by Ellie Peck | Jul 20, 2015 | Uncategorized |
Dear Pro-Life Activists: Don’t give up. We need you. You are not alone. I know how disillusioned you must feel sometimes. Stories about Planned Parenthood selling aborted baby parts are just the latest in a long assault against life. It’s disheartening, I know. You’re angry that the story is only receiving minimal attention (and from mostly conservative sources) while social media is abuzz over what Caitlyn Jenner wore to the ESPY awards. But your frustration isn’t in vain. The culture can still wake up. Knowledge can still do its work. People can still change. You must be looking at your signs in the back of your car, with dog-eared corners and sun-bleached lettering. And you wonder how long you’ll have to keep doing this. Is it worth it? Looking into the vacant, disinterested or angry eyes of each passing car, you want to scream: “I know you see me! I know you see them! Why don’t you care? How can you sleep at night?” And there’s no answer except another engine revving up as an annoyed driver races past you. The world has turned a blind eye and shut the door to their hearts. I know you feel overwhelmed. I know you feel like your efforts don’t matter and nothing is changing. It’s tempting to despair and throw in the towel because the culture of death seems to be winning. But it isn’t. We’ve had major setbacks but in the end, life will be victorious. Please know that while many frozen hearts are sleeping, you are planting seeds in unknown souls everywhere. For the one or two people who...
by Ellie Peck | Jun 25, 2015 | Uncategorized |
The other day, I made a comment on Facebook that I thought was fair in a very calm, and respectful political discussion. I remarked that I couldn’t vote for candidates that promote or accept abortion because they are either ignorant of science, spineless (okay, okay… I should’ve used the less offensive “easily influenced”) or ethically disordered. In the social media coliseum, I am very careful in choosing my words because I know how quickly the unseen mob can rush in to attack and flay you on any loose word. So I tread carefully but honestly and thought my comments were not nearly as inflammatory as they could’ve been. Imagine my shock and the dismayed feeling of revulsion when a woman responded that she just made a donation to Planned Parenthood, in my honor. Screen shot receipt to prove it. Where did I go wrong?! I was horrified. But it made me think. In battle, there will be casualties. There will be sacrifices. Not only will we not win over everyone, but we may actually cause some people to dig in their heels and bear down with an even deeper aggression against the pro-life cause. And this should not surprise us. To be a peacemaker does not mean to shrink away from disagreements or to avoid controversy. To be a peacemaker sometimes takes a supernatural amount of courage. The courage to say what needs to be said, with charity, and to do what needs to be done, with charity, to stop the violence against all human beings. We have to be willing to flip over a few money-changers’ tables now and...
by Ellie Peck | May 25, 2015 | Uncategorized |
America is not a pro-war country. Our people are patriots. But we have grown an increasing rejection of preventable warfare. And one of the reasons for this is because of an interesting development in warfare information: Imbedded journalism. The invasion of Iraq in 2003 is really the kickstart of what has now become commonplace— reporters and photographers today, are expected to give the public a full view of the reality of war. This, combined with more and more realistic movies churned out by Hollywood, has been a turning point in how comfortable the American people are with war. Nobody likes war. Nobody wants war. And the cultural resistance to unnecessary bloodshed has only grown stronger. No longer is it just progressive hippies demanding peace as in the Vietnam War era… now the sentiment of patriotism has grown beyond waving flags and hanging yellow ribbons and holding parades for returning combatants. American patriots today are comfortable saying that they don’t want any more war. Conservative politicians aren’t bragging about defense budgets any more and aren’t exactly riding around in tanks with a cigar hanging out of their mouths. Today, we mourn our losses with a rising fervor. America is fed up with war. And I think this is largely because the visual component of our brains have access to much more information today than we did even 15 years ago. We had to see it to believe it. Speaking on the decision to embed journalists during the Iraqi War, Lt. Col. Rick Long is quoted as saying “Frankly, our job is to win the war. Part of that is information...
by Ellie Peck | May 13, 2015 | Uncategorized |
This month abortion advocates were dismayed when North Carolina House Bill 465 narrowly passed— a bill which mandates a 72 hour waiting period for women seeking abortions. Included in the bill’s language is the allowance for the state’s medical students to not be forced to learn or observe how to perform an abortion. The protests have been thundering through the online world and a disturbing trend of the Pro-Choice lobby is made more clear than ever. There is, and always has been, an arrogant attempt to try and control the language in how abortion is discussed; this technique has been sharpened to a finely executed point ever since the grim judgement of Roe vs. Wade in 1973. We’ve always known this about abortion supporters: they have to use euphemisms like “reproductive rights”, “fetal tissue”, “women’s healthcare” and “pregnancy termination” in order to make the horror of abortion palatable to modern ears and to disguise the very real acts of violence committed against babies. And while this is disturbing and damaging in and of itself, there’s not a whole lot of confrontation happening about these terms. By and large, we let it slide. We let them frame the debate and we concede their assumption of the academic high ground, out of silence, if nothing else. In all the media articles written in defense of the poor med students, language is used and biases assumed that reduce the law to “draconian” or “ignorance.” They say we are just trying to interject politics into medicine, an accusation that makes them the benevolent, intelligent ones and pro-lifers just a bunch of unenlightened bigots. ...
by Ellie Peck | Apr 7, 2015 | Uncategorized |
Last month, I wrote about one of the ways Christians might be sabotaging the pro-life movement. I wish there was only one way but in fact, I think using exclusively religious language to frame our debate is only part of the problem. There is an even stronger method of self defeat in which we are engaging that has the potential to do far more damage to the cause of the unborn. And it’s something good mothers do every day… * * * Once upon a time, I was a typical, passionate activist. I stood outside the Planned Parenthoods; I engaged in debates on college campus; I wrote ardent letters to the newspaper, sought out discussions online and bought my pro-life checks. I did what I could to help further the Pro-Life cause. And I felt righteous… checking off that box of good behavior and moving along. After having a few children, my activity subsided. Some women can strap a baby on their back and buckle a toddler in a stroller and brave the elements to march the rallies. I commend and respect these women. But I was not one of them. See, I was busy sabotaging their efforts in the daily grind of my life. It took me a while to notice, but the reality is now clear as day; the fight to change our culture of death is fought on both the public and private fronts, and in many different venues. Where I was failing, and where so many ‘pro-life’ mothers also struggle, is in our attitudes. In what we show to the world, we are often...
