The Importance of GAP

As many of you may have heard, Washington State University has recently experienced what many would consider to be a very controversial display in the form of graphic photos pertaining to the issue of abortion. This 40 foot tall display was brought to campus by the Center of Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) with the purpose of bringing to light what abortion does to preborn individuals. As a Christian who believes in the God-given sanctity of life, I felt compelled to at least attend the Pro Life training session they were offering on Sunday evening, and was quickly taken aback by how unexpectedly kind, loving, and thoughtful those from CBR really were. Far too often, inflammatory pictures are often coupled with inflammatory individuals. However, what I found at the training session proved otherwise. Those from CBR were instead constantly displaying the love of Christ in all their conversations and interactions with us. In fact, it was that defining trait that convinced me to be willing to associate myself with them during their display the following two days.

This display, dubbed the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) is often criticized for being too graphic – a fact I found interesting as that can only be true if one concedes to the fact that what they are seeing are actual human beings worthy of the same rights as you or I and not mere tissue or blobs of cells. In addition, they are often criticized for their seemingly flippant use of the term “genocide” in relation to the act of abortion. However, if one truly identifies as Pro Life, one then must by their very declared stance believe that life begins at conception and as such, those preborn babies in the womb are just as human as you or I. If that is indeed the case, then the mass murdering of a distinct group of individuals – in this case preborn babies – who are denied the right to human value equal to our own must be considered victims of genocide. After all, that is what the definition of genocide imparts in its wording according to the United Nations, set down in Resolution 96 in 1946 after World War Two.

So upon reaching those logical conclusions as well as witnessing the Christian love of those from CBR, there was no longer any doubt in my mind on whether or not to associate myself with them. As such, on the following morning, Monday, I spent all the time I could volunteering my help for the display, in the process getting the chance to talk with innumerable people on the issue and hand out countless brochures regarding the display taking place mere feet away. Surprisingly, several people were actually open to talking and were not – despite popular opinion as stated by those concerned by GAP’s graphic images - pushed away! The photos I had originally deemed to be too inflammatory, were the very thing prompting people to think about the issue. To consider what they were seeing with their very own eyes. To re-evaluate their position on the matter, and to even sometimes talk with us there and then on the spot. By the second day, those who had been vehemently protesting had as a general trend calmed slightly, with a more organized – but more civil – protest taking place instead to oppose our display. In fact, those very protesters were people that we had the opportunity to converse with on the issue!

As if this were not enough, in the morning of the second day I had the chance to earnestly talk with a passerby for about two full hours. He began undecided on the issue, tentatively taking the stance of what has been often called Pro Choice, (Although whose life are we often considering with this view? Certainly not that of the baby). After getting the chance to have a reasonable discussion with him for about forty five minutes as a result of the graphic photos behind me, he was mostly won over to the stance of Pro Life – with the one exception of rape. After another hour and a half, he was considering giving Christianity a chance once again. His family I learned happens to be Christian, but he had fallen away while at college. After that lengthy discussion though, he was at a point where he was willing to consider the validity of Christianity once again – an action I pray translates into a renewed commitment to God and the full acceptance of Him.

As if the events of those days were not enough, CBR left us with some fairly graphic photos on a piece of paper the size of a note card of a murdered baby a mere eleven weeks after conception. That evening (Tuesday), I simply could not put it down. I kept glancing at it, turning it over in my hands and thinking. It had grabbed my full attention, whether I wanted to admit it or not. As we so often hear, sleep allows us to process what we have seen: and for me, that was most certainly what happened. By the time I woke up the next morning, God had finally penetrated my heart on the grave seriousness of the issue and placed within me a passion for the preborn in our world today. I may have intellectually believed it beforehand, even to the extent of being willing to step out in obedience for an event like GAP, but I was not truly passionate about the issue itself. So next time you step forward in obedience, please know that God could unexpectedly grab a hold of your life, your convictions, and your passions to turn it towards whatever task He has for you. And sometimes, it is in something you would least expect.