Abortion issues, and the pro-life message often isn’t something you can discuss face to face with people. It’s a heated issue that gets people on either side worked up. Yeah, it would be great if you could walk around talking rationally to everyone you meet about pro-life issues and explain the catholic view of it. But that’s not possible in today’s society.
There’s something people aren’t getting here. Leaving all those cards and literature laying around for people to see is in essence advertising. You know how companies pay big $$ to put their products in films? You’ll see subway or coke or pepsi or whatever pop up in a film or tv show over and over again? That’s there to advertise to you. To get you to subconsciously recognize that product. And the way that works is by quantity. The more you see that, the more you store it away in your brain, and the more likely you are to make a choice for that product when the time comes.
When I started my business, the best thing I did was to plaster my business name everywhere. I still do. Even if a person isn’t looking for my business or service now, the more they see that name and the more it becomes a part of their daily experience, the more likely they will be to call me when the time comes. Do you really think coke or pepsi or the beer companies make all those entertaining commercials that have nothing to do with their products for fun? NO, it’s to pound their product into your brain as much as possible. The more you see that, the more likely you will be to choose them when the time comes.
The other side of the abortion issue has a leg up already. Society, law, and the pro-choice movement bombard us daily with ideas that it’s a choice, premarital, abnormal sex is okay, and the best way to deal with the consequences is to kill the baby. It’s all over our culture. So if, when the time comes, people are going to make a choice based on what they see every day, what they think society is telling them is the best thing to do with an ‘unwanted pregnancy’.
Really. Think of the young girl who gets into trouble and is pregnant. She’s going to take the easy way out if she sees it as acceptable. With society telling her that it’s okay to abort, it’s her choice, that’s going to be her decision. Especially if no one stands up and tells her she has another option.
If that girl can be reached by leaving a card in a book that says “Choose Life” or a bumper sticker, or a tshirt, or a sign, or whatever, then why wouldn’t you try? What is it going to hurt to leave a card on a counter somewhere that some troubled girl might see? You don’t know, that might be the thing that stops her. Or the woman who sees people that wear pro-life tshirts or bumper stickers every day. When the time comes, she might actually stop to think, this is an option as well.
The problem is, a lot of christians, a lot of catholics, will take time to argue with someone and get into a non-productive discussion about abortion. Most likely, you’re not going to change anyone’s mind doing that. But what does impact people is someone taking a stand, living what they believe, and evangelizing without words. Living what they believe. Do you really believe in pro-life? Then why not live it? Why not be an example? Why not go out on a limb and let people know, be an advertisement for God?