Lincoln Brandenburg explains prenatal development at James Madison University

by Lincoln Brandenburg

At James Madison U, I spoke with a young Jewish lady who had heard about GAP and came out to see it.  She was Jewish and was offended by the comparisons of abortion with the Holocaust.

She opened by declaring that “Abortion is not genocide!”   I responded, “You are absolutely right … if the preborn are not human.  Were that true, the comparison would be inappropriate and the right to abort would be established.

“But if the preborn are human, as science tells us they are, then we kill over a million humans every year.  Then there’s no better word to describe it.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re causing me to change how I think about this.”  (protester at James Madison U)

She brought up many examples of when abortion might be “needed,” such as for a woman who is in college and cannot take care of a baby.  Again, I agreed with her that abortion would be acceptable in those cases (and, indeed, in every case) … if the preborn were anything less than human.

She began to grasp the concept that the humanity of the preborn is the central question to the morality of abortion.

Some of her friends have had abortions and she didn’t want to believe they are guilty of murder.  I assured her that we are not here to condemn or judge her friends; they may be good people who didn’t realize that abortion decapitates and dismembers a baby.  I pointed out that, like many who have seen these images, they might not have aborted their children had they known how evil abortion really is.

As we spoke, her demeanor changed.  She glanced at the pro-abortion protesters and said, “I don’t want to say this out loud, but you’re making good points.  You’re really making me shift in my view.”

I told her how I personally became a pro-life activist after connecting abortion to the Holocaust.  I knew that I couldn’t say I would have stood up for Jews (her ancestors) in Nazi Germany back then, if I didn’t stand up for preborn children right now.

As we continued to discuss the logic of standing up for all human beings, she hesitantly said, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re causing me to change how I think about this.”

Some respond to GAP with a closed mind, but others are willing to blindfold their own prejudices.  At first, she opposed our use of abortion pictures, but she had to admit that our conversation (and many others) would not have happened without the tension created by the photos.  Dr. King was right:

“I am not afraid of the word ‘tension.’  I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.”  (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Lincoln Brandenburg is a Project Director for CBR in Georgia.  He iis with the GAP team in Virginia this week.

CBR’s Lincoln Brandenburg at the Chattahoochee Valley March for Life

On January 25 our Georgia Project Director, Lincoln Brandenburg spoke at the 2013 Chattahoochee Valley March for Life in Columbus, GA, noting the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Hundreds attended, and we gave out 1,500 “Choice” cards, each of which features a graphic abortion photo.   A “Choice” cards in your wallet is an excellent tool for changing minds by simply showing people the truth!  The following are excerpts from his speech.

Forty years is a long time. Too long. And those of you who have given of your time and resources to save lives and to end the killing may be wondering, “Have we made progress?”

Many of you are familiar with the legendary human rights activist William Wilberforce who, in the early 1800’s, led the movement to abolish slavery in the United Kingdom. That campaign was an uphill battle. Slavery, like abortion, was as profitable and invisible as it was cruel and horrifying. But awareness was raised. Abolition bills were introduced, failed, and introduced again year after year. Incremental progress was made over the decades.

Finally, his old and broken body failing, Wilberforce received word that the votes and support were in place, and that legalized slavery in the British Empire would, at long last, come to an end. Three days after receiving this wonderful news, a tired Wilberforce went home to his Savior.

I’m telling you this story, pro-life friend, because it took Wilberforce and his team not forty, but nearly fifty years to accomplish justice. Fifty years of toil and labor, small victories, heavy defeats, and the ridicule of being misunderstood by friend and foe alike.

Though it has been a long journey for us also, we will not give up, because the lives of those precious little ones and the hearts of their mothers are worth fighting for! So stay in the fight, my friend.

I have one more story to tell. This is for friends who are pro-life, but not yet active in this work of saving lives.

In May 1940, German forces attacked Holland. The following years of occupation brought a gradual fulfillment of Nazi policies, resulting in the dehumanization of Jews. There were severe criminal penalties for any who would aid, abet, or harbor them. But that did not stop some. Casper ten Boom was an elderly watchmaker who, along with his two grown daughters, lived out their professed Christianity by risking their lives to hide Jews in their own home and guide them to safety.

A Jewish mother and her baby came to them for refuge. As they sought to find a safe place for them, the ten Booms asked a country pastor if he would take this family in.

Sadly, what this s0-called “minister” of the gospel gave them was not help, but cowardly excuses. “No. Definitely not. We could lose our lives for that Jewish child.”

Upon hearing that, Casper picked up the baby, holding him tenderly, and responded “You say we could lose our lives for this child? I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family.”

Eventually, the Germans found this family out. They were shipped to concentration camps, and Casper ten Boom, being sick and elderly, did indeed lose his life for saving the lives of others. But unlike that pastor, he stood before God as one who could give a good account of his stewardship during a dark time in history.

You and I are also living in a time in history during which innocent lives are being snuffed out. But we have it much easier. Unlike the ten Booms, we do not have to keep our efforts hidden. We still have the freedom to peacefully stand up for these children whom our government won’t protect. How much more readily should we do so, given the comparable ease of our task? Friends, change will not come about by us wishing it away. It will not come about by thinking pro-life thoughts. It will not come about by going to a march one day a year and then staying at home for all the rest.

In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”

Lincoln Brandenburg, CBR Project Director, Georgia

The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR), Southeast Region Operations, is pleased to announce the appointment of Lincoln Brandenburg as our newest Project Director, responsible primarily for Georgia projects.

Lincoln is a graduate and former Student Ministries Director at the EI School of Biblical Training, a Bible and missions training school that emphasises personal discipleship and practical application of the Word of God into life and ministry.

Growing up in a Christian environment, Lincoln was always “pro-life,” but was only nominally involved.  But when he attended a local March for Life on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade in 2011, he was deeply convicted about his own complacency towards the killing of his unborn neighbors.  He sensed a calling to devote himself to pro-life work in response to God’s command to “love your neighbor.”

Since that time, he have been a leader in pro-life activities in Columbus, Georgia.  He has coordinated 40 Days for Life campaigns, organized and participated in sidewalk counseling and prayer, given pro-life presentations to church congregations, and served as a regular guest host for a local radio program.

Lincoln told FAB

I am honored to join with the team at CBR because I believe in the effectiveness of what CBR is doing.  Showing the pictures of what abortion actually does to it’s victims is essential to changing the minds of those who are pro-abortion, clarifying the issue for those on the fence, and galvanizing those who are pro-life.

Originally from Fayetteville, Georgia (just outside Atlanta), Lincoln has spent the last two years in Columbus, Georgia.  Before joining CBR, he has been a a sales representative at Cricket Wireless and a manager at Chick-fil-A.  He has now moved back to the Atlanta area to be more centrally located among the major universities in Georgia.

Welcome aboard, Lincoln!!!!