The 32nd Farch for Life:
32 Years of Appeasement

by

Joshua Graff

(Christian Gallery News Service, January 25, 2005)  That is not a typo in the title.  A "farch" is a cross between a farce and a march.  That was exactly what I witnessed in Washington, DC, on January 24, 2005, the 32nd "anniversary" of Roe v. Wade.

I heard one speaker at the March for Life comment that "this was just another step closer to defeating Roe vs. Wade". One step closer.  I thought that sounded good.  In fact, all the rhetoric blasting through the oversized sound systems sounded good. And then I remembered. I remembered the same speeches given during so many other marches, so many other events; I remembered that we have been "one step closer" for 32 years. 

But we are no closer to winning this war than we were the day after Roe went into effect. In many respects we are further from victory than ever before. The message given at this event was no more meaningful, no more lasting than the trash left behind on the ground.

The March was held in what could be described as a carnival-like atmosphere: people were having fun.  That atmosphere belied the supposed cause of the gathering.

Vendors gathered to sell their t-shirts and buttons. Happy masses posed in front of meaningless signs so they could show friends they had been there and "done their part" in the war on the unborn.

Unlike the displays showing the corpses of dead babies that had been presented by the Missionaries to the Preborn just days before, this March for Life was filled with signs proclaiming "Abortion is Mean" and "Women Deserve Better."  It was only a few who had the courage to actually show the horror of child murder that these "pro-lifers" would prefer to hide.

Many signs said "Defend Life" or "Abortion is Homicide" and yet it seemed a lie. It seems more that this mainstream event is little more than a fundraiser for mainstream groups that rely on dead babies to continue their business as much as the baby killers themselves. The attendees rallied behind political statements that carried no promise, only hollow words from men who know hollow words will appease the masses who are only too happy to delude themselves. The President called from Camp David to say he was behind them, but there is no need for the man to do more than that because the supporters who helped elect him will not expect action, only words. 

There was a small contingent present who endeavored to show the true horror of baby murder and stand for true defense of the preborn. Holding high a banner of the Paul Hill Memorial, they tried to expose the crowds to the idea that the preborn are as worthy of active defense as the post born. In my estimation, these protesters encountered more anger from their "pro-life allies" than I saw displayed during the MTP tour from uninvolved passers-by. Several times, the Defensive Action crew were accosted by pro-lifers who could not believe they would show the murdered babies; they were reviled for daring to say the unborn should be protected just as you or I would be entitled.

And it is in this way, we can see the futility of this event. On a grand scale we see that mainstream pro-life does not recognize the humanity of the child, does not believe the preborn are worthy of defense, and have no intention of revealing truth that might hurt their pocketbooks. Small groups who showed the bloody results of the killing chambers made people uncomfortable, people who prefer to hide behind vanilla slogans and pale shadows of God's Word.

One sad fact that emerged from this morass of self-congratulatory "protesters" was that many--far too many--had no idea who Paul Hill was or the example he set for all of us. Time after time, the question was asked, "do you know who Paul Hill was" and the overwhelming answer was "no". If they did not know about Paul Hill, then they surely would have no idea of any of the other heroes that have taken hard stands for the children, Shelley Shannon, John Brockhoeft, Michael Griffin, Don Anderson, Curt Beseda, Leland Smart, Dennis Malvasi, Jim Kopp, and dozens of others.

Of course, why should any of these happy pro-lifers remember those who have done their utmost when no one wants to see what they fought, when no one wants to talk about the victims in anything more than ephemeral terms. It seems the whole event is not about a life about to be snuffed out by a paid killer but nothing more than a court case, a bad ruling from the Supreme Court.

Where is the immediacy? Where is the emotion that we are dealing with life and death--literal life and death?

There is no urgency in this event, no urgency from the leaders of this farce! They lie and say we are taking one step closer each year and ignore that we are being kicked one hundred steps back the rest of the year!

Over and over again we hear that God loves all, that we are to love the killers, offer forgiveness to the killers, be understanding and without judgment; and it is all a lie that perpetuates the child killing and mainstream pro-life industries. We water down the message and allow those who actually dare to speak of this matter in black and white terms to be labeled "radicals."  And it has been done so effectively and is so pervasive throughout our churches that a baby killer can sit in a church and never feel bad about slaughtering children. Those who say babies deserve defense are "extreme", but the "good" pro-lifers will offer forgiveness for the killers even as they enter the abortuary to kill again.

How long will we suffer fools who do no more than fleece the masses like the famous charlatan television evangelists of the 80's? What is this massive mealy-mouthed event accomplishing? Even the news media gives no more than a single minute of mention to this sacred cow.  They, the media, realize something that the masses haven't.  No one outside the March cares about the March. There was more outreach and education done by the fifty Missionaries in the days before this March for Life than was accomplished by the thousands of happy faces in the March.

Year after year, this charade continues, the leaders telling people that events like this will stop the killing all the while knowing it is a lie. The people are told that voting for certain officials will end the war; that meeting once a year will stop the slaughter; that sending money to the mainstream businesses (and have no doubt, these groups are businesses) will bring about a moral shift in the nation.

But in the end, there is nothing but the ashes of failure. Those ashes, that failure, are measured in the bodies of dead children. This March is part of a continuing cycle.  We march so groups like Right to Life and American Life League can raise funds and keep their businesses going.  Planned Parenthood and NARAL point to the March to help raise their own funds.  And the only result of all this fund raising for both the "pro-life" and the "pro-choice" organizations is another year of child killing.

In all, some of the most honest of the protesters at the March were pro-aborts. The small group of pro-aborts, like the honest "radical" anti-abortionists, had the courage to say what they mean and not feel the need for appeasement and compromise. Personally, I've always preferred facing rabid pro-aborts like that than dealing with the supposed "pro-life" allies. the pro-aborts don't tend to stab you in the back like the mainstream pro-life movement will.

The March is a comfortable thing filled with comfortable slogans and is only disturbed by a few who dare show pictures of the dead and remind people of the unpleasantness. This whole event has become part of our culture, it is a clockwork operation that happens every year and despite the root issue, child murder, has become so routine that there were more conversations overheard about the Super Bowl than on how to defeat the baby killers. So long as mainstream pro-lifers shun the "radicals" who proclaim the truth, so long as they do not hold their politicians accountable, so long as they tolerate baby killers in their own churches, and so long as they dilute the truth into happy slogans, the slaughter will continue. (pic 33)

In closing, I will admit that some of the mainstream speakers are correct. The abortionists' days are numbered, they can only continue to kill for so long. They are correct in saying this because there will come a time when there aren't really any children left to kill. One third of a generation is gone, so long as that level of attrition continues, the future will eventually become barren. So, go to your March, condemn those who show those uncomfortable dead baby pictures, revile those who use extreme measures in order to save lives, and so long as you remember that "Abortion is Mean", everything will be fine. Perhaps God will forgive us despite the fact we know exactly what we do.

Joshua Graff served time in prison for attempting to deter people from killing unborn babies.  He can be reached at joshua.graff@us.army.mil [Editor]