The Thunder Bay Assault: A Child’s Conscience versus A Man’s Anger

Two days ago, an angry man assaulted several of our female Caravan team members while engaging the public through Choice” Chain in the Algoma Business District of Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was walking by our demonstration with a little girl, and almost immediately became irate.”

According to Caravan team member Maaike Rosendal:

After he had screamed at Choice” Chain volunteers across the street, Thunder Bay local, Brian, walked towards us. While waving a stick at me, he encouraged the little girl with him (I’d estimate around 3 years old) to stand in front of the sign so he could take a picture. Screaming at us that he was going to put pictures of vaginas in public while making obscene gestures, he asked, “How would you like that, huh?”

I explained the difference between showing pictures of an injustice to turn people off versus showing obscene images which turn people on, when the little girl piped up, “What is it, Brian?”

“Ask them,” he responded angrily.

When I told her it was a baby, she asked, “What happened to the baby? Why is it broken?”

Me: “The doctor killed the baby.”

Little girl: “Why did he kill it?”

Me: “I don’t know sweetheart, but it’s sad, isn’t it?”

Little girl: “Uhuh, but why is there blood?”

Me: “Because the baby got hurt. I’m sure Brian loves you very much though, and that he’ll make sure you’re always safe.”

Then Brian interjected to me, “I don’t want you talking to her!” Then he angrily shouted to the little girl, “Go to your mom!” He pushed her into her mom’s direction, who was across the street; this resulted in the little girl almost running into traffic.  Thankfully he had enough sense to grab her by the arm and while swearing, he crossed the street.

The little girl continued to ask about the aborted pre-born children on the signs when she was with her mother on the other side of the street.  She inquired, “Mommy, there’s a dead baby; why did the doctors kill the baby?”

This little girl is the perfect illustration of what pro-life activists have found to be true time and time again: Children have functioning consciences. When they see a dismembered baby, they want to know why that happened, and who allowed it to happen. They do not get disturbed by the pictures so much as the obscene language and temper tantrums of their parents.

The angry man came back shortly afterwards, displaying his disdain for women and pre-born children by dumping a two-litre jug of milk on the heads of a three of the pro-life girls standing on the sidewalk with signs.

This is the response of a man furious that women dared to stand up and speak for women and children, and furious that the little girl did not share his anger at the protestors, but rather wanted to know, “Why did the doctors kill the baby?” This little girl knew instinctively what Brian could not grasp intellectually: That when faced with evidence of an injustice, we should ask why the injustice is happening, not react with more violence towards those who stand to expose it.

Used with permission from https://www.endthekilling.ca/

Graphic Images Save Lives

“You’re making me feel bad,” she said. “I went along with two of my friends when they had their abortions because I wanted to support their choice. One of them was my brother’s girlfriend too.” I expressed my sympathy. “I’m so sorry to hear that. I didn’t come here to make you feel bad, yet I’m glad you now know what happened during the abortion. The truth often hurts but also sets free.” I offered her information about post-abortion help, which she eagerly accepted, then looked at the pictures again. “That would’ve been my niece or nephew, but I didn’t know.”

She had no idea. She didn’t know that her friend’s “choice” tore apart the tiny body of a pre-born child. She didn’t know that supporting such a choice allowed her brother’s baby to be decapitated, dismembered and disembowelled. She now knows the ugly truth because a graphic image of abortion conveyed just that. Had she seen the pictures a few weeks or months earlier, this young woman would have done everything in her power to prevent the abortions from taking place. Instead, two babies are now dead.

Another young woman we spoke with was opposed to abortion with the exception of pregnancies resulting from rape. Needless to say, she also wouldn’t impose her beliefs upon anyone else, not upon her friend scheduled for an abortion next week either. I pointed to my baby and asked whether she would have the responsibility to take action if I was planning to kill him next week. “Of course,” she exclaimed. “That would be terrible.” Pointing to a picture of a first-trimester aborted fetus I gently asked, “Do you think it’s any different with your friend’s child who, if you don’t do anything, will soon look like that?”

She had no idea either. She believed that being pro-life was merely a personal preference, not an objective truth that compels us to respect the lives of all people, including the pre-born. The abortion images changed it all. Instantly aware of her responsibility she asked for pamphlets and contact information for her friend. Perhaps, because pro-lifers showed her the truth, a small child will live. Many others have certainly survived for that very reason.

Far too often we’ve heard pro-lifers object to showing graphic abortion images. We agree that they are disturbing. They keep us from sleeping soundly, as they should, but more importantly, they change minds and save lives. Postcards, posters, signs, and trucks with graphic abortion images continually convict and convince of the pro-life truth, and the aforementioned are only two of many instances that prove this. But the converse is true as well. Babies die when we censor the truth, preventing women from knowing what abortion does and allowing pre-born children to be killed in their mother’s womb. Every child that is killed due to the mother’s ignorance is an indictment upon Christians and pro-lifers who have the knowledge and means necessary to save those lives.

Each of us has a responsibility to speak truth and show compassion, especially to the very least (Matthew 25:40). Additionally, the Bible makes it clear that the sins of our nation are our own (e.g. Proverbs 29:12) and that no one can wash their hands of innocent blood. What makes it worse, however, is when Christians without any Biblical reason whatsoever and in contravention of our Reformed heritage actively oppose a pro-life strategy that is truthful and hugely effective in saving lives, simply because it makes them uncomfortable. Our hands already drip with the blood of pre-born children by virtue of the fact that our tax dollars pay for every single abortion. And yet, even conservative church leaders who take it upon themselves to speak out on behalf of the voiceless and support the actions of those who seek to stop abortion are slandered and mocked by some in an extremely unbiblical way.

There are those in the Christian communities in North America who feel that it is a positive thing that they can sleep well at night, unburdened by the blood of thousands of children who were butchered during the day, bought and paid for by the tax dollars of our labour. There are those in the Christian community who seem to be more passionate about opposing the efforts of the largest pro-life educational movement in Canada than they are in ending the killing.

Ask yourselves a question: If you are at peace with a culture that murders its own children, is that staying true to Christianity and as close to our Reformed background as possible?

If you can consider yourself “personally pro-life” (much like Pontius Pilate was) but pass the blame for abortion onto others and do not fight it, are you not also to blame?

If you are fighting pro-life activists more actively then abortion, how much does abortion actually concern you? Have you written more letters complaining about graphic images, or abortion?

The EndtheKilling youth movement swells by the week, with Reformed people of all denominations flocking to get involved, make a difference, and save the lives of Canadian children. If you cannot support their efforts, at the very least do not oppose it. We have met too many women who had abortions because we were too late in exposing it to them. Dozens have told us they would not have had abortions if we had gotten to them earlier. For the sake of their children and thousands who are being “drawn unto death” every day, we ask for your support. We fully and completely respect all those who seek to fight abortion in their own ways, and are uncomfortable with the activism we have chosen. But let us not condemn each other’s efforts.

For as Abraham Lincoln once said, a house divided against itself cannot stand.