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Have You Made Your
Pro-Life Resolutions for 2011? Part One of Three By Dave Andrusko Good evening. I trust you had a wonderful New Year's. Part Two is a follow-up to the last post of 2010 and very much worth reading. Part Three is a reminder that you can still order copies of National Right to Life News' Special January 22 Commemorative Issue.. Over at National Right to Life News Today (www.nationalrighttolifenews.org), I offer a few words about a beautiful pro-life educational resource. Please send your comments on Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha.
I thought of that today as I read the results of a new survey from the Barna Group of 1,022 adults. Barna characterized its results as "provid[ing] a snapshot of people's personal growth priorities for 2011, when they make such commitments." Their responses were even less hopeful than those of my class. While 41% did say they will make a personal pledge, "only one out of every five (19%) is 'definitely' planning to make resolutions." This is not surprisingly given what happened last year. When asked how to describe the results of their 2010 resolutions, "only one out of four Americans (23%) who had made resolutions found those commitments resulted in 'significant, long-term change' to their behaviors or attitudes." For me, there is a real lesson for us tucked away in the report. There are no doubt many, many explanations for past failures, but perhaps none more than the KIND of resolutions this sample made. "When it comes to the types of resolutions people make, Americans not surprisingly focus on self-oriented changes. Among those planning to make resolutions, the top pledges for 2011 relate to weight, diet and health (30%); money, debt and finances (15%); personal improvement (13%); addiction (12%); job and career (5%); spiritual or church-related (5%); and educational (4%). Personal improvement responses included being a better person; giving more; having more personal or leisure time; organizing their life or home; and having a better life in general." I am not saying any of these are bad. What Barna points out, however, is the near total absorption with self. For example, "There were virtually no mentions of volunteering or serving others." "Maybe most problematic, Americans hinge their efforts at personal change by focusing almost exclusively on themselves," commented David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, "rather than realizing that lasting change often comes by serving and sacrificing for others." At the risk of sounding like I am idealizing pro-lifers, the kinds of resolutions I hear about or read in emails sent to Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today are other-oriented, to borrow a once-famous distinction. Their resolutions are hefty in a morally important sense. Although not typically put in the form of a "here's my resolution for 2011," pro-lifers are saying, "I pledge myself to…" And the breadth and depth of what they are pledging themselves to is very impressive and most heartening. Naturally, at the top of the list, is vowing to thwart any news initiatives from pro-abortion President Barack Obama and rollback anti-life programs wherever we can, such as many provisions in ObamaCare. But how do you get from here to there? There are a number of routes, which all contribute. For instance, as you will read about in the January issue of National Right to Life News, there is an unprecedented surge in activism by pro-life churches. They appreciate protecting the unborn is a core value, one that is at the heart of what they are about. Young people are flooding into the Movement, another development you will read about in the January issue. And by that I do not mean just attending the March for Life, which is a good thing to do. They are interning for NRLC, attending the NRLC Academy and Youth Summit, and then going to work for our state affiliates. Likewise, we can count on new people to joint local chapters. In pledging to help at the local level, they become the "face" of NRLC at the grassroots level. Others pledge to fight to NARAL which is systematically attacking Crisis Pregnancy Centers. If there is no helping hand to reach out to girls and women in crisis, the only result can be an increase in the number of aborted babies. Still others write to me about their personal post-abortion stories. They speak of their gratitude to those pro-lifers who reached out to them, oft times at their lowest point, and pledge to help those who assisted them to help still other women who made the tragically wrong decision to abort. You get the point. As pro-lifers enter 2011, their resolution is rock-solid--to oppose Obama's Abortion Agenda--but also tender-hearted--to heal the wounds of abortion's "second victims." If you can, send me your pro-life resolutions for 2011 at daveandrusko@gmail.com. |
Did
you make any New Year's resolutions leading up to or over the
weekend? When I inquired of a class I teach yesterday, I was
surprised by how many had "given up the ghost," as one member
put it. Too many failures = a reluctance to make still another
attempt. Same-old, same-old.