Sometimes, people just don’t know what they don’t know. A wise man once asked, “Why doesn’t everything happen to us when we we’re teenagers, and know everything?” I had an opportunity yesterday to sit down with a 19 year young man who asked me about my work. I told him about my career as a pro-life advocate. The conversation that ensued was very interesting, as he began to talk about his views on abortion. He expressed that, if he and his girlfriend were to conceive a child, abortion, although he knows it’s wrong, would still be his first option.
I wonder how many of us have those kinds of contrary thoughts and actions show up in our lives on a daily basis. There are things that we know are wrong to do, and we mostly won’t do them…until we get to the point where we feel like we have no other choice.
I think the time has come and gone that we stop being content with preaching to the choir and mostly having conversations with those who already agree with us, and that we begin to challenge the young people to think through all of the options available in this conversation surrounding abortion.
According to research done in 2014 by the Guttmacher Institute, more than 70% of the abortions in America are had by teens and twenties. That being the case, this should be the area that we begin to target when it comes to taking the pro-life conversation to the people who need to hear it the most.
I learned from the young man to whom I was speaking, that young people really are interested in Life Issues. However, I found out very quickly that he was extremely unaware of the details surrounding adoption and how powerful a choice it can be for everyone involved. I have a good relationship with friends at Bethany Christian Services and they do a great job in educating people about the power of adoption and its ability to save lives in an amazing way.
It’s a way that helps everyone get what they want.
I also shared with him our thoughts on the idea that life, even in the midst of terrible struggle, is much better than death. As I shared my own story of struggle, being raised by a single mother of three, on the streets of Detroit, I could almost see the wheels turning inside his head as his perspective became more clear. I’ll never forget the words that he said. “Some of the greatest people in history have also come from the greatest struggle.”
I think Booker T. Washington said it best when he said, “Success is not so much determined by the things that one has achieved, but by they obstacles that one has overcome while trying to succeed.”
To deny someone the opportunity to overcome obstacles is one of the best ways to prevent someone from reaching their full potential in life. Don’t you agree?
The more I talk to young people the more I begin to believe that they are not at all like they are portrayed in the media. Many of them simply want what’s best, and they aren’t as selfish and one-track-minded as they are portrayed to be. I don’t know what this young man will choose if he ever became an unplanned parent, but there is one thing that I do now. He knows more about life-giving alternatives now than he ever knew before. A recent Gallup poll shows that “Approximately one-fifth of teens support the legality of abortion under any circumstances (21%), while twice that number (45%) believe it should be legal only under certain circumstances.”
We’re not where we want to be with young people, but real progress has been made.
Won’t you join me as we begin to continue to share our pro-life message to those who desperately need to hear the other side of the argument. If you check out the other five videos of this pro-life apologetic video series, I’m sure you’ll gain a little bit more knowledge that will help you to be a more powerful advocate for these most important life issues.
The next time you find yourself in front of a “teen or twenty”, remember this. They don’t know what you know. They don’t know as much as they think they know. But if you are willing to stay informed and share with them what you know, then you might be doing your part in saving the life of an unborn child.
I believe there is a tremendous harvest that is ready to be reaped when it comes to this group of people. Millennials, in my opinion, are pro-lifers in the waiting. You and I must simply be willing to do the work necessary in order to reap the harvest. Won’t you join me?
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