On June 24 on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, a Catholic Group celebrated the one-year anniversary of their victory in overturning Roe v. Wade. Every week since the decision, Republican legislatures across the country have made abortion more difficult or illegal.
I joined the group protesting the rally.
During the protest, I talked to some of the people at the anti-abortion rally who came over to our protest. The first guy I talked to was a Augustinian monk who was handing out literature.
He asked why I was in favor of abortion. I told him that growing up in a Catholic town made me pro-choice before abortion was legal. I remembered the Catholic boys and their elaborate plans to seduce girls. When they were successful, the girls became sluts. And if a girl got pregnant she either had an illegal abortion or went into seclusion to have the baby and give it up for adoption.
The monk agreed it was very sad that men are supposed to be in charge of everything in life, and yet women are supposed to be responsible for male virtue.
Next I talked to two 16-year-old boys from a Catholic school who were at the rally. They asked why I was pro-abortion. I told them the same thing. Both believed that Hookup culture was the cause of abortions. They did not seem to know that married women have abortions because they don't want more children.
The taller one, Nick, asked if I did not think the country would be better if we all obeyed the Ten Commandments. I asked him if he wanted compliance to be compelled. Did he want something like Sharia Law? Who did he imagine would enforce the ten commandments. When Moses came down the mountain the commandments were supposed to be voluntary--God's people obeying God's law.
And then I could remind them that when Moses showed up, 3,000 children of Israel were hooking up around a golden calf.
When I can, I like to talk with the other side. Maybe it made some difference.
