Life Chain

This year, our church participated in Life Chain, a nationwide event where churches throughout a community line select sidewalks and prayerfully stand, holding signs that show support for the sanctity of human life. It was a very positive experience, with many vehicles honking their support as they drove by. Below are some pictures of the kids, as you can see, Josiah even got involved.

As we were standing there, I noticed two men walking up the street with a clipboard and a roll of stickers. As they came closer, I saw that they were campaign workers for Mitt Romney. They approached me saying, "Do you know that Mitt Romney is and always has been pro-life?" I replied, "No he hasn't." The guy looked shocked and said some gibberish about never signing any pro-choice legislation while serving as Governor of MA. I wasn't standing there to participate in a political debate, so I didn't reply. Anyway, I wrote the following and sent it in to our local newspaper this evening.

Dear Editor,

This afternoon, my family had the privilege of standing on West Avenue for an hour quietly showing our support for the life of the unborn. I was shocked, frustrated, and greatly disappointed when two campaign workers from the Mitt Romney for President campaign came walking down the sidewalk offering literature and stickers to the Life Chain participants. I felt this was entirely inappropriate for the following reasons:

1. The Life Chain is NOT a political event. It is a time or prayer and peaceful public witness by churches throughout the community to show our support for the sanctity of life. To cheapen this event by sending campaign workers to solicit votes is disgraceful.
2. To add insult to injury, the campaign workers were saying, "Mitt Romney is and always has been pro-life." The truth is that Gov. Romney campaigned on a pro-choice platform before becoming Governor of MA. He has recently flip-flopped his position. It appears that this is an effort to gather support from pro-lifers who may not have tuned in to the political process yet.

If the local Romney campaign has any honor and integrity, they will apologize for exploiting an event planned for the noble purpose of expressing the value of life for cheap political gain.