I will hand it to your prolife outreach program on college campuses. I can imagine that there are times when you run into unpleasantness with strong-mined, and loud abortion supporters. Hopefully, most of your interactions are civil and productive, even if you and the other party leave in total disagreement. I can especially see how delicate it is to reach out to a post-abortive women. Being honest, that is one reason that I do not spontaneously bring up my prolife convictions to people that I do not know very well, or even to those that I work with. If they have either had or been involved with an abortion in the past, there is a risk that they will have a very negative reaction to me--either because they feel guilty and it pains them to think about it, or because they have no regrets, and have a "how dare I" attitude. A few years ago, a co-worker did bring up the fact that her daughter was pregnant at the wrong time, and that she was disappointed that her daughter was not going to have an abortion. I then told her my views, and that her daughter was right to be choosing life. Another time, a co-worker confided to me that decades ago, she had had an abortion. She described it as an unpleasant experience, but did not seem outwardly regretful. In that instance, I only said that I was sorry that happened, but I did not pursue it, since she was past childbearing age (she never had any other children). It is a balancing act, and I do believe that more people would see that abortion was a grave wrong if they had not had personal dealings with it in their own/family member's lives that have led them to denial.
This is a delightful read. I am listening to "Nonviolent Communication" by Marshal Rosenberg. One of the key points is to listen for what is alive in us ... our needs. This is a perfect example of listening to another's need to be heard and experience empathy. Thank you.
Josh, this is so beautiful. I love your detailed thinking about every single facet of having a table. I am going to adapt this information to my the new organization that I started along with two young people--one of whom is trained as a planned parenthood peer counseor! The group is called Animal Lovers of the Ozarks, and we want to talk to people about veganism. The prolife issue used to be the most important issue I wanted to address. But for various reasons, things have changed, and now bringing attention to the plight of animals, especially farmed animals, is my highest priority. One of my dreams is to have a dialogue with you about how our issues are so similar. Here is a great article that I hope you will read. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/359761/pro-life-pro-animal-matthew-scully
I can imagine that there are times when you run into unpleasantness with strong-mined, and loud abortion supporters.
Hopefully, most of your interactions are civil and productive, even if you and the other party leave in total disagreement.
I can especially see how delicate it is to reach out to a post-abortive women.
Being honest, that is one reason that I do not spontaneously bring up my prolife convictions to people that I do not know very well, or even to those that I work with.
If they have either had or been involved with an abortion in the past, there is a risk that they will have a very negative reaction to me--either because they feel guilty and it pains them to think about it, or because they have no regrets, and have a "how dare I" attitude.
A few years ago, a co-worker did bring up the fact that her daughter was pregnant at the wrong time, and that she was disappointed that her daughter was not going to have an abortion.
I then told her my views, and that her daughter was right to be choosing life.
Another time, a co-worker confided to me that decades ago, she had had an abortion.
She described it as an unpleasant experience, but did not seem outwardly regretful.
In that instance, I only said that I was sorry that happened, but I did not pursue it, since she was past childbearing age (she never had any other children).
It is a balancing act, and I do believe that more people would see that abortion was a grave wrong if they had not had personal dealings with it in their own/family member's lives that have led them to denial.
The prolife issue used to be the most important issue I wanted to address. But for various reasons, things have changed, and now bringing attention to the plight of animals, especially farmed animals, is my highest priority. One of my dreams is to have a dialogue with you about how our issues are so similar. Here is a great article that I hope you will read. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/359761/pro-life-pro-animal-matthew-scully