A Small Rebel Force…

Just as pro-lifers begin to find themselves tempted to despair over the Empire of Death that is ever more quickly strangling our society comes a message of hope from the Rebel Alliance for Life:

"A seven-month pregnant woman — her belly vast — was at a supper with a friend. He, being of the family type, told her she was very lucky to be expecting a baby. He was the first person who had said such a thing, she told him.

"It’s a jarring anecdote because it so sharply puts into focus how pregnancy has become the occasion not for congratulations, but for anxious questions about childcare, leave and work. Watch how the announcement of a pregnancy among women is followed within minutes by the ‘What are you going to do?’ question. We’ve replaced the age-old anxiety around life-threatening childbirth with a new — and sometimes it appears just as vast — cargo of anxiety around who is going to care.

[…]

"The painful paradox is that while women have liberated themselves from being defined by their biology — the fate of the girl in many African and Asian societies who is not truly a woman until she has given birth — mothers have ended up relegated to the status of constant abject failure in a culture driven by consumerism and workaholism. There is no kudos in being a mum, only in being other things — such as thin, or the boss — despite being a mum. Motherhood is a form of handicap.

"The fact that we still have as many births in the UK as we do is extraordinary. Some cynics would say it’s the triumph of biology over culture — we are programmed to reproduce regardless. I prefer a more romantic notion: that it’s a form of popular rebellion by which the prevailing anti-natalist mores of a manipulative consumer capitalism are trumped by the innate understanding of millions of women (and men) of what really constitutes love and fulfilment — dependence, commitment, the pleasure of guiding enthusiasm and, above all, the privilege of nurturing innocence."

GET THE STORY.

(Nod to the reader who sent the link.)

"It’s a … popular rebellion by which the prevailing anti-natalist mores … are trumped by the innate understanding of millions of women (and men) of what really constitutes love and fulfilment."

I like that. Now I just have to find the rebel base so I can join the alliance being formed to restore the culture of life…. Oh, wait! I’ve already found it.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

15 thoughts on “A Small Rebel Force…”

  1. Well, we’re one of the shock troopers (5 months).
    This will be the third in our platoon. (I hate saying 3 when there are 4 — one other prematurely sent to our Father’s HQ at 7 months).

  2. Speaking of bases….
    “All your base are now belong to us.”
    Hehe, couldn’t resist. 🙂

  3. The last generation and this one having children have done some real damage that is scaring children from having their own children once they grow up.
    I remember as a very small kid being relatively happy. I don’t know if things were better because I was “cuter” or what. As I got older, I became all too aware of what an inconvenience I was. I remember exhausted sighs from my parents, feeling like I was a pain if I needed a ride somewhere or mentioned needing a costume for Halloween. The message was always, “Mom’s tired.” “Dad needs to sleep, be quiet”. Much time was spent in my room entertaining myself.
    All I heard about was how “hard” everything is, how tired people are. It has done irreparable damage to my ability to envision parenthood as a worthwhile thing or something I’m even capable of aspiring to. (Besides, I’m already very tired too, for medical reasons, and other medical reasons that cropped up in the last years are probably grave enough to let me off the hook.)
    That message was pounded into me and even today when I hear parents venting about how “hard” everything is, the message is reinforced.
    I grew up valuing tranquility, minding my own business, autonomy, and achievement in areas that have nothing to do with parenting.
    Maybe in the next couple of generations, society will receive an attitude adjustment, but in my generation, there seem to be quite a few lost causes.
    That’s why I say, we can probably expect another generation or two, at least, of this children=inconvenience mentality. The damage the attitude does to a kid is very real. You grow up terrified of parenthood to the point where it seems like a very unreasonable request of you, and that you simply couldn’t do it–and that’s probably true for those of us so psychologically affected.

  4. An anecdote to support the premise of the article.
    When obviously pregnant, on 2 different occasions, I was waiting in that little waiting area that sit-down restaurants have. Both times, I was standing (leaning, being hungry and tired), while others looked right at me and remained sitting (including men with more white hair than the pope). In one case, one group was called and got up from the little bench area, allowing the family of 4 to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out and take up the whole seating area. Between these attitudes and the immodest maternity clothing around these days, I have found NO respect for pregnancy/children. Abortion Culture: call your office! The new poll numbers are in!

  5. As of last Wednesday we have 6 troopers here on Earth and another two in Heaven. Peter Julian Benedict was born at 6:13 on 3/8. Mother and baby are fine and the other kids love him. They have been wanting a boy so that our one other boy can have someone to wrestle with.

  6. I will be praying for Peter Julian BENEDICT.
    Yours in Christ and his Church,
    –Fr. Stephanos, of the Order of Saint BENEDICT

  7. I hear you, Expect Another. I teach high school English, and one of the saddest things is to read the number of “futurographies” in which students write about living with their boyfriend or girlfriend for several years before marrying – “but NO KIDS!!!” (And that’s a direct quote.) I love writing, “Why not?” or “Explain” on them and then groaning as inevitably they say that kids are whiny or expensive. But often there are great stories, especially from boys, talking about how they want to be married with children (and even pick their names!). It’s usually a good indication that they’re close to their fathers.
    The whole “cost of care” is blown out of proportion. The real issue for most people is whether children will impinge on their lifestyles. I was especially saddened for a co-worker recently. About six months ago, I mentioned that my nieces and nephews were looking forward to new clothes for Christmas – they usually have hand-me-downs. “Well,” she said, “that’s what happens when you choose to have eight kids.” (She likes that word “choice”, too.) But now she would like to have more than one child, but her husband refuses. He likes the multiple cars, boats, and technological upgrades on his various toys. She’s realized a little late that having another human being is more important.

  8. I am in a platoon of six, Captain Akin. My squad leaders (mom/dad) are prepping us well for…erm…taking over the the culture, along with many other Catholic youths. Hail Christ! (salutes)

  9. Trooper #8 is on the way in our house– yee ha! And we are of the same mindset as your parents, Kosh– we’re just going to outbreed all the anti-lifers till they won’t know what hit them. 🙂

  10. The whole “cost of care” is blown out of proportion. The real issue for most people is whether children will impinge on their lifestyles.
    Exactly, Jean.
    You can raise children, clothe and feed them, and do it for less than what people think. You simply have to put your priorities in order – buying clothes from resale shops or on sale (you can get killer deals at Kohls if you look) and not buying big name brands, buying food in bulk and (again) going for the non-name brand stuff, budgeting, and working hard. The same goes for Mom & Dad.
    Unfortunately, too many people are too self-absorbed to sacrifice anything for children. I work in an office with two women who don’t have children. One tried and couldn’t, and accepted that fact, and is more open-minded about children (as she comes from a family of 8 herself). The other is an only child, married, and does not want children. Ever. She fines children absolutely horrid and a drain on her finances and freedom.
    My first reaction is to be totally glad she realizes this, if only because it means she won’t have a child she resents. My second reaction is sadness, because children are wonderful. My third reaction is fright. She’s told me repeatedly to wait until I’m “at least” 30 (I’m 23 now) to have a child. My husband is older than me (mid-30s), and would be in his 40s when we stared. But we want children, adhere to Church teaching on the matter, and can’t wait for our first to arrive. So I fear how she’ll react when I have baby #1, baby #2, baby #3…
    And how she’ll react when I tell her we’re hoping I can be a stay-at-home or part-time working mom in order to raise my children (since she’s technically my supervisor, I have to tell her).
    Children are wonderful. I don’t understand how people can feel otherwise about it.

  11. This is a really good article, especially coming from The Guardian.
    Be sure to follow the link and read the whole thing.
    I’m always encouraged when the secular world begins to catch up to Catholic doctrine. There is a parallel to abortion, with the left finally beginning to see that all is not well in Choice Land.
    Abortion hurts women.
    Any policy or theory that is truly anti-Christian is at bottom anti-human, and this is borne out daily.

  12. My third reaction is fright. She’s told me repeatedly to wait until I’m “at least” 30 (I’m 23 now) to have a child. … So I fear how she’ll react when I have baby #1, baby #2, baby #3…

    My biggest fear is that she is “proselytizing” this anti-natal attitude. Unfortunately, these seem to be the same types of people who will tell you that you are “imposing your beliefs on them” when you talk against abortion.

    And how she’ll react when I tell her we’re hoping I can be a stay-at-home or part-time working mom in order to raise my children (since she’s technically my supervisor, I have to tell her).

    My wife has done just that (had our 1st child and went back to work 3 days/wk, while staying home 2 days), and we’ve managed to make it work to everybody’s satisfaction. We have concerns that she may be passed up for opportunities that are presented to the full-timers (e.g., she was not told about a training session that the company would pay for – we’re not *sure* why, but we have our suspicions). We are also concerned about when the next child comes along if my wife will even go back to work for them at all, since daycare for 2 would be getting close to prohibitive in price. Then again, God may present a whole other opportunity that allows my wife to continue to work in her field (she is very talented, proficient, and efficient at what she does) but from home, rather than in an office.
    Pray that our culture not only turns from death to life, but that we also stop worshiping the idols of career-achievement and materialist-consumerism.
    Viva la revolution!

  13. This is an article about a pro-murder blogger who placed instructions on how to perform an abortion on her blog. She claims that this information should be available for women who want to self abort or abort at home in the event that abortion becomes illegal in the US:
    http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article351714.ece
    I went to the blog site; the comments were difficult to read; many of these praising her for looking ahead, preparing for the future, fighting for women in South Dakota — if they would just think about what they are saying….
    The thing is, her discription of the procedure could have the effect of illuminating abortion for what it is and maybe turn people from the dark side. This is why half of the critical comments come from other pro-abortion people most likely.
    I love JA.org, it is like an internet reality island.
    (just keep praying just keep praying…)

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