What a week it has been in the political and social world. Depending on your views on different subjects parts of this week probably left you feeling devastated while others left you elated. I am still greatly concerned about the implications of parts the voting rights act being struck down. I am happy for all of the families who were able to take a huge step forward in equality this week. Even though abortion is an issue that I find myself conflicted on (more on that later) I was proud to see a woman stand for 11 hours to fight for the women in her state and I was proud to see the people in her state join with her. That is how the system is suppose to work.
My reading this week has been full of some of the most thoughtful pieces ever. However it has also contained some of the most hateful. Now, I will admit I am a sensitive person, both to my own feelings and those of others. I do not shy away from conflict but I try to respect people’s feelings in the process. I am learning how to be a peacemaker without being a people pleaser. However, I do think we need to be sensitive to the feelings of others at times and I believe most subjects can be handled without name calling or ugly comparisons.
It is one of those comparisons that I saw multiple times this week that I am just really over. Comparing people or movements that you don’t like to Hitler and the Nazis. When people do this they are insulting both the group they talking about and all of the victims of the Holocaust. Maybe everyone needs a history lesson (I’ll leave that to my history major husband) on just how Hitler and the Nazi movement worked. On just how evil they were and how they set out to torture and eliminate entire groups of people they didn’t like. I think most people would agree that Hitler was one of if not the most evil people to ever live.
I can think of nothing going on in our country this week that comes close to comparing to this horrible period in history. However, I saw it multiple times directed at two different groups. The first place I saw it was addressing the LGBT community in reaction to the Supreme Court rulings. I have to say this is the one that puzzles me the most. You might not agree with marriage equality but really you think it is equal to killing 11 million people? I don’t think so.
The second group of people that I see frequently targeted with this label are people who believe that abortion should be safe and legal. Now, I see what people are going for on this one. They want to say that allowing abortion is no different than creating our own Holocaust. They want to say that we are trying to eliminate babies that are unwanted or might not be perfect. I have never agreed with this comparison but was reminded this week how incredibly hurtful it is to one group in particular. When you compare the pro-choice movement to Hitler and The Nazis you are saying that every woman that has sat there and made that impossibly hard decision is equal to one of the most evil people to ever walk the earth. This woman for whatever reason felt that she had no other way out is she really evil? The 17 year old who was raped at a party? The mother of two other children who had to face the choice abort the baby and live to raise her other children or carry the baby to term but risk her own life? Was that a choice that was evil? The one who learned that her child would not live outside the womb? The woman in an abusive relationship who still hasn’t figured out how to leave but is scared for her very life? Are these the women the faces of evil that would seek to systematically torture and kill millions of people. I know what you are thinking, “I’m not comparing them to Hitler. I’m just comparing the movement as a whole”. Well I’m telling you now that is not what these women hear. They hear “You are evil for what you did. Your choice ranks up there with the most horrible acts our world has ever known”. A friend of mine had this leveled at her this week on Facebook in a conversation that I started and I hate the pain that know it caused her.
I am not saying that if you are committed to the pro-life movement you need to stop fighting for it. If you firmly believe that life begins at conception then it is your right to speak up and explain your beliefs and to vote for people who share them. I am just asking you to think about your choice of words. Think about what results you want when you say them. Are you trying to shame women into your movement or do you really want change hearts and minds? if it is the second that I would suggest acting in love. Getting to know the women that have made the decisions find out their hurt and pain and why they made the decisions that they did. Maybe by having these conversations we might find out things that could help other women down the road who are facing the same choice. We might even stop more abortions because we took time to love others instead of labeling them as evil.
Use My Voice 
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