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Pro-Life Training Program Series PRO-LIFERS MUST GO ON THE OFFENSIVEBy Janet Baker In June 2003, many pro-lifers attended a dinner hosted by the Peroutka brothers, featuring Joe Scheidler as keynote speaker. Joe made some important points. Among them was the reminder that we are the Church Militant. He stated also that we are the "milles Jesu," the "soldiers of Christ." Quoting the passage that "the gates of hell will not prevail against you," he pointed out that if the "gates" belong to "hell," that implies that we are to lay siege to hell, forcing evil to take the defensive by our offense. He further stated that "We are not the Church Miserable." I think many Catholics also need to be reminded that we should not consider ourselves to be the Church Mellow. Brian Clowes states that for nineteen hundred years the Church did indeed take the initiative in its efforts to preach and evangelize and otherwise convert souls to Jesus. During the twentieth century, though, that changed. The practical causes of the change are no doubt myriad. We, as Catholics, have become too comfortable, complacent and spiritually flabby. Enamored and enslaved as we are by leisure, creature comforts, prestige, power and, of course, money, we have become loathe to exert ourselves to stand against the initiatives of evil. As I write this, Terri Schiavo in Florida still lies in danger of being legally murdered, and Massachusetts now recognizes "gay marriage." The onslaught of evil has become more and more brazen. When will we say, "Enough is enough"? Will it require another September 11 to shake us out of our torpidity? If you're reading this newsletter, chances are you are at least aware that our world is careening towards hell in a handbasket. You may be already involved in Catholic and/or pro-life activism. However, even in our own spheres, we have taken defensive postures as opposed to taking offensive stances. Many of us have been brainwashed into thinking that we cannot engender harsh reactions lest we offend charity; that, of course, is a crippling lie. Many of us might think that the U.S. is still basically a God-fearing, decent place, so radical action isn't truly necessary; hopefully that myth will be immediately dispelled. Our reluctance to take the initiative, to take the offensive, has allowed moral disease to march almost unopposed. We wonder why our efforts meet with so little success. It is because our efforts themselves are too feeble. Our Lord has commanded His Church to be vigilant and active. Instead, we have taken the passive and least offensive paths that only lead to futility. As the Church Militant, we must realize and accept that we are in war. As such, we'll win this war if and only if we take the offensive. That means we must dictate the place, the time and terms of engagement, rather than be "gentlemen" and allow the servants of evil to set those terms. It is our specific task, as pro-life activists, to convert the world into a pro-life world (said task is a subset of making Christians of all). We need to defeat, neutralize and weaken anti-life opposition. We need to study principles of temporal warfare. Many of these principles, taught in military schools, are based on the Book of Proverbs. "Offensive" means to attack and maintain the initiative. We need to destroy the anti-lifers' ability to wage combat. These ends can be met by the ten Principles of the Offensive:
Let's examine these one by one. First, we must learn about our opponents if we are to effectively deal with them. We must gather information about their organizations, individuals and intentions. How? Attend their meetings. Get on their mailing lists. Browse their web pages. This should be a continuous process. We can learn much about their tactics, funding, etc.--knowledge that can be used as we implement the other principles of the offensive. We will delve into the other principles over the next few installments. |
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