Friday, January 22, 2010

On the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Today is the 38th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that struck down state laws prohibiting abortion during the first and second trimester of pregnancy. I would like to offer a few recommendations, mostly for men, towards building a culture of life.

  1. Be a man. All of my recommendations relate to this theme, but it is important to keep this principle at the forefront. It seems that many attacks on pro-abortion policies either are, or can be perceived as, anti-woman. We need to accept the principle that men are born to be leaders, and if this is the case then abortion is more than 50% our fault. We need to go after men for not being men, and be men ourselves.
  2. Bind yourself. Get married, or make some other lifetime commitment of service, and live it out. Don't wait until your in your mid-thirties. This is a mistake. All of the energy and life that people in their twenties possess is meant to be directed towards a family (or some other difficult end). A lot of the difficulties that people in these age groups face are a result of excess energy that is supposed to be turned towards children that gets turned inward and makes us fret about ourselves.
  3. Be a good husband, father, or priest. However you choose to bind yourself, do it well and never stop. Tell yourself that it is forever and learn to love it. Never, ever, let up. There is so much work involved in being married. It can be scary. A friend told me that one of the most courageous decisions a man can make is to get married. He was right. The next most courageous is having kids.
  4. Put away the porn, now. If you're invovled in any way with pornography, you are hurting women. Being chaste is extremely challenging, and I'm not judging anyone for falling. But if you want to help build a culture of life, confess your faults to God and move on. Now.

The common thread in all of this is courage. Being a good husband, father, brother, or friend is very hard work. One person can make a difference. If enough of us do these things, abortion would be a non-issue. I'm not speaking against lobbying the government, but it's a joke unless we're laying the cultural foundation.

In the immortal words of St. Josemaria Escriva, "Esto vir!" Be a Man!

1 comment:

Raul said...

Greetings from the Philippines! I just saw this post.

I like what you wrote. May I copy your post for my blog - http://experienceswithopusdei.blogspot.com/ ?

I will provide a link back to the original and credit you as author.

This will also let my readers know more about your website.

Hope its ok. :)

Raul