Cultural Shift and Planned Parenthood: Let’s Do Something!

I’m taking a little break from our Baby Steps for Big Words series to talk about a pressing issue that is flooding my mind lately.  We’ll be back to that soon, I promise.  But for now, let’s make time for this.

 

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about cultural shift lately.  About how the tides change gradually and no one seems to notice or care enough to do something about it, until they have completely shifted.

Then we seem to get in a little frenzy for a few days.  We are shocked and horrified by how awful the world has become yet never seemed to notice much when someone turned up the heat on the frying pan.

It is a desensitization of sorts.

 

More than ever cultural shift seems to come from big money and organized effort.  Watch the issues, watch the polls.  It is less about majority and more about organization – carefully crafted marketing campaigns, highly involved political action committees and an intentionally controlled image – and cash.  Money always has pull.

So knowing that, how do we live bravely?  How do we make a difference, even a proverbial drop in the bucket, anymore?

I’ve wrestled with this.  I’m guessing many of us have.  Does my vote count?  My little voice in small town America?  It often doesn’t often feel like it, huh?

But here is one thing we often think about.  Every day we are voting.  With our time and our money we are making our wishes known.  We are either standing up for what we believe in, with whatever resources we have, or we are living in a way that contradicts what we believe.  I think the slow fade occurs in that very contradiction.

Take the Planned Parenthood debacle.  I hope you are all aware of the horrifying discovery that Planned Parenthood is intentionally and strategically harvesting body parts of aborted babies to sell to major biotech firms.  This act is illegal and directly contradicts the very lie that Planned Parenthood propagates and maintains so carefully – that abortion does not kill babies, real human beings, just useless tissue.

This is a very carefully crafted lie.  And one that their own actions have now proven to be untrue.  Abortion is big business, you see.  It’s not really about freedom or helping women who find themselves in an unexpected pregnancy, it’s about profit.  Straight up profit at the cost of an estimated 1 millions lives each year.

So when cultural shift seems to be swinging out of control, away from the very things we hold dear, why does it seem that we are never on the side of organization and money?

I think we can be, if we take the time to do it. If we take the time from our very busy lives to affect change.  If we use our time and money to support what our mouths and our hearts say.  That is truly believing something, friends.

So here is a way.  This article outlines it and I think it is absolutely brilliant.  Please read it, will you?  It lists specifically how we can affect change.  We can affect change.

 

Let’s call and/or write our congressional representatives.  You can find the phone numbers and email addresses for yours here.

Let’s write an e-mail, share our thoughts with a company (or two) that is funding Planned Parenthood.  Nike, Converse, AT&T, Macy’s, Levi, you can find that list of companies here.

Let’s support our pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, organizations who are in this to make a difference, to truly help, not to make a profit.  The one I support can be found here.

Three simple steps.  These things are doable, friends.  The timing is right.  What if in 30 minutes or so you could do your part?  Would you not do that to be part of the solution? I did it, friends.  All three of them in less than 30 minutes.

This could be our opportunity to be on the side of organization and money.  This could be the perfect time to bring down the company that propagates the most heinous crimes against the most vulnerable and defenseless of victims and instead offer truly life giving support through redirection of funds to crisis pregnancy centers.

Let’s do this thing, friends.  I just did.  Three steps; I did them.  Will you?

And…if I can add a step four…share this information with your friends.  Flood social media, forward e-mails, chat with your friends.  This is more than sad and horrific news, this is opportunity.  Opportunity to affect change while the frying pan is heating.  Let’s notice the heat and capitalize on the opportunity.  Let’s be apart of the conversation and share stuff that really matters.

Our voice will never be heard if we are too afraid or too busy to speak.

This may very well feel like the proverbial drop in the bucket, friends.  But you know what?  I’ve heard of miracles that began with drops in a bucket.  Don’t underestimate what drops can add up too.

One more thought on this.  It is hugely important how we approach these issues.  Many people have completely obliterated their message by their ridiculously offensive delivery.  Let’s not do that.  Let’s do this thing rationally and intelligently.  Let’s have a conversation, confident we have a right to our opinion, brave enough to speak truth, yet without damaging the message with unnecessary drama, emotion or flat out rude delivery.  Be bold, but be nice.  I’m convinced it is possible and it will make our message much more effective in the long run.

Let’s affect change bravely, friends.  Starting now.