On heroes, pt 5

There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to acknowledge his weakness, acknowledge his failings.  This is not that time, but it is a time for powerful scrutiny of self.  The reason?  A pink haired young lady from Canada.

This pink haired lady is the founder of a nonprofit organization in Canada, or Canadia as I will call it.  I found out about her through a video on Facebook, which generally is terrible.  That video was funny, informative, and ballsy.  It stopped playing nice with arguments and started calling them out to explain themselves.  This lady had spunk!

So, I began to follow her work.  Her name is Laura, and she founded Choice 4 2.  It’s a pro-life organization that uses social media to get the message out in a way that is both edgy and compassionate.  Don’t think the two go together?  When you read the stories of the babies she has helped save, and then read the stories about calling out in public the people, generally a hole men, I will specify, who leave extremely inappropriate content on her page, then you will understand.

It’s funny too, I don’t know her story, her past or background or how she got here.  I am not a fan because we share the same faith, although I hope for it.  I am a fan because we share the same humanity, and she’s out there on the front lines demanding that humanity be respected.  She makes the most elegant case, “Don’t kill tiny humans! “

Unfortunately, people find a way to argue that.

So why is she a hero?  It starts with today’s readings.  My favorite reading, I think, although I have many favorites.  This one I always felt drawn to, both as a human, and a man, and a Catholic.  It is the calling of Isaiah, when he beholds the Seraphim which means the burning one, praising God in His throne room.  And the purification of God is so intense that even a burning one has to hold the coal with tongs!

Reading 1 IS 6:1-2A, 3-8
In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above.

They cried one to the other,
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!”
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it, and said,
“See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

I am shaken to the core when I hear that.  Every time.  I can tell you, my humanity is willing.  But my Faith?  Wow, I shrink away.  Yup, how often do I speak up for what is true?  How often do I slide into a lifestyle that is less like a Catholic than not?

Laura has the stones to.  Like I said, I don’t know anything about her, but since following her organization I have learned of more depravity, lawlessness, hypocrisy, rudeness, hope, redemption, and the willingness to stand up for the truth, all because of the desire to save tiny humans.  And really, people can be scum, but Laura hasn’t shied away!

Accuse her of only being pro-birth?  She’ll let you know that a baby has to be born before we can care for it otherwise.  She’s unfeeling of rape victims?  She’ll let you know that the majority of rape victims don’t want additional violence done to them after the horrific crime.  Taking away the choice of the mother?  She might say, yes, let the strong kill the weaker one, because choice?  Non-viable?  Because we should slaughter the diseased and imperfect, like Hitler!  And on and on.  Her video, The Magical Birth Canal, actually calls out the hypocrisy of Lawmakers in Canadia, NY, Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont, VA, and New Mexico,  and I am sure California soon too, by highlighting the incongruity of their statements.  Because it isn’t a human until it comes out the birth canal, right?

All this with a gentleness that we normally lack on our side.  Except for the disgusting men who post on her page who are just vile. I’ve seen more generosity and kindness in her efforts and conversations than I do at many parish events!

So I am inspired.  Unlike her, I don’t have the stomach to see the horrors of a third trimester or partial birth abortion.  But thanks to her bravery, I don’t have to.  I’m basically stuck at home, in front of a computer, I can’t talk, but I can raise awareness through social media of this thing which is anathema, barbaric, Nazi level.  I can share her posts with my own friends.  I can use the research she has done to advocate.  I can emulate her bravery in the face of terrible threats and stand up for the truth.

You want to talk about social reform?  Stop killing tiny humans.  You want to talk about women’s rights?  Stop encouraging the killing of tiny humans.  Men get off scot free when a woman has an abortion, and men are more likely to encourage the woman to get one.  How is that the right of a woman?  You want to talk about any societal issue that comes as a result of being alive, I’ll tell you to let the tiny humans live first, then we can talk.  Otherwise, you are prioritizing not based on humanity but on utility, which is the most dehumanizing of all.

Unfortunately, I am not as witty or eloquent as Laura.  But I am encouraged to speak out more for this basic truth of natural law and supernatural law.  I encourage you to follow her on Facebook, and follow her organization.  You will find sweet people who have seen things, and realize that human life is valuable, no matter how able you are.  I know, I’m in a wheelchair with a terminal illness.  And I have value.