social movements
Activists, Beware: Burnout is a Very Real Danger
by Rachel MacNair Part 2 of 2 posts responding to Ward Ricker’s essay, “Prolife – Not.” Here’s Part 1. Ward Ricker’s main point is: haven’t pro-lifers been ineffective because we’ve sent mixed messages? Mainly, we’re proclaiming an abortion to be the murder of an innocent child, and yet our behavior shows we’re not taking…
“Why Haven’t We Ended Abortion?”
by Rachel MacNair Part 1 of 2 posts responding to Ward Ricker’s essay, “Prolife – Not” Ward Ricker has been active in opposing abortion, but has recently written an essay expressing alienation from the pro-life movement. In Part 2, I’ll address that feeling of alienation more directly, but first I was challenged by his complaint…
Misogyny vs. Patriarchy
by Rachel MacNair Before I get into why I think it’s important to understand the difference between misogyny and patriarchy, I want to explain how they fit into the Consistent Life Network’s set of issues. We identified six issues of violence involving socially-tolerated killing of human beings, as listed on this banner: Each of the…
When Women Lead: The Pro-life Women’s Conference
by C.J. Williams This year’s Pro-Life Women’s Conference had a theme: WHEN WOMEN LEAD. But what might just as well have been the unspoken theme was unity, and underlying all unity is consistency. As the Consistent Life Network (CLN) set up to table in the enormous Pontchartrain Conference Center in New Orleans, we were surrounded…
Women’s History Month: Jane Addams
Jane Addams is a notable follower of the consistent life ethic (before the term was coined). We offer a lengthy book excerpt, a shorter book excerpt, and a note from the exhibits at Hull House Museum. Condensed excerpt from ProLife Feminism: Yesterday and Today, pp. 120-126 The Nonviolent Power of the Maternal Body Politic: Jane…
It’s a Wonderful Movement
Now a popular classic movie for the season, It’s a Wonderful Life shows George Bailey standing on a snow-covered bridge, ready to kill himself by jumping into the icy river below. Defining himself by his failures, at the height of his despair, he was visited by an angel who showed him what the world would have…