Studying the psychology of people can be the source of endless inquiry. This kind of study doesn’t require a trip to college or taking any class. No. Anyone can perform these studies from the comfort of their favorite chair, patio, or park bench. Let’s begin by placing ourselves in historical times and pretend we’d take a different position than the majority on controversial issues of the day.
For example, an endless supply of people today claim they would have been a strong and vocal opponent of human slavery if they had been alive in the early nineteenth century. The same can be said of the actual civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. However, the passions surrounding those long-decided issues have faded. The political climate today is much different than it was back then. In all likelihood, at the moment it mattered most, these self-proclaimed champions would be overtaken with fear. Taking such positions back then, regardless of any moral superiority, could have cost their job, a client, or affected their life’s prospects. In short, in the face of overwhelming opposition they’d have remained silent. How do we know?
Today’s reality isn’t that much different
There are numerous issues today that have eerily similar psychological echoes from our past. Right now, our country is at a moment of decision on several controversies that will be considered obvious and easy moral decisions by our great-grandchildren. However, their ancestors (that’s us) recoil from action for fear of what others may think or say. Similarly, those great-grandchildren will have controversies of their own that we can’t conceive of today. They, too, will shy away from taking controversial positions out of self-preservation. That’s just human nature.
However, a small minority will take the risk to change their world and be acclaimed by generations that follow. These champions not only risk greatly, but many of them sacrifice and suffer greatly. The founders of this nation put their blood and treasure on the line for our freedom, yours and mine. They never knew us, but they knew their sacrifice meant a better human experience for their progeny. Their world wasn’t prefect, but they chose to begin the long journey to forming what has become both the greatest and freest country that has ever existed. Ours is a place where someone born into poverty, if they applied themselves and made a real effort, could one day find themselves as the President of this great nation.
The Pro-Life movement
Slavery and the Pro-Life movement have a great many similarities. They both started with the purposeful self-deception that some people weren’t really people. These misguided notions evolved into a justification for regular people (people just like you and me) to behave like monsters. In the mid-nineteenth century, some people were considered property, to be owned by another. In the mid-twentieth century, the delusion morphed into some people groups just were’t as good as others. By the way, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is an echo of the civil rights battle. It’s an attempt to undo the progress we’ve already made as a society.
The concept of “they aren’t really people” had been erroneously declared the “law of the land” by the United States Supreme Court. Many who held up the Roe vs. Wade decision as proof positive that “abortion is a right” seem to have forgotten that their ancestors held up the Dred Scott decision in much the same way.
However, our study in psychology makes an unexpected twist in Louisiana. We are a majority Pro-Life state, possibly the most Pro-Life state in the entire Union. Because of the overwhelming support that the Pro-Life movement enjoys here, most mainstream Abortion true-believers find themselves silent. They believe, but take no action because it would affect their prospects. Of course, we’re not talking about the green hair, tattooed, and pierced freaks who still live with their mother. Their prospects couldn’t sink any lower. They really have nothing more to lose by taking unpopular positions. Their problem is, no average person will take them seriously; and for obvious reasons.
Putting it all on the line for what you believe
Enter, Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. He is one of the greatest and most widely known Pro-Life Champions in the entire world. Absolutely everything he does is focused on (or points to) his core, Pro-Life principals. He took stands when it wasn’t popular. He was (and is) the point of the spear, the edge of the knife, and the advanced battalion on all things conservative and Pro-Life.
It is his unconventional approach to achieving Pro-Life goals, and his strong support for people like Donald Trump (who was ultimately responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade) for which he was laicized by the current Pope! Many traditional Catholics should take heart, though. They, too, find themselves and their beliefs to be quite close to that of Frank Pavone; and quite distant from the Pope. Many, including Pavone, I would presume are waiting patiently for the Church’s return to their traditional leadership role, on which the world has depended for millennia.
Sacrifice brings change
While Frank Pavone may temporarily find himself without an official title, that has not diminished his resolve. He is holding this ground long enough for the Pro-Life cause to be permanently cemented into our country’s fabric. This is a slow drying glue. As with slavery and civil rights we must defend these great victories for some time before they harden and become immovable. That means we remain exposed to the relentless guerrilla warfare from the Left until the front lines move further inland. Now that this hill is finally taken, though, we dare not retreat from it.
As our conservative movement continues to retake ground, Frank Pavone will continue to be on the front lines. He has been and will continue to be bombarded with all kinds of terrible accusations, setbacks, and difficulty. We know, because we, too, are in the same fight and suffer under the Left’s same brutal tactics. Until that glorious day when “the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night” will not cease. We must learn to recognize him and his voice. His goal is to divert us away from our great accomplishments by stirring strife among us. Only by cover of distraction can his nefarious forces slither back in unnoticed and reclaim what we’ve already captured.
Take Courage – to Arms!
There can be no better closing to this charge than a quote from the man who faced overwhelming odds and yet persisted. Eventually, inspiring his people to turn the great tide of evil that was thrust upon the entire world. Here are his words, spoken to his generation and their descendants for all time. They remind us to not focus on petty animosities, because only when we work together can we achieve the unachievable.
“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” — Sir Winston Churchill.
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The New Louisiana Model
If the people knew what went on in their government, their government would stop doing it! That's the founding principle of Citizens for a New Louisiana. However, no one has the time to hold the hand of every single public official in the state. Even if we could, that'd be a quick road to burnout. Plus, with the ever-growing size and scope of government, we don't have the volunteers and manpower necessary. So what's the solution?
Another founding principle is that observed employees tend to do a better job. It's incredible how many times a simple (but properly worded) public records request from us has changed everything. Over the years, several new tax proposals have been withdrawn, and numerous new frivolous spending projects have mysteriously disappeared. It doesn't happen each time, but many times, all it takes for public officials to change their approach is knowing that someone is paying attention.
Our little flashlight isn't reserved for negative things, though. Our light is often shining on the many positive things that public officials are doing that the state's leftist press is trying to spin negatively. Thanks to our passion, Louisiana is becoming a better place, one parish at a time.
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Thank you for making the following point: “Slavery and the Pro-Life movement have a great many similarities. They both started with the purposeful self-deception that some people weren’t really people. These misguided notions evolved into a justification for regular people (people just like you and me) to behave like monsters. In the mid-nineteenth century, some people were considered property, to be owned by another. In the mid-twentieth century, the delusion morphed into some people groups just were’t as good as others. By the way, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is an echo of the civil rights battle. It’s an attempt to undo the progress we’ve already made as a society.
The concept of “they aren’t really people” had been erroneously declared the “law of the land” by the United States Supreme Court. Many who held up the Roe vs. Wade decision as proof positive that “abortion is a right” seem to have forgotten that their ancestors held up the Dred Scott decision in much the same way.”