Even when we understand the dimensions of the abortion tragedy, which
kills our youngest
brothers and sisters in numbers larger than any disease, disaster, or war,
we are often afraid to
act.
We can gain courage, however, from the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke
10:25-37) On the
road from Jerusalem to Jericho, a man fell in with robbers. A priest and
a levite came by, but did
not stop to help. Despite their knowledge of the Law and Prophets, they
walked right by. Why?
One of the reasons may be that they were afraid. The road from Jerusalem
to Jericho is a steep
and dangerous road. At the time of Jesus, it had come to be known as the
"Bloody Pass."
Because of its numerous curves, it lends itself to attacks by robbers who
can easily hide not too
far from their victims. Perhaps the priests and levites who passed by that
man asked themselves,
"If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? Maybe the robbers who
attacked him are
still here. Maybe they're hiding just around the bend. This is a
dangerous road. I better keep
going."
Sometimes we ask the same question. If I speak up too loudly about the
victims of abortion, what
will happen to me? Will I face persecution, will I encounter opposition,
will I lose popularity if I get
involved in a cause like this?
Priests sometimes ask the same question. If I preach about abortion, what
will happen to me?
What will happen to my parish, my effectiveness, my image? What legal
troubles might I provoke?
Politicians sometimes ask the same question. If I say I am pro-life, what
will happen to my votes,
to my standing in the polls, to my chances in the election?
And then the Good Samaritan came along, and he reversed the question. He
didn't ask, "If I help
this man, what will happen to me?" The Good Samaritan asked, "If I do not
help this man, what
will happen to him?" And that's the question for us. If I do not address
this evil, what will happen
to the unborn? If I do not get involved, what will happen to those who are
vulnerable, to those
who are marginalized our society, those who are oppressed, those who have
no one to speak for
them?
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brought out this same lesson from this same
parable on the night
before he was assassinated. He called the people to a "dangerous
unselfishness" as he rallied
them to stand with the oppressed sanitation workers in Memphis. And in
regard to himself, he
declared that it didn't matter what happened to him; he just wanted to do
God's will.
These words of holocaust survivor Elie Weisel sum it up well: "I swore
never to be silent
whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We
must always
take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence
encourages the
tormentor, never the tormented."