at UT.

Of course, a few passersby gave us the “flying buzzard” as they rushed on past, but the drive-by’s can be easily ignored.  We should aways remember that such people are often facing struggles that we probably can’t imagine.  We should also remember that God loves each and every one of them, too.  But God would have had a hard time loving them through us on this day.  The civil ones got all we had to give.

UTC student Madi Rose Taff stating the obvious. Nobody want's to see pictures of violence. But even fewer people want to be tortured to death.

Day 2 at UT Chattanooga (UTC) was another awesome day of GAP.  Come to think of it, I’ve participated in perhaps 150 days of GAP, and every single one of them was awesome.  Maybe that’s why we want to do even more of it.

It was another hot, hot day at UTC.  Before this week would be over, the heat would take it’s toll.  In fact, I’m typing this a full 2 weeks later, and my body hasn’t fully recovered, yet.  Please pray for healing and recovery.

We were greeted by protesters, which is always a plus.  They attracted the newspaper to come and do a story on our project.  The pro-aborts really don’t know what to do about us.  If they don’t respond at all, then we dominate the landscape.  If they do respond, they look silly.

For example, this group didn’t try to argue that abortion is OK.  No they took a very nuanced view of the First Amendment:

1. Free speech is important and should be protected.
2. We shouldn’t be allowed to show abortion pictures because it made them uncomfortable.

Oooohhhh kay.

One guy, who was not even pro-life, came by to protest the protesters.  He was there on behalf of the First Amendment.  Like we always say, “GAP is like a box of chock-lits; ya neva know WATT your gonna gay-et.”

UTC students study the GAP pictures in front of the library.

Sen. Bob Corker

Did you hear what our Senator Corker said on TV this morning.  It was one of the most astonishing things I had ever heard any legislator say.

He was asked, “So, you’ll vote yes for it, right?”  His stunning response:

I would like to at least read the 70 pages [before I decide how to vote].

We are not making this up.  See for yourself … click here.  We thought you were supposed to pass a bill before you can find out what’s in it!

Killing babies no longer funded with taxpayer dollars in Tennessee.

Apparently, Planned Parenthood has been stripped of its federal funding in Tennessee.  Click here for the story.

Statement by Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey here.

This is a continuation of story here.

Brian Harris, President of Tennessee Right to Life

From LifeNews.com:

Tennessee Right to Life continues to press Governor Bill Haslam to take steps to yank the taxpayer funding the Planned Parenthood abortion business receives from the state.

***

“As much as 55% of certain Planned Parenthood salaries are funded through contracts with the Tennessee Department of Health, said [Tennessee Right to Life President Brian] Harris. “These same employees  spend at least part of every work day promoting and/or participating in abortions at Planned Parenthood … no tax payer should be forced to subsidize the salary of any organization’s employees that participate in the harming of women and the killing of helpless unborn children.

Full story here.

Background story here.

Gov. Haslam’s statement here.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam

Apparently, the effort to keep Tennessee from funding the abortion industry is not yet complete.  I don’t really understand the details.  Last week, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Speaker of the House Beth Harwell issued this press release:

The confusion surrounding the language in the budget regarding Planned Parenthood has been unfortunate. The Office of Legal Services advised House and Senate leadership that it is unconstitutional to amend general law through the appropriations bill (Article II, Section 17), an interpretation which would have put the entire budget document in jeopardy. It was not our intent to allow funding for Planned Parenthood. Our majority in the General Assembly clearly meant to defund them. We are currently working with pro-life activists to resolve this issue with legislation and we will put it to rest immediately upon the legislature’s return in January.

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey and Speaker Beth Harwell

 CBR supporter Danny Bullington wrote Gov. Haslam and received this reply:

June 3, 2011

Dear Danny:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns about Planned Parenthood. Listening to and learning from Tennesseans is very important to me, and I am committed to better understanding your concerns.

I am pro-life. I believe in the sanctity of every human life from the moment of conception. I am committed to protecting our traditional values, especially the rights of the unborn, and as Governor I am working to protect those rights.

No state tax dollars go to Planned Parenthood in the budget passed by the legislature this year. The current issue surrounds federal money passing through the state. I do have a line-item veto to reduce or disapprove a sum of money, but removing legal language – which is at the heart of this matter – would require the budget to be re-approved by the legislature, which has already gone out of session.

I am against tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood, and I am disappointed that the circumstances surrounding the state budget do not allow us to prevent this from happening this year. But I am already working with Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Speaker Harwell to ensure that taxpayer dollars do not go to Planned Parenthood in future budgets.

Again, thank you for contacting my office with your concerns, I look forward to working with you and all Tennesseans to make our state an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.

Warmest regards,
Bill Haslam

So, that’s all I’ve got.  But if you need more, try Google; they’ve got a search motor that’s catching on real big.  (Seriously, I think they’re going to make a go of it!)

Personhood

As Tennessee Right to Life and pro-lifers in Tennessee (including myself) were celebrating the victories won in the most recent Legislature, some in our movement were saying, “Wait a minute; not so fast!”

Many people, notably those involved in a number of Personhood campaigns all over the country, believe that laws restricting abortion actually help to enshrine abortion in the law.  Or that it has the effect of legitimizing abortion by implying it is acceptable as long as it is properly regulated.

J.D. Ellis, Tennessee Vice-Chairman of the America’s Independent Party (AIP) articulated the views of many:

… according to Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, the purpose behind SJR 127 is to, “restore common sense restrictions” on abortion, such as a 48-hour waiting period, parental consent, and a requirement that abortions be performed in a hospital after the second trimester. In other words, our “pro-life” leaders want to use this amendment to enact laws defining the conditions under which the murder of unborn children will be accepted. Is this a truly pro-life position? Does this really acknowledge the personhood, and equality under the law, of the unborn? What other group of living human beings would we treat this way?

After World War II, should America have demanded that Germany “restore common sense restrictions” on the murder of Jews? Would we permit the killing of, say, high school teachers, as long as the murderer first waited 48 hours? Or how about the murder of blondes, provided the murder was committed at a hospital? Or the slaughter of 5-year-olds, so long as we first notified the victims’ grandparents? “Common sense restrictions”? On murder? No, when we really view the unborn as persons, and abortion as murder, then such regulations are not “common sense”, but complete nonsense!

Aside from all this, the supporters of SJR 127 also seem to lack the foresight to perceive what would happen next time the Democrats regain control under a Constitution that gives them the power to “enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion”. This amendment would give a Democrat-controlled General Assembly the power to make abortion on demand completely legal in Tennessee, with absolutely no restrictions. Some “pro-life” amendment this is!

What do you think?  Is Mr. Ellis right or wrong to oppose these measures?

For more information on Personhood, click here and/or here.  One of our favorite people in the whole pro-life movement is Dan Becker, President of Georgia Right to Life and a leader in the Personhood movement.  Order his new book Personhood here or here.

Here’s the FAB view.  We will never change public policy unless and until we change public opinion.  And we will never change public opinion until we show people pictures of abortion, because only pictures will make people see that (1) the preborn child is really a baby, even in the first trimester of pregnancy, and (2) abortion is a horrifying act of violence.

Unless and until we show large numbers of voters the truth, then we will never win the legislative battle to change the laws, neither by the Legislature nor by passing Personhood amendments at the state level.

Having said that, we believe there is value in both protective legislation and in Personhood, and we pledge to do whatever we can to support both.

Legislation now saves babies now.  We rejoice over each life saved.  If a building is burning and 100 people are trapped inside, shouldn’t we save 10, 20, or 50, even if that’s all we can do?  And didn’t the abolition of slavery begin with restrictions on the practice?  To win those legislative battles, we must display abortion pictures so that voters can know what abortion is and does.  Even small changes in voting behavior will have a huge impact on the makeup of our legislative bodies.

Speaking of education, many in the Personhood movement believe that ballot initiatives are an excellent teaching tool for educating people about the evil of abortion.  Absolutely!  And to accomplish the education that is necessary to win this nationally, we must include abortion pictures in our voter education efforts.  Otherwise, the public will not apply the kind of pressure necessary to first overturn Roe v Wade and then outlaw abortion nationally.

At FAB, we are much like Billy Martin in some of those Miller Lite commercials from the 1980s.  We feel strongly both ways.  What do you think?  Please comment!

Dr. Alveda King and Fr. Frank Pavone

Protestants and Catholics, unite!  Dr. Alveda King, a Baptist minister, and Fr. Frank Pavone, a Catholic priest, have long worked together to promote the Gospel of Life, a message of hope and healing, across racial and denominational lines.  Fr. Pavone and Dr. King (niece of Dr. Martin Luther King) will be in Knoxville on Friday-Saturday, October 15-16, and I hope you will join us.

Friday night’s Worship Rally will be at 7 p.m. at the Tennessee Theater and Saturday’s Prayer Vigil will be at 9 a.m. at the Cherry Street Planned Parenthood Clinic.

There are three abortion clinics in Knoxville, including Planned Parenthood’s new clinic in East Knoxville.  Nearly 4000 children are killed every year in these clinics. This does not include those killed by the RU-486 abortion pill and other forms of chemical abortion.

Nearly twenty years ago, pro-life leaders in Chattanooga rallied and prayed together.  For their faithfulness, God closed the last abortion clinic in Chattanooga, turning that property into The National Memorial for the Unborn. Chattanooga remains the largest city in America without an abortion clinic or PP presence.

Let’s pray and work to make Knoxville the next one.  For more information, visit www.ProLifeFreedomRides.com.

Hot in Tennessee (Charlie Daniel, KnoxNews.com)

It’s so dry in Tennessee, …

• the Baptists are baptizing by sprinkling,
• the Methodists are using wet-wipes,
• the Presbyterians are giving rain checks, and
• the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water!

It’s so hot in Tennessee, …

• birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.
• the trees are whistling for the dogs.
• hot water comes from both taps.
• lizards jump into the fire to get under the shade of the skillet.
• the temperature drops below 95 F and you feel a little chilly.
• you break into a sweat when you step outside at 7:30 am.
• you realize that asphalt has a liquid stage.
• cows are giving evaporated milk.
• farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice so they won’t lay boiled eggs.

(Thanks to State Rep. Stacey Campfield and KNS/Charlie Daniel.)

FACT says vote “NO” on judges in Tennessee.  For the whole story, click here.

Do you agree?

The Tennessee Conservative Union has released their ratings for Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, Congressman Zach Wamp and Mayor Bill Haslam.  Candidates are rated on these factors: income tax (Tennessee doesn’t have one and doesn’t want one), Second Amendment, administrative experience, social issues (including pro-life), spending, and taxes.

Click here to see the full document: TCU Candidate Ratings.

Who are you voting for?  Why?  Please comment!

Tennessee Woman's Suffrage Memorial on Market Square. Note GAP display in background.

When we were on Market Square in Knoxville last week, we were stunned but pleased to see that the City of Knoxville had put up a monument to the pro-life position.  It wasn’t just pro-life, it was pro-family and pro-God.  It was awesome!

In fact, the pro-life monument has been there since 2006, but we enjoyed pretending that the City of Knoxville put it up just to endorse our message.

You all know about the pro-life convictions of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.  Perhaps we could add Lizzie Crozier French (1851-1926) to that list.  She was the founder of the Knoxville Equal Suffrage Association.  She wrote these words that appeared on the monument:

Thanks be to God that in giving Woman the crown of motherhood He made her the giver not the taker of life.  Woman has no greater claim to the rights of the ballot than that she is the producer not a destroyer of life.

Young people learning the truth of abortion.

We displayed our Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) on Market Sqauare in Knoxville.  Here are comments from passersby:

“This is really plain. I have cancer and cannot have children. Why don’t these folks give birth and let people like me adopt?” (young couple from Kentucky)

“We have both seen the destruction of societies from the kind of ‘real’ genocide (the kind most people identify with). But abortion is no less a genocide. We are destroying our own children for selfish reasons. We have seen what a society is like when life is not valued and we do not want America to become like China.” (travelers recently returned from Africa and China)

“China has a one-child policy enforced by the State. America has a 2-child policy enforced by the Church. And the pastors’ refusal to talk about contraception, the ‘full quiver’ (God determining family size), and abortion. And the outcome is still the same . . . death to the preborn.” (male passerby)

“Thank you for being brave to put this truth up for all to see.” (male passerby) (Note: we appreciate the thanks and the admiration, but frankly, we’d rather have your help. Thanks and admiration by themselves will not buy new signs, new handouts, truck fuel, nor anything else.)

“It is so wrong that you cut the water off so children can’t play in the water fountains today.” (female restaurant employee)

“The pictures are just awful; you should be ashamed to put them up.” (male passerby)  (Note: When Lewis Hine showed photos of children working under abusive conditions, he said people would look at the photos and get more angry at him for showing the pictures than at the industrial bosses for abusing the children.)

“The people that took info from me were not really interested in talking but extremely engrossed in taking in every detail of the display, some slowly digesting every photo-mural. Polite and very contemplative are two words I would use for the older (than college age) crowd at Market Square. I did notice that there were very many who looked at the display intently from a distance, whether walking by or from the surrounding restaurants. I did speak with one UT college age male who was glad we were there and remembered us from UT. The Deeper Still table had several come by, and a few ask for information about their post-abortion healing ministry.” (CBR volunteer)

That’s what they say.  What do you say?  Please leave your comments!

Market Square GAP

The Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) has made it’s first appearance on Market Square in Knoxville.  Lord willing, it won’t be our last.

Before we had even set up the signs, a woman walked around the display and studied each one.  She was almost in tears as she asked, “Do you mean to tell me that abortions like this are legal in Knoxville?”  I explained that the first trimester abortions depicted in most of our signs are performed routinely in Knoxville.  Although the 22-week abortion depicted in two of our signs are legal in all 50 states (because of the Doe v Bolton decision), they are not routinely performed here.  She said she had thought all abortions were done on a small blob of tissue, and that we had certainly changed her mind.  I know she will be talking about the signs to her friends as well.

All day long, it was a steady stream of people passing the display.  Almost every one of them stared at the signs and studied them intently.  It was clear the signs were doing their work in the minds of all who saw them.

What do you think about Urban GAP?  Please comment!

ProLifeOnCampus Logo

You may have been wondering about the Pro Life on Campus logo.  This logo tells the simple story of what we are doing with our campus outreach project (GAP) at CBR:

Winning Hearts … Changing Minds … Saving Lives

These achievements are represented by the three icons that you see:

• The first is a heart, representing emotion.  Any salesman will tell you that the first step toward achieving behavior change is to touch the emotions of your audience.  They have to care about it; they have to think it’s important.  When people see our display, they are suddenly aware of a victim they had been taught to ignore (the defenseless baby) and an injustice they had been taught to trivialize.
• Next is a head, representing reason.  Using our display to start the conversation, we are able to engage the minds of students.  As pro-choice students and others repeat back the mantra of a pro-death culture, we ask questions to clarify the confusion in their minds.  We help them see that their justifications for abortion are no more compelling that the justifications given by the purveyors of slavery, the Holocaust, and the many other forms of systematic injustice.  They have been taught to hate these other forms of injustice; reason demands they hate abortion in the same way.
• Next is the baby’s hand, representing lives saved.  The first time I saw CBR’s campus outreach project was at the University of Tennessee in 1998.  We know of 9 babies lives that were saved.  One of them is now featured in a GAP sign that is shown all over the world.  Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life says this project is “saving babies like nothing the pro-life movement has ever seen.”

The text on the logo, Pro Life on Campus, points people to our website, www.ProLifeOnCampus.com.  So now you know!

To win hearts, change minds, and save lives, we need your help!  If you click here and give $5 or more, I’ll send you a Precious Feet lapel pin!