Condemning ALL Violence

Citizens Concerned for Human Life condemns ALL violence in the strongest of terms.

Our goal is to change hearts and minds. We want people to use their free will to follow God. Threats or violence will do nothing to achieve this goal. Rather, they will only harden the hearts of those who favor legalization of one or more aspects of the Culture of Death.

All pro-life activities must be done in a peaceful manner. Without peace in our hearts, we cannot achieve peace or healing in the culture.

History has shown that a very small number of so-called "pro-life" people have committed acts of violence against fellow human beings and/or property. This is NOT truly pro-life. There is no excuse for this behavior whatsoever. It should never be tolerated under any circumstances.

Jesus Christ rebuked St. Peter for violence when Jesus was captured (see Matthew, Chapter 26, verses 51-52). That admonition holds true for ALL of us. Violence is a mortal sin. One canNOT be truly pro-life and condone violence against anyone. Period.

If one has tendencies towards violence or making threats, that individual should AVOID participation in protests, pickets or sidewalk counseling. There are plenty of other ways to provide assistance to the pro-life movement. Prayer is most important. The individual could also contact their local pro-life group and see if they may need help in areas such as stuffing and folding mailings.

Those who promote, procure, participate or otherwise support any aspect of the Culture of Death should NEVER be harmed or threatened. They need prayers. They need a full and healthy life to have every opportunity to freely choose conversion (following the guidelines of their religion on these matters) and then perform acts of attonement during their life on Earth. If their life is ended, they will face immediate judgment without any time for conversion or works of penance. We all need to attone for our sins. We all need conversion from the sins we commit. Let us remember that we are all sinners. Those who are pro-life are not without sin.

Requesting a Cessation of ALL Violence
While CCHL condemns violence against those who assist the Culture of Death in any manner, CCHL also condemns the violence used by the Culture of Death. This includes the DAILY violence against innocent human babies, the violence against peaceful pro-life witnesses and their property (ie - signs, displays, etc.), the violence against the disabled (ie - starvation and dehydration), the violence against human embryos, etc. As we rightfully request that all violence from alleged "pro-lifers" cease, we also request the same cessation of daily violence from the Culture of Death upon innocent human beings.

Some Like to Constantly Focus on Violence
As has been noted, violence is incompatible with the pro-life movement. Anyone who is truly pro-life does not condone violence. Despite this, it seems some like to focus a great deal on the limited instances of violence by a very small number of allegedly "pro-life" individuals. That focus manages to smear all truly pro-life individuals while obscuring the daily violence committed against innocent human beings by the Culture of Death.

Beyond being inherently evil, violence by pro-lifers would generate sympathy for the Culture of Death. It would defeat the goal of changing hearts and minds. The PRO-LIFE movement does not engage in fear mongering.

The exaggerated focus on violence by some manages to confuse those who do not have firsthand knowledge about the pro-life movement. Some feel pro-life people are automatically "violent." This kind of attitude is nurtured by factually inaccurate implications.

Many movements have a fringe minority who try to use violence to get the message across. Some among this minority do not care about the message as much but use the movement as an excuse to commit violent acts.

We would not assume that those who marched for civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s were ALL violent just because a small fringe element committed violent acts. We would not assume that those opposed to the Iraq War were all violent.

A number of other pro-life groups such as the American Life League, Life Media, Arkansas Right to Life, Central Illinois Right to Life, and others have statements against violence. Religious groups such as the Florida Catholic Conference, Baptists for Life, Inc., and Priests for Life also have statements against violence.

It is important to remember that peaceful picketing, sidewalk counseling, protesting, etc. take place almost daily in front of abortion mills throughout the United States. If violence was really as rampant as some would have people believe, there would be almost daily reports in the news media.