Rant #5 - The Silent Riot

The Great American Tragedy
That Everyone Wants To Ignore

“There is a silent riot in the conscience of men and women, of could-have-beens, whose violence will never be seen, whose anger will never be heard.”
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In 2000, I was living in Portland, Oregon, attending college while participating in third-party campaigning. During my tour of the state as "Youth Coordinator", I spoke at many schools, universities and on radio shows, as well as paneling debates with other county Party heads, both Republican and Democratic. This Rant is a publication distributed by the thousands in Oregon and Washington during the 2000 Presidential election that I wrote in response to one of those visits. Although I would probably not vote for a Reform Party Candidate today, I am not ashamed of my involvement at the time to help a man that I saw was willing to buck the two-party system and clip the "two wings on the same bird of prey".

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Taking a Stand In Public Schools
I recently had the privilege of speaking at a local Portland high school, on behalf of Reform Party Presidential Candidate, Pat Buchanan. In a room designed more like an auditorium than a classroom, I delivered a speech on Mr. Buchanan’s issues, and fielded questions from over 150 students and teachers over a one hour period.

We rattled cages on such topics as gun rights, foreign policy and immigration. As might be expected for such a hot-button issue this election, abortion was one of the first to be addressed by an inquiring student. After some discussion, one anxious sophomore with a slight but of contempt in her voice quipped: “I’m 16 years old and if I got pregnant right now, it would ruin my life. I’d have to quit school, get a job and it would just ruin everything. I would abort the pregnancy. What do feel about that scenario?”

My first response was, “well I hope you don’t get pregnant then.” After the nervous laughter from the students, I gathered myself to answer such a straightforward, piercing question, and I asked her, “how can the elimination of a nuisance human life abrogate a woman of the consequences of her irresponsibility? We hold fast to the truth that it is a human life we’re talking about and adoption is probably the best solution for your proposed scenario.

Abortion has become a form of birth control.
And now, with the release of Mifepristone (RU-486) in the U.S. In Nov, 2000 abortion may now have gained the designation of a do-it-yourself operation of systematic execution; a human insecticide designed as a cheap, two part remedy to the expensive abortion procedure, which your tax dollars now pay for. In direct answer to the girl’s question I answered adoption, to which one teacher replied that he knows the system to be so corrupt and damaging that many children may end up being abused emotionally, and turn out living in disadvantaged circumstances. While he knew this to be the exception not the rule, what followed far outmaneuvered anything I could have said all day.

Another young girl raised her hand. She looked to be about 14 or 15, and somewhat shy. While she intended to ask a question, she instead resorted to telling me she was adopted as a baby. “I know the system,” she said. “I know how it works. My mom chose to have me and give me up for adoption instead,” she continued, as her voice began to crack. Every person in that room froze. You could hear a pin drop as every soul observed this girl on the edge of tears tell how she was given up for adoption, nearly falling victim to an abortion. I listened intently, and when she was finished, thanked her, and told her I was so glad that she was here to tell us her story. She just smiled. The girl who challenged me was silent. Faced with the notion that her desire to keep her life from being “ruined” by her own irresponsible behavior – God forbid! – could erase from existence another precious girl such as this one before us… well, there was simply no excuse.

It was at this moment, as this younger girl smiled at me, that I realized that this issue of “pro-life” is not simply about Right vs. Left, Choice vs. Life, or Roe vs. Wade. It’s about me and it’s about you. It’s how we look at each other, where we place each other on our list of importance, how high we’re willing to value others we don’t even know. How much does the human life of someone we don’t yet know matter in out own minds? The very attitude that claims the lives of tens of thousands every year through gun violence is the very attitude that causes one to attempt to dampen the validity of pre-birth humanity, at the excuse of convenience, or one’s “constitutional right”.

The Million Child March
History has borne us examples of human inequality, and displayed that injustice will not go unanswered. In the 1890’s it was child labor. In the later 19th century through the early 20th century, millions of women sought to have themselves recognized as equal individuals in political society. In the 1960’s millions more African Americans marched against that culture which had derided them of basic human dignity and respect. Today we have a much greater cause, a much deeper conviction.

There is a silent riot in the conscience of men and women, of could-have-beens, whose violence will never be seen, whose anger will never be heard. Painful it is to imagine a mob of 40 million angry, livid “fetuses”, crying out for justice on the clouds of heaven. Or the greens of the Capitol Mall.

There is a Million-Child March making it’s way through the streets of the roads we chose not to travel. Of the ghost towns that were never built because half a generation was annihilated in the name of “convenience”.

Thousands of politicians and millions of women have decided to remove these thoughts from their minds, and pervert science to numb their guilt. They’ve reduced human life, aside from their own, to mere happenstance, insignificant. But not all have forgotten these innocent children. Some still seek to right the wrong that’s been done, to heal this scab that has attached itself to our heritage. It horrifies me to think that half my generation has been wiped off the face of this planet because 9 robes sitting in a lofty bench in Washington said we cannot impose our morality on women; that the government cannot invade the “privacy rights” of a woman. But what about the child upon which the doctor and the mother are imposing THEIR morality?

The Lesser of Two “Evils”
What worse is that the favorite politicians of today declare that “decent people” can disagree on this issue, and that it’s not a concern on which to be divided. And to top this, million reason that they’d rather rally behind those who hide, than take the chance that their voice could be part of the force that turns the tide. Truth will remain constant, even though morals and ideals do not. And that Truth does not appear “electable” at time.

In the immortal words of Dante, “There is a special place in hell for those who remain silent.” And we shall not remain silent.

But when is enough going to be enough? While we diplomatically attempt to subvert this culture of death and selfishness in our country, through take-what-we-can-get tactics, tend of thousands of children are being slaughtered every month that passes in the name of convenience. Surely, there are strong men and women in our ruling body that will forever stand for Truth and Justice. But they are not the “fringe”… the “fundamentalists”.

I believe Almighty God is more horrified at the prolonged decadence than we are; we’ve had 30 years and 14 elections, let’s vote our conscience for once, and let Him do the rest. In the next 30 seconds another child will pass into heaven on a blade of steel. Hundreds more die while you decide your vote…