The Pictures Work, IF, you have a functioning conscience
CBR visits the University of Houston in Texas this week. Here is an email exchange between a University of Houston student and CBR director Gregg Cunningham:
From: Ms. M
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 2:58 PM
To: Gregg Cunningham
Subject: inspired by the GAP project
To the directors and members of the Center for Bio-ethical Reform:
After seeing your presentation at the University of Houston this week, I was shocked into awareness. I would like to share the effects that your presentation has had on me.
However, I was not shocked by your graphic images. What shocked me was your utter lack of respect for women who are put in difficult situations and have to make difficult choices. I was shock by your egregious violations of basic vocabulary, such as genocide. (Google “Darfur” if you want to know what genocide is. Your appropriation of this term to your cause is ludicrous.)
I am now and have been for most of my adult life, 100% pro-choice. I do not usually feel the need to take political action or support groups that advocate for a woman’s right to choose abortion. However, your presentation changed this for me. Not only did I stand with a crowd of people protesting your display, I have signed up to make a monthly contribution to Planned Parenthood.
So here’s the effect your presentation has had on me: not only am I more committed than ever to being pro-choice, I am donating some of my hard-earned money to Planned Parenthood. Looks like the bad guys are winning. And you have only yourselves to thank.
Sincerely,
A pro-choice college senior
Dear Ms. M,
Regarding your complaints concerning our Genocide Awareness Display at the University of Houston:
First of all, you dispute our reference to abortion as “genocide” and challenge us to “Google” the word “Darfur” to learn what “genocide” really is. Your invocation of Darfur is clear evidence that you don’t understand the controversy over the definition of genocide in Sudan. Your assertion that abortion is not genocide perfectly mirrors the Sudanese argument that the ethnic cleansing of black Africans by ethnic Arab militias (and the uninformed military) in Muslim Darfur is not genocide. Our Congress and our President and our Secretary of State have all declared the mass murder in Darfur to be genocide. They used horrifying pictures, just as we do, to make their case. But the United Nations and Amnesty International argue that crimes against humanity in Darfur are not genocide. History proves that the definition of genocide evolves over time in a process which is often marked by disputation. People who care about ending crimes against humanity usually call them genocide. People who don’t care usually call them something else. Your lack of concern for the unborn closely parallels the Sudanese lack of concern for the black Africans of Darfur. So neither of you are willing to call these atrocities genocide.
Which brings us to your second point: You boast that you “were not shocked by our graphic images.” We acknowledge that we are not “shocked” by your boast. You define yourself as “100% pro-choice.” Our images aren’t aimed at people who are fanatical pro-aborts. They are aimed at people who are open-minded with respect to abortion. Most pro-aborts are more ignorant than evil. Showing them who the baby really is and what abortion really does to him/her, is usually enough to change their minds. Our pictures work wonders for those who only lack a fundamental understanding of abortion. But for those who lack a functioning conscience, the pictures don’t matter because the facts don’t matter. Their devotion to the Culture of Death transcends mere facts and becomes an article of faith.
As for your third point, the greatest contribution you could have made to the success of our abortion photo display at the University of Houston was to have helped draw attention to it by joining a counter-demonstration, and the larger and louder the better. Nothing attracts crowds like conflict and the more vigorously you oppose our presence, the more influential you make that presence. Thank you for amplifying the impact of our exhibit.
Finally, your defiant financial contribution to Planned Parenthood is by far your most anemic rejoinder. Planned Parenthood’s annual revenue now tops one BILLION dollars. They are rolling in cash. They have so much money they can’t figure out what to do with all of it. Our pictures change everything for everyone with even a rudimentary sense of right and wrong. Your financial contribution changes nothing. Our pictures for your donation is a trade-off we will eagerly make any day of the week.
We are praying for you Ms. M and we don’t say that with the slightest condescension. God loves you and wants to forgive you, if only you will humble yourself, repent and allow Him to embrace you in the Name of Christ. In your heart-of-hearts, you know that you aren’t really comfortable with your position on abortion. You also know that all is not right with your life spiritually. Our prayer is that you will pray about these important matters.
Lord bless,
Gregg Cunningham
Executive Director
