Darius Hardwick and GAP at Liberty University

This story is from Darius Hardwick, CBR’s Midwest Director.

“Are you more pro-laundry now?” Greg said as he pushed his sweaty gym shorts under my nose. “We don’t need to see this, we are already pro-life!”

This was the almost unanimous statement we heard from students at Liberty University (LU) when we brought our Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) there this fall.

Greg is one of the many students at LU who were upset by seeing abortion photos at their university. He stayed and debated for well over an hour about how our abortion photo signs were ineffective at getting peoples’ attention, forming relationships, and getting people engaged in the abortion battle.

After an hour of lively on-camera debate, we all shook hands and exchanged contact info. He even offered to edit the video for us, because that is a part of his major! He admitted he would not have met us had it not been for the pictures.

LU is the largest private non-profit university in the nation, the largest university in Virginia, and the largest Christian university in the world. According to the LU website, “[Liberty] is designed to develop Christ-centered men and women with the values, knowledge and skills essential to impact tomorrow’s world.” We went to LU because those are the types of people who need to engage the culture on abortion.

We talked to many great kids who were growing in their relationship with God, and had high hopes of serving Him with their educations. When the inevitable question came from every student, “Why are you here?” We replied, “Because Christians are the only ones who will stop abortion, and you are the cream-of-the-crop.” All week long, our plea for help was met with blank stares. It had not occurred to them that they should personally do something to stop abortion.

God said to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah, “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.” (Jeremiah 7:5-7) God said to “amend your ways.” We as a nation are guilty of all of this, but note that God reserved His harshest words of judgement against Israel for their practice of killing innocent children. Here in America, we have killed more than 54 million innocent preborn children.

“As for you, [Jeremiah] do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you. “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?” (Jeremiah 7:16-17)

We must not say, “Look what they did.” We need only drive through our cities to see the neon signs for the establishments of drunkenness, fornication, and pride in homosexuality. Finally we will come to the “clinics” where innocent blood is shed. When will God tell America, “I don’t want to hear your prayers until you amend your ways?”

Let us amend our ways before it is too late.

CBR Project Director Jane Bullington speaks to a student at UT Knoxville.

I found out for sure what I had always known — my mom aborted 2 children before me.

CBR staffer Jane Bullington met a young man at the UT Knoxville GAP.  Steve had a cocky look on his face.  Jane asked him what he thought — it’s our standard way of breaking the ice.

Steve started out with all the same stuff we’ve heard before:  shock value, misused use of the term genocide, pictures don’t change minds, you are turning people away from your cause, etc., etc., etc.

But then they actually started talking and Steve began to verbalize some of the bad consequences of abortion, the damage to women, the effects on families, the mental stress on women, etc.  He got tears in his eyes.  He said, “In recent months, I have been drawn to everything I see or read about abortion.  I found out for sure what I had always known: my mom aborted 2 children before me.  She treated me … well … different.  She and my dad had troubles.  My home was tense.”

Jane asked him, “Do you have other siblings besides those 2 your mom aborted?”

Steve looked at her with surprise, “I never thought of them as my siblings, but they are.  Yes, I have an older brother.”

Later in the conversation, his position began to move, “I still think women should have a choice, but so many other people get hurt that I want them to know the truth, the truth about what they are doing, and the consequences they will endure, they and their families.  I guess education like yours would be good for women.”

Jane asked Steve if his mom would go to a post-abortion healing ministry like Deeper Still.   He chuckled and said, “Absolutely no.  She believes the ends justifies the means, and she wanted what she wanted.”

Jane suggested he might want to talk to someone else later on in his journey and told him that Deeper Still could be of help to him, as a son, too.

At the end of the conversation, Steve thanked Jane for her time and she gave him a hug — Jane is a mom and moms like that sort of thing.  Steve left, but as he walked away, his eyes never left the pictures.

UTC student Madi Rose Taff stating the obvious. Nobody want's to see pictures of violence. But even fewer people want to be tortured to death.

Day 2 at UT Chattanooga (UTC) was another awesome day of GAP.  Come to think of it, I’ve participated in perhaps 150 days of GAP, and every single one of them was awesome.  Maybe that’s why we want to do even more of it.

It was another hot, hot day at UTC.  Before this week would be over, the heat would take it’s toll.  In fact, I’m typing this a full 2 weeks later, and my body hasn’t fully recovered, yet.  Please pray for healing and recovery.

We were greeted by protesters, which is always a plus.  They attracted the newspaper to come and do a story on our project.  The pro-aborts really don’t know what to do about us.  If they don’t respond at all, then we dominate the landscape.  If they do respond, they look silly.

For example, this group didn’t try to argue that abortion is OK.  No they took a very nuanced view of the First Amendment:

1. Free speech is important and should be protected.
2. We shouldn’t be allowed to show abortion pictures because it made them uncomfortable.

Oooohhhh kay.

One guy, who was not even pro-life, came by to protest the protesters.  He was there on behalf of the First Amendment.  Like we always say, “GAP is like a box of chock-lits; ya neva know WATT your gonna gay-et.”

UTC students study the GAP pictures in front of the library.

Liberty students see abortion, many for the first time.

We were disturbed but not particularly surprised at some of the reaction from Liberty University students when we took GAP there a few weeks back.  So many of them wanted to live within the fiction that since they are “pro-life,” whatever that means, that’s all they need to know.  Not trying to pick on Liberty here; Liberty is simply a microcosm of the modern American church.

A particularly disturbing comment from “LU” (his pen-name) appeard on FAB.  It read, in part, as follows:

… Abortion has been in the light of public media for years now and I would say that most adults do know what takes place.  You are not showing us anything we haven’t seen or heard before, you only anger the students of this campus with your lack of tact.  Also, it pains me to see the young children with your group being involved in this protest.  These children are way too young to be seeing these images in the first place and are only being brought up into a lifestyle of intolerance; not a true life of love as we as Christians are called to live.  Children need to be taught both sides of an issue and allowed to develop their own opinions once they are capable to do so. … We need to be able to decide for ourselves through skeptical study of the Bible and beliefs we have been taught.  It is sad to see how Christianity is being portrayed to unbelievers through your work.  I pray for you, your family, and fellow campaigners.

Note how illogical his reasoning is:

1. We shouldn’t show the pictures because everbody has seen them when they were younger.
2. Younger people shouldn’t see the picture’s, either.
3. Showing the pictures is intolerant.
4. Leaving Christians ignorant allows them to figure out for themselves what side they are on.

But wait a minute, if we all followed his advice, none of his classmates would have ever seen the pictures before and the first premise would be invalidated.

I responded as follows:

LU Student, you are mistaken on many points.  Please read my Open Letter to Liberty University, which you can link to from our website, http://www.ProLifeOnCampus.com.

You said that “abortion has been in the light of public media for years now.”  Really? I watch public media all the time.  I see unborn children dehumanized as mere blobs of tissue, masses of cells, products of conception, parasites, etc.  I see abortion euphemized as a reproductive “choice.”  A mere picture would dispel those myths, but the myths are cherished by those in power, so the pictures are suppressed.  With all the talk about “choice,” I’ve almost never seen any attention paid to what is actually being chosen.  The rare exception is when we come into town and some of the local media outlets actually show the pictures we have put on display.  Without any presentation of the reality of abortion in the media, the education system, and even the Church, most people have no idea who the preborn baby is and what abortion does to her.

You say the “shock factor” is not as effective as we would like to believe.  Your argument is not with us.  Your argument is with the countless women and men who have let us know that our pictures changed their minds.  In many cases, they tell us that our pictures saved their own children from destruction at the hands of the abortionist.  You can see many testimonials on http://www.AbortionNo.org and on http://www.ProLifeOnCampus.com.

You say that children should never be shown these pictures, but that you and everybody else at Liberty has already seen them?  How can that be?  If only a few kooks like us are letting our children see the pictures, how can it be that by the time they are 18, everybody has seen them?  We have encountered many, many students who tell us that they grew up in “pro-life” churches, had never seen abortion pictures, had come to believe abortion should be a choice, and changed their minds only after seeing our pictures.

You say that “Children need to be taught both sides of an issue and allowed to develop their own opinions once they are capable to do so.”  Really?  Whatever happened to God’s side?  Whatever happened to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6)?  We are commanded not to kill their own children (Mark 10:19).  We are commanded to protect and defend the defenseless (Proverbs 24:11-12).  And finally, we are commanded to teach other believers to do the same (Matthew 28:20).  These commands are not optional.

When Christians see the horror of abortion, they are more likely to obey God’s command not to kill their own children (Mark 10:19).  Furthermore, they are more motivated to protect and defend the defenseless (Proverbs 24:11-12).  And finally, they more fully understand their duty as Christian leaders to teach other believers to do the same (Matthew 28:20).

[Note: You can read the entire discussion stream here.]

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We often get comments from people who don’t want us to show abortion pictures in the public square because children will see them.  We get one such message from “Briana Richards”, who saw our trucks operating near Liberty University in Lynchburg.  She wrote:

To whom it may concern,

Let me begin by saying I am completely anti-abortion and support that cause.  However, I do not agree with the manner in which the organization is displaying the signs in areas that are heavily traveled by young children.  I do not think that it is necessary to take away my young child’s innocence by showing them graphic images of fetuses.  The only thing that is going to promote is questions too early regarding what is abortion, why are some babies not wanted and killed.  Why do YOU get to choose when the right time is to talk to MY child about abortion?

I understand making people aware of what abortion truly is so they do not make that choice, I just disagree with the method in which you are getting your point across.  After school yesterday I had to stop short of the stop light and drive up next to 2 cars just so my 6 year old wouldn’t have that image in his mind for the rest of his life!  You are not using a plane this year (from what I’ve seen) but what 18-month-old kid, or 10-year-old, does not look up at the cool airplane going over, only to be accosted with an image they have no idea about but know it’s scary looking?  I mean would you really want to have a conversation with your 6-year-old about abortion?  They don’t even understand all the ins and outs of how babies are born yet but we’re showing them what people do when they don’t want them.

I am requesting that you please take into account the large amount of parents that are driving their young children by these signs daily near the Liberty University campus and that you rethink the location of your displays for the future.  I disagree with your methods but I know it is your right to display them.  It seems there could be better ways to get your point across without effecting our innocent children.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Briana Richard
Sent from my iPad

I responded as follows:

Dear Ms. Richards,

Thank you for registering your comment about our work at Liberty University last week.

We don’t target young children with our pictures, but with all the institutions of society (including the Church) covering up the truth of abortion, we have no choice but to take to the public square.  Otherwise, the killing will never stop.

Children are exposed to graphic images of violence all the time … on newspaper front pages, on magazine covers that are visible in the supermarket checkout lines, etc.  They even showed Schindler’s List on TV during family viewing hours a few years back.  Nobody objects because nobody feels guilty about their own complicity or complacency with respect to those acts of violence.  Many are guilty of complicity or complacency with respect to abortion.

What is worse, a born child being horrified by a picture of abortion or a preborn child being killed by the act of abortion?

You might ask if Jesus would ever put a graphic image on display where children could see them.  In fact, He did just that.  Jesus controlled every aspect of his arrest, trial and execution.  He arranged to have Himself beaten nearly to death before stumbling through the most crowed part of Jerusalem on the most crowded day of the year.  His bloody body horrified throngs of Passover pilgrims which included large numbers of families with young children.

He then permitted himself to be stripped naked and tortured to death in full view of still more passersby, including more children.  The Romans used executions to intimidate subjugated peoples.  They located crucifixion cites for maximum public exposure.  Our Lord accommodated Cesar by going out of His way to make this disturbing spectacle of His death as public as possible.  And in the process, He chose as the very symbol of our faith, a bloody instrument of torture.  His point was to disturb us with the gravity of our sin but bless us with the grace of His forgiveness, despite the fact that many children would be traumatized in the process.  Did He get this wrong?

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Travis Barham explains how the U of Wisconsin was forced to pay $500,000 for discriminating against Christian student groups in the distribution of fee money.

Travis Barham of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is giving an interesting talk.  He sues universities.  He does this when student pro-life groups and other conservative groups are denied First Amendment rights and/or equal access to university resources, including student fee money.

Pro-life and pro-family groups are missing a huge opportunity to scare the crap out of every university in the country.  Conservative groups must be treated equally to everyone else when it comes to the distribution of student fee money.  It’s big money.  Left-wing groups get it; conservative groups don’t.  It’s illegal.  But the universities don’t have to give the money to conservatives if we don’t apply!

At the U of Wisconsin, the Catholic student group applied and the U of Wisconsin denied.  ADF sued and won!  Now, the U of Wisconsin will have to pay $500,000, because they discriminated against Christian student groups in the distribution of student fee money.

Yikes!  We need to make sure our students are applying to get that money!  1-800-TELL-ADF.

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FAB undercover operatives an e-mail that was sent to the parents of Liberty Christian Academy, which was previously posted here on FAB.  CBR Florida Director Mike Schrimsher responded as follows:

Dear Mr. Patterson,

I am the Florida regional director of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform and took part in the recent visit to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. I watched your interview that was included in the abc13 WSET-TV news coverage and read your letter that was sent out to LCA parents last week. Please allow me to provide some details and clarification about our visit.

We agree that the pictures of aborted babies are “very graphic” but I’m not sure what you mean when you refer to them as “insensitive”. I assume you mean that either their public display is insensitive or perhaps that we are insensitive for displaying them publicly. We also agree that our graphic images of aborted fetuses are jarring and offensive to many viewers, precisely because these images accurately portray the horror of abortion, and abortion itself is very offensive, and insensitive, especially to unborn babies. Abortion is an act of violence which kills a baby and wounds his or her mother, and it is worse than many people think, even in the first trimester (first 12 weeks) when 90% of abortions are performed.

Most Americans, including pro-life Christians, are not bothered enough about abortion to stop the killing and they need to be jarred and offended into action to defend those who are being taken away to slaughter. (Proverbs 24:11-12) I hope that the hundreds who complained and sought protection for their born children from our abortion pictures will also take action to protect unborn children from abortion procedures.

While we did not set up any of our displays at entrances to LCA, we know that some parents drove past our display across from Hardees on their way to LCA and that our trucks did pass by the LCA campus on their way to and from the entrances along the east side of Liberty University. Clearly, the focus of our visit was Liberty University as we maintained our displays only at LU entrances and focused the driving of our trucks on the LU perimeter. Undoubtedly, however, people of all ages, young and old, saw our trucks as we drove on Lynchburg roads around Liberty.

You should know that we wrote and called Liberty University, requesting a meeting to work out the details of a visit on the LU campus similar to our frequent visits to secular public universities. This would have enabled us to interact almost exclusively with college students and staff, but we received no response of any kind from Liberty and were left with the choice of doing nothing at Liberty or designing a visit to the borders of Liberty’s campus. We chose the latter.

We know of only one contact with someone who may have been an LCA representative. A lady who parked in the Hardees parking lot came over and spoke to one of our ladies on Tuesday morning and requested that we take down or move the sign(s) near Hardees during the morning drop-off and we did discuss and voluntarily comply with her request that morning. Also, later in the week we dropped that location and focused on the other 2 locations.

Again, I hope that similar time and energy will be invested in efforts to stop baby-killing as were expended to research how LCA and LU might “curb political speech on public property”. On future visits to Lynchburg, I think it would be reasonable for us to coordinate with LCA to limit driving our trucks past LCA’s campus during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times, and LCA parents might choose to avoid our signs near Hardees by using another route while we are there. However, while it is understandable to shield pre-school and elementary school children from abortion imagery, most middle school students and practically all high school students should be made aware of the reality of abortion in America: who the unborn baby is and what abortion ~legally~ does to him or her. Anyone old enough to make a baby or have an abortion is old enough to see abortion.

Please let me know if you have any additional comments or questions and I will be pleased to respond.

Thank you for your service in the U.S. military to help protect America, and for your ministry with students at Liberty Christian Academy.

Michael A. Schrimsher
CBR-Florida Regional Director

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Trucks and signs at Liberty University Bookstore.

We got a message from a Liberty student who objected to our presence outside the campus.  We’ll call him “Warren Wilson.”  Here’s what “Warren” had to say:

I am a student at Liberty University where your organization has been picketing the past week. I need to preface by saying I agree with the message of what you all were saying. I am extremely pro-life. Its an issue I care about. I’ve worked at the Right to Life Booth at the North Carolina State Fair with my family for years. I typically vote for pro-life candidates. I believe abortion is never right and in every situation it is murder.

At the same time, I must express extreme disapointment in you and your organization. Your signs and billboards are disgusting. By using such graphic displays, you are not winsome or loving. Your methods are offensive which cause people to be defensive. If those images were in a film or on a website where you made a warning before showing them, that would be different but thrusting them in people’s faces while they are just walking by is inapropriate. To be convincing, we need to love people and be winsome. The Bible even instructs us to be winsome in our methods of talking to people. You will never shock someone into changing their minds. Perhaps in the future your organization can use more effective methods instead of fringe, extremist, hateful propaganda.

Your people also heckled me and my friends while we were just walking by. Not to mention using their children to hand out your graphic, gruesome pamphlets. We are probably a 97% pro-life campus. It rubs people the wrong way to yell, condemn, or shove posters in their face. I hope you will listen with an open mind and make changes to legitimize your organization in the future.

In Christ,
“Warren Wilson”
1 Tim. 1:15

CBR Florida Director Mike Schrimsher responded:

Dear Warren,

Thank you for writing us about your concerns. We agree with you that our signs and billboards are disgusting and offensive because they accurately portray that abortion is disgusting and offensive, even during the first trimester when most abortions (90% of them) are performed. It is disappointing to us that fellow pro-lifers are just as eager to cover up the horror of abortion as pro-aborts. I’m not aware of any “winsome” way to display abortion, but it is absolutely loving to show young men and women who are the most vulnerable to abortion (18 to 24 year olds) exactly who the unborn baby is and what abortion does to that baby. Folks who are experiencing an unplanned “crisis” pregnancy make life or death decisions over a short time span that are irreversible. Our images regularly save lives and help bring post-abortive men and women to repentance. We hear it and see it again and again. However, when someone knows the truth that abortion is an act of violence that kills a baby, and yet they insist upon making a fully informed decision to have an abortion, or pay for it, or support it, or coerce it, or fail to oppose it, then that individual should feel defensive, and guilty.

You are correct that it is better when we are able to put up warning signs around our displays. Unfortunately, since we were unable to gain access to a more ideal location on the Liberty University campus, our space was limited and so were our options. Please visit our website abortionNO.org to see a film with a warning at the beginning and other examples of our signs. However, it is not correct to say that we were “thrusting them in people’s faces while they (were) just walking by”. Our signs were stationary and our staff merely offered brochures to passersby. It sounds like you might prefer to limit your pro-life efforts to “loving, winsome” methods that focus on the pregnant woman’s visible crisis and ignore the more urgent hidden crisis of the unborn baby, with primary emphasis on post-abortion counseling. I think it would be very enlightening if we could swap Bible verses. You may want to re-read the gospels and be reminded of Jesus’ teaching methods. You may not believe it, but we regularly “shock someone into changing their minds”. Please let us know about your “more effective methods”. We are eager to abolish abortion as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, you know very well that our materials are not “propaganda” and your use of terms like “fringe, extremist, hateful” to describe our work would enable you to fit right in at a Planned Parenthood or NARAL or NOW meeting.

I sincerely doubt that our people “heckled” you and your friends, but I know that it is possible, so please provide as many details as you can remember so that we may correct the individual(s). I certainly hope that you and your friends are more offended by the gruesome death of aborted babies than you were by having live children hand out “gruesome pamphlets” with pictures of aborted babies. I’m sure you know that there may be some Liberty students who will have sex outside of marriage, have an unplanned pregnancy and consider abortion. But even if Liberty is in fact a “97% pro-life campus” then what better place to find activists who will not only choose life for their own babies, but also protect the most defenseless among them and persuade others not to kill their babies either. We did not “yell, condemn or shove posters” in anyone’s face and these unfounded accusations do not help us “listen with an open mind”. Perhaps the graphic images themselves were so powerful that they made you feel heckled, yelled at, or condemned, etc. Or perhaps the contrast between exuberant children enjoying life right next to graphic abortion images was just too jarring for you. In any event, we don’t really care whether or not you think our organization is legitimate. We care what you think about abortion and what you are going to do to help stop it.

Sincerely,
Michael A. Schrimsher
CBR Florida Regional Director

Class change at UTC.

Another great day of GAP, this time at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Early in the day, CBR Virginia Director Nicole Cooley spoke with Amber, whose mother had wanted to abort her.  Her father intervened to save her life, but her mother was a drug addict and abusive during her entire childhood.  The mother had even told her that she never wanted Amber.

But now Amber has made it all the way to UTC, where she is majoring in theatre.  She told Nicole that seeing the pictures in the GAP display has made her realize that every day is a gift, and she has resolved to make her life count.

Nicole prayed with Amber and told her that even though her mother didn’t plan her or want her, she had a Heavenly Father who both planned and loved her.

Debbie Picarello and Nicole Cooley speak with clarity about abortion and about our Savior. They are a light to hurting men and women.

Faithful volunteers like Debbie Picarello (right) make this project possible.

I got an e-mail from John Monaghan, the President of College Republicans at Radford University.  They hosted our GAP on their campus, which was a great success.  Here are a few of the things he told me:

I heard a great deal of positive feedback from both students and professors.  A friend of mine informed me that his Philosophy teacher was ecstatic we brought you all to campus and that everyone had a chance to be subject to the issue.  I really want to thank your staff and, of course, you for everything you did to make this happen.

It was a good thing most definitely and like I have told so many (who may have or may not have been in favor of the exhibit) that if only one person who saw that exhibit chooses life over abortion after seeing that exhibit and being more educated, then we have done our jobs and saved a one of God’s miracles, a child’s life.

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The one thing I was appalled at was how unsupportive my fellow students and Radford professors are of the First Amendment.  Freedom of Speech is what makes this country great and many of my peers and professors fail to understand there is always a differing viewpoint.  In Academia, sadly, the liberal push and spin is spread daily and students must decipher what is to be believed and what is the liberal spin that most professors add on.

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I was able to sign up an additional 38 names during Club Fair last Friday.  I think a lot of that was due to the GAP exhibit, so thank you for that.  My roommate will also be sending out an e-mail to all of the pro-lifers CBR signed up and either asking them to join College Republicans or asking one of them to step up and create Radford for Pro-Life Group.  I think either way, it would be a benefit to this campus.

Once again, thanks so much. Please tell your staff it was wonderful meeting them all.  If you are ever near Radford or Blacksburg, give me a call–I still owe you lunch!

Thanks, John.  You may owe me lunch, but we all owe you so much more!

Radford University announced our presence with this inscription etched in the wall of the Student Center, overlooking the GAP display.

Pro Life Training Academy in Knoxville

The Pro Life Training Academy (PLTA) trains you to articulate and respectfully defend the pro-life position.  Here we are in Knoxville today.

Jay Watts explains how to ... fly? No. He's teaching pro-lifers in Chattanooga how to articulate and defend the pro-life position.

The Pro Life Training Academy (PLTA) trains you to articulate and respectfully defend the pro-life position.  We’re in Chattanooga today, Knoxville tomorrow.

Featured speaker is Jay Watts, the VP of Communications at the Life Training Institute (LTI).  As a former pro-choice atheist, Jay is uniquely prepared to show you how to deal with people like … well … his former self.

Let us know when you want to bring the PLTA to your city!

Students tell us that the opinion among Liberty U students was divided.  Some appreciated our efforts to expose the deeds of darkness (Ephesians 5:11); some did not.  That was not a surprise.

But several of our staff members noticed something very different about the reaction of Liberty University students to our presence.  The people who objected were almost all men.  They seemed to believe that they were all pro-life enough, and we shouldn’t bother them any more about it.  (They didn’t realize that one of our our primary goals was to bother them about abortion, so that they would do something about it.)  They listened politely to our explanations, but you could see the skepticism was still there.

The women, however, all seemed to get it.  They didn’t claim that their classmates were all pro-life.  They understood the need for students to see the pictures, even at a Christian school like Liberty.

Could it be that the men didn’t get it because, as a group, men are much more adept at hiding (from each other) their involvement with sex, pregnancy, and abortion?

We are not being critical in this regard; we are just being realistic.  CBR’s Executive Director Gregg Cunningham recalls listening to a broadcast of James Dobson’s radio program, during which Dr. Dobson interviewed six Christian college presidents.  Dr. Dobson asked them if they had ever seen a pregnant student on their campuses.  To a person, they said no.  To a person, they all believed this was evidence that their students were living chaste lives.  Dr. Dobson was incredulous.  We are not.

Perhaps the women need to speak, and the men need to listen up.

God commands us to expose the deeds of darkness.

FAB undercover operatives obtained this e-mail that was sent to the parents of Liberty Christian Academy, which is essentially on the campus of Liberty University.

LCA FAMILY,

I have received hundreds of complaints about the abortion demonstrators who have recently occupied the space at the corner of Candler’s Mountain Road and University Boulevard, across from the Hardees. Additionally, the pro-life demonstrators are driving large vans with very graphic and insensitive pictures of aborted babies on the city roads around our campus.   While their goal of ending abortion is commendable, the use of graphic images of aborted fetuses has been jarring and offensive to me personally and to many in our LCA family.  Some have asked what we have done to protect their children, and I write to explain.

First, we must recognize that the First Amendment to the constitution limits what can be done to curb political speech on public property.  We have consulted with Liberty University administrators, our law enforcement personnel, and attorneys with expertise in this area and confirmed that the demonstrators are fully within their rights.  Of course, they can voluntarily stop demonstrating or move.  Therefore, we approached the group to learn how long they planned to occupy the corner and drive their vans and if they would consider moving to a location that would not expose our school children to the graphic images of aborted babies.  Unfortunately, they were unwilling.  We understand that they plan to continue their current demonstration until Friday, September 2.   

Please understand, I share your interest in protecting our children and protecting your decision on how and when you will introduce this important issue to them.  We have re-arranged bus routes, playground usage, and transitions between areas to keep the children from being exposed to these photographs while your children are under our control.  Thank you for your passion in protecting your children; I share this with you.  I feel privileged to lead a school where parents care so deeply about the innocence of their children.  As always, I thank you for your support.

Straight Ahead,

John Patterson
Superintendent, Liberty Christian Academy

There’s so much here.  Mr. Patterson said that hundreds of parents complained because their children saw pictures of abortion.  We have to wonder if these same parents ever asked either of these questions:

1. Mr. Patterson, what are you doing to teach my children the truth about abortion?  What are you leaving out?
2. How can we best teach our children never to kill our grandchildren?
3. Are we teaching our children to think this is just somebody else’s problem?

Aren’t those the more urgent questions?

We must compliment Mr. Patterson on one thing.  He offered perhaps the most astute comments by any Liberty administrator regarding our visit.  In his interview with WSET-TV, he said this:

Hopefully, our parents can turn this into a positive … to explain to our kids possibly what abortion is and take a pro-life stance.

This is really the point … to show students at Liberty University students what abortion is, so that they will be more likely to obey God’s commands to avoid killing, to be a voice for the defenceless (Proverbs 24: 11-12), and to teach other Christians to do the same (Matthew 28:20).  We are merely showing Christians what they need to know.  If Liberty were already showing age-appropriate abortion imagery inside the citadel, then it would become less important for us to show it on the outside.  We might go somewhere else.

Regarding high school and middle school students, if they are old enough to get pregnant and have an abortion without their parent’s knowledge, they are old enough to know the consequences of that decision.

Obviously, we don’t target young children with our pictures, but with all the institutions of society (including the Church) covering up the truth of abortion, we have no choice but to take to the public square. Otherwise, the killing will never stop.

Sarah commented on a previous posting where the issue of children seeing the images came up.  Here’s what she said:

… to the mom who says she doesn’t want her young children to see that I would say it is not our job to always shield our children from every unpleasant thing, but to explain it all in context of God’s Word.  Does she also shield her children from the gruesome truth of what was done to Jesus when He died on the cross?

I learned about abortion at a very young age and saw photos.  It made me pro-life and kept me sexually pure throughout my teen years as well.  My son is 4 and he also has learned about abortion.

It is remarkable when children see the images they remain calm if the parents remain calm.  If the mom explains what it is and allows the moment to be a lesson in the sanctity of human life, the children are fine.  But when hysterical, ridiculous moms and dads get upset, yell and carry on the children also get upset.

We live in a fallen world.  We cannot keep our children in a compound and shield them from every single thing.  But we can take valuable opportunities to teach them God’s values.  Shame on you “Christians” for attacking those who are defending children from slaughter.  God said not to hurt children because their angels behold the face of the Father in heaven.  What are you doing to help save children?

I believe this is the greatest sin of the church.  So many go to church, carry their Bibles and think they are good with God when in eternity they will answer for why they turned a blind eye as 53 million (and counting) children were torn limb from limb down the streets from their very churches.

Children are exposed to graphic images of violence all the time … on newspaper front pages, on magazine covers that are visible in the supermarket checkout lines, etc.  They even showed Schindler’s List on TV during family viewing hours a few years back.  Nobody objects because nobody feels guilty about their own complicity or complacency with respect to those acts of violence.  Many are guilty of complicity or complacency with respect to abortion.

What is worse, a born child being horrified by a picture of abortion or a preborn child being killed by the act of abortion?

You might ask if Jesus would ever put a graphic image on display where children could see them.  In fact, He did just that.  Jesus controlled every aspect of his arrest, trial and execution.  He arranged to have Himself beaten nearly to death before stumbling through the most crowed part of Jerusalem on the most crowded day of the year.  His bloody body horrified throngs of Passover pilgrims which included large numbers of families with young children.

He then permitted himself to be stripped naked and tortured to death in full view of still more passersby, including more children.  The Romans used executions to intimidate subjugated peoples.  They located crucifixion cites for maximum public exposure. Our Lord accommodated Cesar by going out of His way to make this disturbing spectacle of His death as public as possible.  And in the process, He chose as the very symbol of our faith, a bloody instrument of torture.  His point was to disturb us with the gravity of our sin but bless us with the grace of His forgiveness, despite the fact that many children would be traumatized in the process.  Did He get this wrong?

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Liberty students study the abortion photos and Scripture verses.

We wrapped up our visit to Liberty University on Friday.  It was quite a week.  Not sure if it was the heat (90+ degree days) or the lack of sleep, but this ole boy is whipped.  Can’t wait to do it again, though.

By the end of the week, we had found a location near the Liberty University Bookstore that featured a publicly owned piece of land adjacent to a major walkway and at perhaps the most active entrance for cars and buses.

Based on the comments of the students, our presence was the talk of the campus.  Many students didn’t appreciate our displays of graphic photos.  Others were fully supportive.  Still others agreed with our use of graphic images, but didn’t understand why we came to Liberty.  “We’re already pro-life, aren’t we?”  Stimulating that kind of conversation, reflection, and debate is a major goal of our work.

We were pleased to sign up more than 20 students who were enthusiastic about becoming more involved in pro-life activism at Liberty.  Twenty people can make a huge difference.

I learned that on Day 4, the Lynchburg police (who were present during our entire visit) had come by to investigate a trespassing complaint.  Before we even started on Monday, we had given each team member a set of aerial photos which depicted the intersections we would work, along with property boundries that separated private property from public property.  These maps were downloaded from the City’s own Geographic Information System (GIS) website.  (See pages 16-19 of this letter to see the photos.)  Our volunteers produced the maps, which showed that we were clearly on public property, so the police thanked us and went on.

I should emphasize that we are grateful for the courtesy shown to us by both the University and the City of Lynchburg.  Perhaps they didn’t want us to be present, but they didn’t interfere, either.

If you’re dead tired and you’ve been at it for 4 solid days in the hot sun, you have to wonder if a 5th day is really worth the wear and tear on your body … and everybody else’s bodies.   But even though we had been there 4 days already, we still noted the impact of the photos on the students.  They still studied the abortion signs and reflected on the Scripture verses displayed.  It was on this 5th day that the Liberty student TV crew came out to get video and interview our people.  The Liberty student newspaper also showed up.  Praise God for giving us that 5th day!  We are interested to see what the reporting will look like.

As we were packing to leave, we encountered one student whose sign shocked us at first, but whose message was a huge encouragment in the end.  In big letters, his sign said, “Looking @ dead babies just makes me hungry …”  He was being clever.  In small letters, he continued his declaration, ” … for change!”  Indeed.

Hungry ... for change!