Even Patricia Ireland Used To Be Pro-Life
--And why so many Christians vote pro-abortion
Patricia Ireland and her entire side used to be pro-life. Each and every one of them was—when they were young. If you had asked little Miss. Ireland while in the first grade what is inside a pregnant woman’s “tummy,” she would have said a baby. If you had asked if it would be okay to hurt that baby in any way, she would have said no. Try it with a thousand first graders; their answers will all be basically the same. The fact is, as little ones we are naturally pro-life.
Children have been growing up these last three decades, being fed a prodigious diet of anti life, anti family rhetoric, seasoned with subtle “choice” sentiments. Over time, such propaganda slowly becomes “palatable”. Roughly 50 percent of them (us) change from their natural pro-life selves into pro-abortion adults. Sadly, during these same decades, children who have gone through Christian education from kindergarten through 12th grade have not been taught the truth about the sanctity of life and so statistically they are almost as likely to become pro-abortion as those who receive government education. This is the single most important factor why the holocaust continues, yet it remains largely un-addressed by the pro-life movement as well as Christian leaders.
Voting records of Christians show that our schools have not taught the truth about the unborn in an effective way as an option to the lies we’ve all been exposed to. When our shepherds express their “sadness and frustration” over their flocks repeated votes for pro-abortion politicians, it must be respectfully pointed out to these shepherds that they did not educate their former students in Christian schools as to WHY they are supposed to be pro-life, to vote pro-life. THEY WERE NOT TAUGHT THE TRUTH, so they swallowed the lies. It is time for the pro-life movement together with the leaders of the Protestant and Catholic churches to face this simple reality: We are responsible for how our students of today will live and VOTE as adults.
With comprehensive Pro-Life education in Christian schools, from K-12 (and beyond), we can greatly reduce that 50 percent of the “Patricia Ireland's” who become pro-abortion. One document that offered so much opportunity, and still is truly authoritative on this subject is entitled Respect Life Curriculum Guidelines. It was published in 1977 by the Department of Education, United States Catholic Conference. Here are some brief quotes:
"The pastoral plan for pro-life activities, issued by the U.S. bishops in November, 1975, urged the development of educational tools to bring the Church’s teaching of the value of life and on the life-centered issues in an effective way, through our educational apostolate, to the whole Church." (Page one)
"These Guidelines...are a response to the challenges and crisis of our time. The education envisioned by these guidelines seeks long-term improvements. The assumption here is (1) that positive respect life attitudes can be inculcated through educational processes, and (2) that these attitudes and values, reflected in the many issues of daily life, will have practical impact on people's lives and environment." (Page four)
This 109 page book has guidelines for "Pre-school through High School" It went further still into curriculum guidelines for "Adult Learners, Parents and Families, Adults in Leadership Positions in the Church ...and Community." (Page three) The voting records of those who received Catholic education after these Guidelines were published clearly indicate that this book never received anything near the attention required to achieve its intended purpose. It is available on-line at: http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/publicat/respectl.htm (scroll to the very bottom, Item # 7715). Also, we have posted excerpts from the first few pages, at http://www.cpforlife.org/id94
It is reasonable to expect that if Christian school students were to receive thorough and proper sanctity of life education from K-12 (with testing) we could reduce that percentage mentioned above from 50 to perhaps 25 percent. If we could have kept half of the pro-life children, who grew up and currently vote for pro-abortion candidates, it is quite likely that by now the numbers of politicians required to pass a human life amendment would have already been elected. Exactly one-half of voters in the 2000 presidential election were age 18-44. This entire group was in school after Roe v. Wade, and those who received Christian education could also have received a pro-life education. In this regard, our pro-life movement has in effect put the cart in front of the horse. The laws won't change until years after the culture does¾and change to a significant majority.
What will change the culture? At the heart of it, this is truly a basic problem and there is a straightforward solution. The sanctity of life is a simple truth that can and must be taught like any other subject. In Christian schools it should be the preeminent subject in religion class and receive the greatest attention and highest Respect. The war between the cultures of life and death is the single thing that has a bearing on the destiny of our nation and the very survival of our society. Every student beginning kindergarten is naturally pro-life. If the Christian schools were to nurture this gift and guide the proper formation of their Christian consciences with ongoing teachings while continuously building on successive lessons—over the course of thirteen years the vast majority of these students would be solid pro-life citizens. Protestant and Catholic leaders who control schools, Bible study, CCD etc. need only the will to make this happen. Each day this doesn't happen is another day of victory for the pro-abortion forces, because ignorance of the masses is the only hope the pro-abortion forces have for survival.
One should also consider that regardless of the law, education would greatly reduce the number of abortions because women who received Christian education as school students have a significant percentage of abortions. The industry of death would diminish in power if the demand for abortion were cut, significantly.
The solution to ending the culture of death does not realistically lie with changing or “reversing” the minds of pro-abortion adults; it lies with preserving the 99+ % of children that are already pro-life on their first day of school. We examine this in The Missing Key of The Pro-Life Movement, available at CHRISTIAN PATRIOTS FOR LIFE
To the leaders of the pro-life movement and more directly, to those in charge of Christian education systems: With regard to comprehensive pro-life education for your students, start today, because there are millions of “Patricia Ireland’s” in your schools—right now.
Kevin M. Jeanfreau is the founder of Christian Patriots For Life, www.CpForLife.org He may be contacted at Kevin@CpForLife.org.