The small sign in my hands read, “ABORTION MUST BE ABOLISHED! WILL YOU HELP?” The Alamo security guard, crowned with a ten-gallon cowboy hat and sporting a ringed, five-point star badge, announced that the State of Texas had taken over the property on which I stood. He demanded that I remove myself down the street and over a railing to practice free speech…or go to jail.
I was stupefied. The Alamo is hallowed ground, the place where Texans fought to the death for liberty. They courageously faced real bullets and cannon balls. But now their descendants refuse to face true words printed on plastic!
In a bizarre reenactment of Colonel Travis’s call to arms of 1836, these modern day guards of the Alamo did not invite me to cross a “line in the dirt” to stay and fight. Rather, they demanded that I cross an invisible property line to leave, to take my battle elsewhere. They would not permit me to share my free speech with other Alamo visitors who were proclaiming their support for Kansas Jayhawks, Texas Longhorns, and GAP clothing.
These days leaders are not chosen for their knowledge and wisdom (Deut. 1:13; Acts 6:3). Instead, they achieve that status by winning a popularity contest, wielding a weapon, or wearing a black dress. These tyrannical guards reminded me that we have a severe lack of leadership at every level, from local law enforcement all the way up to the governors of our states.
Standing on the corner, safely away from the danger of being arrested, I observed another problem plaguing our states. Twelve people stood in a huddle waiting to cross Alamo Street. It was like the old joke, “Why didn’t the dozen cross the road?” Because a blinking red hand told them not to. The silence as they waited was pierced by a rhythmic BOOP, BOOP, BOOP, as the red hand flashed. Why was it so quiet between the beeps? Where was all the traffic? I looked to the north and saw not a single car for two hundred yards, but I did see an orange and white barricade. I looked to the south and saw not a single motorist. The road was completely deserted, but blocks away I could make out police cars and barricades. The road was closed. Yet these dozen people continued to stand on the corner for nearly two minutes gaping at a beeping, blinking, red hand telling them to “Stay!” What an amazing phenomenon. Before me were people perfectly willing to blindly, unquestioningly follow authority, no matter how unreasonable or unjustified. (See the video below where I describe this Red Hand Syndrome.)
What is stopping us from abolishing abortion? The supreme Court is nothing more than a red hand, blinking UNCONSTITUTIONAL! UNCONSTITUTIONAL! The reason we have not abolished abortion is illustrated in these two experiences at the Alamo. Behind me were men in positions of authority, who lacked knowledge and wisdom and thus were unable to lead in the right direction. Before me were people who blindly follow unjust authority, who obey every blinking red hand and any person who claims to be a leader by virtue of sporting a lapel pin, gun, or gavel. All around us, people are either lacking knowledge or rejecting knowledge, thereby inviting judgement (Hosea 4:6).
As it did for the defenders of the Alamo when Travis drew the line in the dirt, or for the Israelites when Joshua said “Choose you this day…,” the time has come for us to choose sides and advance the cause of liberty and justice. Modern abolitionists of abortion have drawn that line and are asking magistrates to lead with wisdom, direction, and courage. They are asking the people to stand up against unjust authorities.
In states like Oklahoma, Idaho, and Ohio, more and more activists are beginning to cross the line from failed pro-life politics to abortion abolitionism. How poetic and appropriate it would be if Texas, the state that began the American abortion holocaust in 1973, were to be the state that ended it today.
LEADERS WHO TOE THE LINE SAY:
“You crossed a line!” “You are out of line!” “Get back in line!”
LEADERS WHO DRAW THE LINE SAY:
“Every man who is determined to stay here and die with me come across this line.” -Col. William Travis
“Choose you this day whom you will serve.” -Joshua (Josh. 24.15)
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” -Jesus (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34)