Post-Trump, pro-lifers will be struggling to rebuild a
movement that was either (1) just smashed, or (2) just shown to be smashed.
In 2000, I wrote two books, one about the pro-life movement
and one about the pro-abortion movement. I have thought since 1975 that the
pro-life movement was focused on a pipedream, and should be re-shaped. And I
have thought since 1985 that pro-lifers had little or no ideas where the
abortion movement came from, and needed a new perspective – specifically, about
eugenics. I tried to offer some ideas about both the pro-life movement, and
about our opponents.
The pro-life book is: “Emmanuel, Solidarity: God Act, Our
Response.” The effort to analyze our
opponents is “The Roots of Racism: an Exploration of Eugenics.”
Both are available through Amazon or Kindle.
The book on eugenics had a chapter that I knew was weak, on
immigration. I have written about immigrations since then.
In short, I argue:
The slaughter of children is a massive and deeply entrenched
social evil. Such evils have never in recorded human history been ended by the
central strategy of the pro-life movement: education leading to a change in the
law (by legislation or litigation). It’s common to bring evils in gradually by
propaganda followed by a change in the law, but it’s impossible to go back up
the same road. There are only two options for revitalizing a culture: war or a
campaign of nonviolence (or martyrdom).
Wilberforce is the quick response of people with an eye on a
little history who want to defend the movement’s 40-year fixation. I argue that
Wilberforce did a great thing indeed, but the British citizens who voted to end
slavery were ending someone else’s evil, elsewhere in the empire. The British
who ended slavery were not themselves deeply entangled in it. I deny that this
is a counter-example, and repeat: there are two options to end massive and
deeply entrenched social evils, and the pro-life movement has been wedded to a
chimera for 40 years.
A strategy of nonviolence is common sense, is supported by
history, and is grounded firmly in the teaching of the Church.
Nonviolence requires preparation, study, and discipline. We
have a long way to go, and should get at it.
With regard to our opponents, I
argue that the background, the drive, and the funding of the abortion movement
are all found in eugenics. Until we understand our opposition, we can and will
be led astray easily. In fact, the immigration debate has many horrors,
including (down the list of horrors, but still noteworthy) that it has
undermined the credibility of pro-life leaders for decades to come. Pro-life
leaders and activists have been recruited in shockingly large numbers to
support global population control – not actively killing refugees, but shutting
off their escape.
It is my hope that pro-lifers who
undertake the effort to rebuild the shattered and discredited movement will
take the time to read these two books.