Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Does the pro-life movement need a reboot?

Before anyone gets mad let me tell a little story.

Once upon a time when America was a very different place a black girl got tired of having to sit in the back of the bus and got tired of having to give her seat in the back to any white person who wanted it. One day she refused to give up her seat and was arrested. I am not talking about Rosa Parks. This young woman who took her stand before Rosa is largely unknown today because the civil rights movement leaders looked into her background and saw that she had a child out of wedlock and was pregnant again. She had guts but her home life was a mess and she wouldn't look good on TV and interviews were out of the question. A few months later Rosa Parks, a quiet, dignified and yes, articulate married woman decided to refuse to put up with the unjust bus situation. Rosa was an excellent spokesman for the movement. Middle class America saw her on TV wearing her Sunday hat and gloves and many felt shame. For the first time ordinary Americans began saying that hey, making black people move around on the bus at the whim of any white person was cruel and unAmerican.

Frederick Douglas was a cultured, elegant man who spoke better English than most of his listeners. Jackie Robinson's courageous and calm manner did more to desegregate this country than anybody else before MLK. Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige were both great baseball players but neither one would've been able to handle the abuse Jackie had to put up with. Gibson's mental problems would've made him crumble and Paige's temper would've made him beat somebody senseless.

I think that maybe the leaders of the pro-life movement need to think about presentation. First, everyone who speaks for the movement, every figure head must have a personal life that is above reproach. I mean your taxes must be paid, your teenagers must be well behaved in public and in private. You'd better not be having an affair or have been divorced and remarried and even the most rigourous investigator should'nt be able to find out anything bad about you that can be exploited. You also have to be able to speak well. If you can not present the pro-life case in an articulate fashion please don't get in front of a camera.