What do these people have in common?

All of them used to work in the abortion industry. Doctors Levatino, McMillan, and Hill actually performed abortions themselves, Joan Appleton was an abortion clinic nurse, Carol Everett was an abortion clinic administrator, and Luhra Tivis was a medical receptionist for late-term abortionist George Tiller.

Along with many other former abortion providers, they have all spoken out publicly about how they came to be pro-life.

I thought about these former-abortion-industry-workers-turned-pro-lifers when I realized today, March 10, is the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers.

What can we as pro-lifers do to counter this “Appreciation Day”? Lots of things, I suppose, but the first thing that comes to my mind is prayer.

We should pray for abortion providers out of love for them, precisely because we want them to repent of their involvement in abortion and seek the forgiveness and peace that can only come from Jesus Christ. Indeed, those who have stopped their involvement with abortion very often credit the compassion and patience of individual pro-lifers with bringing about their conversion.

Prayers offered for the general conversion of everyone involved in the abortion industry are always good, but even better than that are specific prayers offered for the conversion of the staff of the abortion clinic nearest where each of us lives, outside of the facility itself.

If you’ve never prayed outside an abortion clinic before, I would encourage you to start. You can find a nationwide listing of abortion clinics here, and a listing of those at which 40 Days for Life vigils are currently being held is here.

I was listening to the radio the other day, and heard a brief news report about college students protesting a budget cut, the story ending with, “fifteen people were arrested”. I wasn’t surprised. In fact it seems like in any protest there are always rowdy protestors or damage of property that goes along with it.

It seem that I hear stories like these a lot: “Anti-gun rally in Chicago, six people arrested”, “Police break up anti-war protest, take demonstrators away in handcuffs”, or “Environmental protest ends with fights, multiple arrests”.

But in the Pro-life movement, our protests and rallies are prayerful and peaceful. Arrests are virtually nonexistent. This year’s March for Life was estimated to have included around 300,000 to 400.000 protestors. What other cause could organize a protest that big, and pull things off without an incident?

Obviously, we know violence is never a legitimate solution to a problem. And being peaceful can send an even more powerful a message than causing a disturbance of the peace. For example, who is going to give any respect to the protestors calling for world peace, who go and vandalize property and cause huge disturbances?

So, to make our point, we are peaceful yet unwavering. Our message of love and forgiveness has won former abortion supporters over to our side. And our cause will triumph because of the witness we give to the world.

Last year, over 2,500 of the St. Joan’s Life Teen shirts were worn in 152 schools (public, Catholic, & private, from pre-schools to colleges) in 11 states. The shirts caused many people to rethink their position on abortion, and they helped save at least one baby’s life from abortion!

My favorite among their 2010 shirts is this one:

The other designs are shown here, and you can download an order form here [PDF].

*** Please note that if you decide to order one of their shirts, the deadline on the order form is listed as March 8, but I just spoke with Fran, and she told me it’s been extended to March 15.

Human Life Alliance has some of the best pro-life materials available, and if your club can come up with creative ways to use their materials to share the pro-life message on your campus, you could win $500!

The contest is open to high school and college clubs, and the submission deadline is Wednesday, March 31, 2010. There’s more information on the contest here [PDF].

If you have faithfully tuned into NBC’s primetime broadcasts, you may have noticed featured bios about two athletes who have been positively influenced by their handicapped siblings.

Freestyle moguls’ skier Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal on Canada’s home soil. All of Canada celebrated his victory with jubilation. And Bilodeau dedicated his Olympic medal to the person he publicly refers to as his hero and inspiration – his brother Frédéric. Frédéric has cerebral palsy, and his speech and muscle control are affected by the disease, along with his ability to walk.

Although he spends most of his time in a wheelchair, Frédéric’s positive attitude is ever present to his younger brother, who refers to him as one of the happiest guys. “When he wakes up in the morning, he’s got that big smile, he goes to bed, and he’s got that big smile,” said Alexandre. “We can really learn from those people that just put everything in life back into perspective.”

The other athlete, snowboarder Kevin Pearce was not even a member of this year’s U.S. Olympic team. He was a favorite to make the team, but in November of 2009 he suffered a traumatic brain injury during practice. NBC’s coverage documented Kevin’s injury and ongoing recovery, and included interviews with his family, including Kevin’s brother David, who has Down Syndrome.

Kevin’s mother, Pia, talked positively about how the gift of David in their lives has equipped them to deal with Kevin’s slow recovery. In closing, NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who conducted the interview, remarked that while it may appear that parents of special needs children do all the work, the child gives back so much more.

In our world which oftentimes views the disabled as negatiavely influencing our society, it was inspiring how NBC displayed both athletes’ brothers in a positive light – not as embarrassments or inconvenient secrets to be kept out of sight – but as important, even inspirational, members of their families. That is a view our culture would benefit to embrace.

In Gosnell’s office, they found two dozen frozen fetuses.

On Sunday, Gosnell’s license was suspended, with the suspension order detailing “deplorable and unsanitary conditions” that made his practice “an immediate and clear danger to the public health and safety.”

Today, on the pro-choice blog RH Reality Check, Rachel Larris has a post on Gosnell and the woman who died at his facility in November (the woman is identified by the Philadelphia Inquirer as Karnamaya Mongar).

Who does Larris blame for the woman’s death?

Why, pro-lifers, of course.

Larris writes:

The likely victim has been identified by the Inquirer and her story reminds us that she only turned to a clinic like Dr. Gosnell’s after being turned away from clinics in both Virginia and Maryland. Her struggle to get the abortion she and her family desired is exactly why outlawing abortion will never make it disappear and precisely why it should be legally practiced in safe, clean medical facilities. …

The Inquirer reports that according the order, an unlicensed employee may have distributed painkillers to Mongar. If the anti-choice movement had not been so successful in limiting abortion services the victim should have been able to get an abortion at a clinic in her state of Virginia or in Maryland. But reading about her case in the Philadelphia Inquirer shows the lengths to which women will go to terminate a pregnancy if needed. [emphasis added]

So, according to Larris, pro-life legislators in Virginia who have required that abortions past the first trimester must be performed in hospitals [PDF] share the blame for this woman’s death.

(For the record, Maryland does not have similar restrictions on where abortions past the first trimester can be performed. The Inquirer article merely quotes Mongar’s sister, Damber Ghalley, as saying, “They didn’t want to do it either. They gave the name of the Philadelphia clinic.”)

This makes Larris’ already breathtaking attempt to blame pro-lifers for Mongar’s death all the more ridiculous.

Equally ridiculous were the words Larris used to open her post: “No one in the pro-choice movement supports dirty healthcare clinics and doctors who practice irresponsible medicine.”

Oh?

For but one example, how to explain NARAL Pro-Choice America’s Virtual Rally to Support Dr. Leroy Carhart?

Take a look at Carhart’s facility and tell me the word “dirty” doesn’t come to mind.

Someone may also want to point out to Larris that another contributor to RH Reality Check has also written fawningly of Carhart, using words like “courageous” and “caring”.

Toward the end of her post, Larris claims, “Most reproductive healthcare clinics that provide abortion services are professionally run.”

Really?

Really?

Really?

Really?

You get the idea.

One wonders if Larris (and advocates of legal abortion generally) have given serious consideration to the possibility that the “deplorable and unsanitary conditions” in abortion facilities like Gosnell’s—not to mention the deaths of women from legal abortion—might be more common than they think.

[Cross-posted at Pro-Life Action League]

From Live Action’s press statement announcing the video’s release:

New undercover footage shows staff at a Milwaukee, WI Planned Parenthood abortion clinic counseling a purportedly 14-year-old statutory rape victim not to tell anyone about her 31-year-old boyfriend and coaching her how to obtain an abortion without her parents’ consent. The new video, seventh in a series from Live Action documenting similar behavior in 5 other states, comes amid recent controversy about Planned Parenthood’s compliance with state laws regarding minors and abortion.

In the video, after hearing the girl is 14 and her boyfriend is “much older,” the counselor says whether or not the situation will be reported by clinic workers “depends on the person you’re disclosing that information to.” When the girl says that her boyfriend is 31, the counselor tells her, “You don’t have to say anything” about the statutory rape and instructs her, “Just give them the information that’s needed.” The counselor also confirms that the 31-year-old “boyfriend” will be paying for the abortion.

In Wisconsin, sex between an adult and a minor under age 16 is a felony, and health care professionals are required to report such cases to law enforcement immediately. The law specifically includes abortion providers in this requirement.

Live Action, the youth-led pro-life nonprofit that produced the video, has previously released undercover footage in its “Mona Lisa Project” showing sexual abuse cover-up at Planned Parenthood clinics in California, Indiana, Arizona, Tennessee, and Alabama. The Alabama Department of Health put a Birmingham Planned Parenthood on probation two weeks ago after finding 9 legal violations during an investigation prompted by a Live Action video.

Twenty-one-year-old UCLA student Lila Rose, Live Action’s president, says her organization’s videos reveal a common trend of unethical counseling practices and disregard for the law at Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the U.S. …

“The evidence is now available for all to see that Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin ignores state laws that have been in place for years,” Rose says. “Wisconsin law enforcement needs to follow the lead of other jurisdictions, investigate this corrupt organization, and enforce the laws that protect vulnerable women and their pre-born children.”

Previous

• Planned Parenthood in Trouble in Alabama
• New Live Action Video
• Live Action in Alabama
• New Videos from Live Action
• Tennessee Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of Underage Girl
• Indiana Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of 13-Year Old Girl
• Another Indiana Planned Parenthood Covers Up Sexual Abuse of 13-Year Old Girl
• Planned Parenthood Threatens Student with Lawsuit
• Show Me the Money!
• Show Me the Money! Part 2

As a rule, abortion clinics stay away from using terms like “baby” and “killing” but at Allegheny Reproductive, clinic counselors are not afraid to use those words when talking to the women who come for abortions.

Instead of “correcting” women who refer to their unborn child as a baby, the staff at this clinic acknowledges it… and asks the women if they can see abortion as a “loving act” towards themselves and their children. Women are encouraged to write notes to their unborn babies, and these pink, paper hearts - written to the children they’ve killed - cover the walls of the waiting room.

A perverted view of spirituality is employed to offer “comfort” and “forgiveness” to women having abortions. Women who express unease about having an abortion due to religious beliefs are asked if they believe God will forgive them. If they request to do so, women are allowed to pray over the dead fetuses, or perform mock “baptisms”.

Abortion is justified, according to Allegheny Reproductive’s website, because: “No one sin is more or less forgivable than another” and “God…did not expect us to be perfect”.

To provide closure for the women, the clinic’s website suggests:

Whether you think of it as a child or not, you probably still want to treat the pregnancy with respect. You can do something as simple as lighting a candle to something more complicated like creating a whole ceremony. Our own culture in the US has a variety of funeral rituals and borrowing from one of them may be just what you are looking for.

What struck me most – besides seeing how truly sick and confused some people are – is that the greatest evil is the kind which disguises itself as good. While God in his mercy WILL forgive anyone who shows true sorrow for their abortion, using that approach to justify killing your child is nauseating.

Just like Satan quoting from the Bible to tempt Jesus in the desert, these people at Allegheny Reproductive mock what is true and sacred by twisting it to their destructive ends.

Population Research Institute has just released the second installment in its “Overpopulation Is a Myth” series— a slickly produced video that explains in easy-to-understand terms why underpopulation is the real looming demographic disaster.

I first saw this video earlier this week, and about an hour later I received an e-mail from a journalist in the UK asking for a brief comment for a story he was writing about a young British woman who, based on a belief that having children would have damaging effects on the quality of life of people already living, had decided to be sterilized.

I commented on how how tragic it is that someone would decide to not have children based on a mistaken belief that the world is somehow overpopulated—and that, quite the contrary, the real danger in our world is underpopulation.

I also pointed out that this is the looming demographic and economic threat that no one wants to talk about. If there are not enough babies being born today, who will support tomorrow’s retirees?

It’s a shame that such frantic handwringing about overpopulation still persists in our day. How much more stuck in the Stuck-in-the-Sixties can you get? It’s as if Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb had just hit bookstore shelves (and thus had not yet been proven completely wrong), and the writers of Star Trek were still hard at work producing birth control propaganda.

Lila, who just last month shared about her groundbreaking undercover investigations of Planned Parenthood at our TeenSpeak conference, has shone a light on the web of deceit that surrounds Planned Parenthood clinics across the country.

Now her work is getting the attention of authorities in Alabama, where Lila and her team at Live Action filmed one of their undercover videos.

Here’s what Lila had to say:

In response to our Birmingham video, the Attorney General Troy King opened an investigation, which King eventually handed over to the State Health Department. Here’s a sample of what the Health Department found at the Birmingham Planned Parenthood clinic: nine out of 9 underage girls, aged 13 to 15, received abortions without proper verification of parental consent. A 13 year old girl came to the clinic for 2 different abortions with four months. Planned Parenthood made no report of suspected abuse or neglect. The report states:

“A reasonable person faced with that situation would have to suspect abuse…Neither the Registered Nurse, the Medical Doctor, nor any other Center staff reported the suspected abuse or neglect to the authorities as required by law. This is a shocking but sadly typical response from Planned Parenthood.

The full report is here [PDF], and it’s eye-opening.

Among other things, it shows shocking code violations such as a mislabeled and expired suction abortion machine, open bottles of expired medicine with syringes still attached, and Planned Parenthood employees looking the other way when a 15-year-old girl provided “parental consent” by a woman with a different name and address. Birth records indicate the woman was not the girl’s mother.

It’s about time these offenses started bearing some consequences for the nation’s largest—and apparently sloppiest—abortion provider.

Spread the word.

Look ahead into the future to when abortion has been eliminated. What will you tell your grandchildren when they ask you what YOU did at the time your country allowed parents to kill their unwanted children?

Will you tell them about how you prayed outside abortion clinics? How you volunteered at crisis pregnancy centers? How you took part in the March for Life? How you inspired others to join the pro-life movement?

Or will you tell them that you were against abortion, but never prayed outside abortion clinics. That you would’ve if you hadn’t had to get up so early – or go to bed at a respectable hour the night before. Will you have to tell them you didn’t speak up against abortion among your friends or co-workers, because you didn’t want to be judged or looked down on? That you didn’t take part in prayerful protests or rallies because you were afraid of being cursed or yelled at?

Will you truthfully be able to tell them that you were part of the victory, not just a bystander? That you stepped out of your comfort zone? That you made sacrifices? That you prayed?

Think about what you will tell your grandchildren – does this inspire you to action?

Now think about the moment when you die. Will your excuses mean anything then, as you stand before God? Or are you confident, because you know you will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

As a teenager, I’ve come to recognize abortion as more than just a discussion topic or political viewpoint, but as the life and death situation it is. I’ve been given the opportunity to listen to speakers such as GFL’s John Jansen, and Bryan Kemper of Stand True Ministries, who have only reinforced my commitment against abortion. It was in high school that I became actively pro-life, playing a role in starting two pro-life clubs at different parishes, and regularly praying outside of local clinics.

I’m currently a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville, and between all the college activities I take part in, I strive to continue to fight for the culture of life.

I feel that my posts will probably touch on various life issues, my personal thoughts, stories and reflections, and current events. I encourage you to make any comments about my posts, and most of all, I hope you will enjoy and possibly learn from them!

After she won, her representative in the Ohio House, John Adams, made arrangements for Elizabeth to accept an honorary resolution in honor of her accomplishment. (These sorts of resolutions are often given at the beginning of Ohio House legislative sessions to winners of sports championships, academic contests, etc.)

Elizabeth was supposed to have been presented with her resolution on February 3. But a few days beforehand, Ohio Speaker of the House Armond Budish—who is pro-abortion choice—said he “had a problem with the subject matter”, and pulled the plug.

So Elizabeth was told she would be receiving her resolution in the mail, instead of on the Ohio House floor.

Ohio Right to Life’s Mike Gonidakis responded to Speaker Budish’s decision:

Perhaps his real message to Ohio’s teens is that excelling in public speaking isn’t worth being honored if their views are different than his.

Even the ACLU — very definitely not a friend of unborn children — came down on the pro-lifers’ side, saying that the speaker’s decision amounted to “teaching young people that the answer is to silence those who disagree with us.” (Somebody should tell that to the Student Society at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.)

Happily, Speaker Budish realized yesterday that it’s not a smart move to play the part of a censoring bully, so he’s changed his mind, and Elizabeth will now receive her resolution on the House floor.

Check out Elizabeth’s award-winning speech here.

***I also just found out that Elizabeth and her mother will be interviewed on The O’Reilly Factor tonight (Thursday, Feb. 11) at 7:00pm central.***

Think ahead to the next six months. What could you do to help fight abortion during that time? Be specific about what action you could take and why it would be helpful.

And the winner of the $1,000.00 scholarship? Julianne Winkle. Have a read. It think you’ll agree she did a splendid job. Congratulations, Julianne!

Second place, a $500.00 scholarship, went to Theresa Simeo. Her essay follows Julianne’s. Well done, Theresa!

Most would probably say that teaching abstinence is “unrealistic”, that it doesn’t work, and that schools should instead be teaching so-called “comprehensive” sex education.

A big part of the reason why so many people believe abstinence education is ineffective is because its opponents — which include Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW, and other major pro-abortion groups — have relentlessly tub-thumping for years trying to convince people that it is so, such that it’s now one of those things that “everybody knows”.

And most mainstream media outlets have gone along with getting this message out there.

So ingrained in popular consciousness is this idea that when the Washington Post reported on a “landmark” study released Monday that demonstrated remarkable comparative effectiveness of abstinence education vs. so-called “comprehensive” sex education, they couldn’t bring themselves to fully admit what the research showed.

The study, led by Dr. John Jemmott of the University of Pennsylvania, involved 662 black students in four urban public middle schools. It revealed that about 33% of students who went through an abstinence program had sex within 2 years, as opposed to 52% who were only taught only “safe sex”.

“Abstinence-only programs might work, study says,” read the headline. “The findings are the first clear evidence that an abstinence program could work,” read one sentence.

“Might work”? “Could work”?

This study shows abstinence education does work. And—again, contrary to what the Washington Post article says—this is not “the first clear evidence”.

Still, it’s very encouraging that this particular study is receiving so much attention, and it certainly calls into question the Obama administration’s decision to cut more than $170 in federal funding for abstinence education programs.

It’s also interesting to note the reaction of the so-called “Comprehensive” Sex Education establishment to the study.

The WaPo article quotes James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, whose response was essentially a shrug: “There is no data in this study to support the ‘abstain until marriage’ programs, which research proved ineffective during the Bush administration.”

What “research” is Wagoner referring to?

I had a suspicion it was the April 2007 study conducted by Mathematica Policy Research [PDF], which, since its release, has often been cited by opponents of abstinence education programs as the definitive evidence of their ineffectiveness.

And a check of the Advocates for Youth website confirmed my hunch. Attempting to distinguish between the program studied in the Jemmott research and Bush-era abstinence programs, AfY notes:

The program goal was to help early teens avoid sex until they are ready—a totally different objective than the federally funded abstinence programs already proven ineffective by the long-term Mathematica study “which showed no impact on teen behavior”.

The Mathematica study contains some huge flaws that were pointed out within days of its release.

Among other things, it studied children as young as 3rd grade—not exactly the average age for abstinence programs and/or sexual activity—and researched only four (4) programs—a ridiculously small sample of the several hundred federally funded abstinence education programs.

Bearing this information in mind, Wagoner’s comments are nonsensical.

With any luck, though, maybe the buzz surrounding the Jemmott study will prompt the mainstream media to take a new look at abstinence education—and maybe even start asking questions about the Mathematica study that they should have asked three years ago.

If they did, they might discover that the groups that have been hiding behind it and other flawed studies are part of a movement that simply cannot be trusted to have children’s best interests at heart.

These are just some of the comments that sum up the reaction of the 130 teens and adults who attended TeenSpeak 2010 on January 30. This was not only the largest crowd we’ve ever had at a TeenSpeak conference, but without a doubt the most enthusiastic as well.

The day began with a compelling talk by Live Action’s Lila Rose titled “Undercover at Planned Parenthood”.

In her talk, Lila told about her experiences at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics across the country, where time after time, posing as a 13-year old impregnated by her much-older boyfriend, she has exposed statutory rape cover-up at Planned Parenthood.

The audience found Lila’s talk very eye-opening and inspiring. Finoy Lukose, a sophomore at St. Ignatius College Prep, commented, “This talk really opened my eyes to what truly goes on at an abortion clinic, something I was unfamiliar with.” And Alexie Gillespie, a junior at Lake Zurich High School, noted, “I was so inspired by Lila by start a pro-life group in my own community.”

At the conclusion of Lila’s talk, she received a standing ovation—clearly, the conference was off to a great start!

Since the theme of the conference was “Pro-Life Teens Take ACTION,” the next segment was devoted to three presentations that focused on specific ways teens can become more involved in the pro-life movement.

John-Paul Deddens and Alicia Torres discussed involvement opportunities with Students for Life of Illinois, The Women’s Center’s Katie Reidy talked about volunteer opportunities at pregnancy resource centers, and Pro-Life Action League Associate Jeff Eschbach encouraged teens to consider sidewalk counseling.

All three presentations were well received. As sophomore Mia Rocha remarked, “I learned a lot from all of these talks, and they really helped me understand more about abortion.”

After lunch, members of three active pro-life clubs gave brief presentations about their groups. Chrysan Tefft and Katie Wall of Rosary High School’s Lifesavers Club showcased the T-shirts they recently designed, and noted that some of their members are now part of the Teen Board for Waterleaf Women’s Center, a pregnancy resource center in Aurora that opened last fall. Katie also recommended to other teens who were interested in starting a new pro-life club that they should get a copy of GFL’s Pro-Life Curriculum.

Kim Dawid and Joan Dodaro of Riverside-Brookfield High School related their experience of starting a pro-life club in their public school, and told how they have collaborated with other like-minded clubs for some of their events.

Lastly, several members of Lombard-based Crusaders for Life sang a pro-life song they came up with at the March for Life—”It’s a Life”, sung to the tune of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life”.

With enthusiasm high, my co-worker Matt Yonke gave a short talk titled, “The Anatomy of a Pro-Life T-Shirt,” in which he dissected the most common styles of pro-life T-shirts. Matt’s talk served as a great jumping-off point for TeenSpeak’s Pro-Life T-Shirt Workshop.

Attendees were divided into 20 groups, and each group was given a T-shirt, a set of fabric markers, and 45 minutes to create their own pro-life T-shirt. To ramp up the competition factor, the teams were told that the winning design would be professionally printed and sold on ChristianShirts.net, and that each member of the winning team would receive one.

The competition proved stiff, but in the end the judges selected this design by Angela Habisohn, Hannah McHugh, Matalyn VanderBleek, Charlotte Seidel, and Michelle Ryan as the winner:

Last but not least, the TeenSpeak Essay Contest winners were announced: Second place went to Theresa Simeo of Glen Ellyn, and First Place went to Julianne Winkle of Aurora. (Look for their essays to be posted last this week.)

Many people—both teens and adults—commented that this was the best TeenSpeak they had been a part of, and they’re looking forward to next year.

So am I!

Related

• See a slideshow of pictures from TeenSpeak here.

Huge.

There is always a massive crowd at the March, but several people I talked to thought that the crowd this year even larger than it usually is.

Of the many signs I saw today, I think this one was my favorite:

I’ve posted other pictures from the March here.

If you’ll be there, join us! Generations for Life will be marching together with other members of Youth Life Alliance in a show of unity among national pro-life youth organizations, and I would like to invite you and your group to march with us.

Here are the details:

• WHEN TO MEET: 12:00 noon on Friday, January 22
• WHERE TO MEET: Madison Dr. NW, just west of 4th St.
• WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The Generations for Life banner

I hope you’ll be able to join us at the March, but if you can’t make it, you can still be a part of the Virtual March for Life.

How can we start a revolution though…aren’t we just young adults trying to make sense of our lives, not to mention love? The authors say that we don’t have to have fantastic speaking skills or a mesmerizing personality because the revolution will start in our hearts and lives before it moves outward: “You just have to believe what God says about sex and live out what you’re talking about.” (p. 41) As they put it, it is a revolution of one that begins in us first before moving outward.

The authors describe how the first sexual revolution started in the ‘60’s and resulted in our over-sexed culture, which believes that sex comes without a price tag. In the 60’s a small group grew and changed the culture’s views on sex. If they did it, so can we!

If we want to understand God’s rules about sex, we need to see God behind them since He cares for us, and we need to join the “revolutionary” view of sex the book provides. I.e. do we look at sex as one of God’s gifts, a sacred, soul-changing, emotional experience not to be enjoyed outside of marriage, or do we see it as a way to satisfy carnal desires?

Of course, Sex 180 gives the usual tips like “dress modestly,” “don’t lust,” etc., but it goes deep into the “whys” of the rules God has placed on sex. Are we going to do sex Hollywood’s way, with the physical first and spiritual last, or God’s way, with the spiritual first and the physical last?

“Sex is a heart issue, one that our culture has made purely physical. The only time the heart is mentioned is when we’re trying to justify the physical….” (p.30). That is, we justify they physical with excuses like, “But we love each other!”

I really liked what a boy named Bobby had said in the book:

“You have to stand up and be proud that you’re going to abstain, that you have a reason. There are so many good kids out there who just don’t know about not having sex before marriage. That is why Christians have to take a stand.” (p.38)

The authors put it a good way again: “God gave us wonderful and beautiful bodies. They were not intended for manipulating others.” (p. 77) “…before you can live out this 180, you have to grasp an important element of sex: it’s selfless. What you think about sex and how you live it out isn’t just about you.” (p. 100)

The authors remind us that God is the only one that can give us perfect love–a human isn’t capable of perfect love as popular culture expects. You can’t have such high expectations of people.

Being friends before having a romantic relationship is “the best way to guard your heart and someone else’s.” (p. 106). As I mentioned the physical is kept last, or as one boy said pertaining to getting physical with your bf/gf: “It’s like you’re going down a hill–the faster you go, the quicker you fall.”( p. 123) Tim Walker said: “Love isn’t just romance; it’s honoring the other person.” p.114

As friends, you get to see how a person lives out his life and treats family and friends. Does he/she “walk the walk”?

“Respecting the other person as a brother or sister means recognizing that his person is not an object, or a play toy. He or she is a human being, someone God considers valuable–so valuable that he sent his Son to give his life for that person.”( p. 127) Thus, we start to think of the person behind the looks or great body, to see them as people with history and a life. And if we spend time with the family, then we will see how poor decisions will not only affect our love interest, but the whole family as well.

Guys and gals need to help each other do the Sex 180:

“You [guys] can be a leader in your relationships now by stepping up and not putting your girl in a situation where you know you’re both going to be tempted. Just like girls can help you out by watching what they wear, you can help a girl out by protecting her and not manipulating her though situations and emotions.” (p. 131)

As followers of Christ, we are called to live a radically different lifestyle and be a light to others.

“Imagine a relationship with a person of the opposite sex in which you became good friends, treated each other as brother and sister, and wanted the other person to walk away, no matter what happened, saying, ‘You know what? Nothing romantic happened like I kind of secretly hoped, but because of my relationship with you, I’m more like Christ.” (p. 149) We can have the best relationship when it is built on a strong spiritual foundation and respect for the other person.

For those that catch the “love bug” a lot, this book is helpful since one chapter explores the difference between love vs. infatuation. For example: “Love takes time to grow. Infatuation explodes in an instant.” (p. 161)

So what are the benefits of abstinence and sex 180? They are:

“If you stay sexually pure, then you can expect to have better sex in your marriage.”

“If you stay sexually pure, then you can expect your relationships to add to your life, not take away from it.”

You’ll avoid STDs.

“If you stay sexually pure and look for a potential mate who lives by the same values, then you can expect that when you marry, you will remain faithful to each other.” (all from p. 182)

“Live out this revolution and telling others about it has nothing to do with people seeing how great or how pure you are–it’s about seeing how awesome and loving God is. How he created sex. And how he desires to give it to you–with the right person at the right time in the right place.”( p. 210)

God wants us to have the best sex possible, but we can only attain it if we follow the rules he has set for us and remain pure.

“We’re going to do relationships in ways that quit using and manipulating people. We’re no longer going to leave a trail of debris behind us. We’re going to stop living with regrets. Relationships are no longer about us–what we can get from the other person emotionally and physically. They’re going to be about what we can give to someone else–spiritually.” p. 214

God will give us the opportunity to stand up and make a difference. We need to be revolutionaries and change our culture. This book will equip you to do so–just don’t take as long as I did to get through the book!

(all page references from copyright 2005 by Chip Ingram)

If you haven’t yet made plans to attend the March for Life in Washington, DC, there’s still time, but not much. It’s just over two weeks away, on January 22.

If you’re going to the March, join us! Generations for Life will be marching together with other members of the Youth Life Alliance in a show of unity among national pro-life youth organizations.

We’ll be posting more details soon.