by Bonnie Finnerty, Education Director
My dear Wormwood,
Your steady success tells me it is time for the next step.
Having already convinced humans that offspring can and should be avoided, due to the sacrificial demands imposed upon parents, it should be easy to convince those same humans that life inadvertently created should be destroyed. Of course, language is important here. Certain words, like baby, killing, living, and even human are to be avoided! Rather, be sure to emphasize reproductive freedom, health care, tissue and choice. Persuade both males and females that it is not only compassionate to “terminate an unplanned pregnancy”, but that those who oppose such measures are actually anti-woman.
The irony is rich, I know. We turn women against their own bodies, their own children, and convince them we are doing it for their own good. You might wonder how we could ever accomplish something so extreme. As we did with a particular race during the era of slavery, the key is de-humanization, which makes the violent removal of the little “parasite” so much more acceptable. We use words like embryo and fetus, referring to stages of development, so that the very young human seems more like an “it” than a “who”.
Remember, our first mission is to make abortion so commonplace that it is not only protected and promoted, but also paid for. All people will participate in the destruction of human life, either by active personal involvement, or passively via taxation. All will have blood on their hands.
Our subsequent mission is to make the annihilation of life within the womb such a sacred right that destruction of life outside the womb becomes equally acceptable. Afterall, wantedness is the criteria for the right to exist. Exterminating unwanted pre-born humans could only lead to exterminating unwanted born humans, especially those who place an undue burden on society’s scarce resources.
Humans have a clever phrase to describe this: slippery slope. And to our credit we have made excellent progress leading them down it.
Imagine the Enemy’s despair. His plan of human love blooming forth into new life is completely distorted, resulting in far fewer humans, deeply wounded families, and a bitterly divided society. Ingenious!
Our biggest threat, of course, are those who actually heed science and cling to the technically correct fact that human life begins at conception. Then there are those troublemakers who provide resources to support new life, thus negating the actual need to abort. And even worse are those pesky post-abortive women who speak up about their regrets, unmasking the false promises abortion offers. We must do what we can to silence them, never allowing their voices to thwart our mission.
Know how to undermine the opposition, my dear Wormwood. Don’t call them pro-life, but anti-abortion. Label them an insignificant minority of extremists. Manufacture a war against women. Accuse them of not doing enough for those who already exist. Mock how someone pro-life can value a tiny little “clump of cells” in a woman’s body when there is already so much suffering in the world. False dichotomies are our friend!
Oh Wormwood, I am thrilled with the success we have enjoyed so far. We have the so-called feminists on our side, as well as men who buy into their faux feminism, an eager press to spread our agenda, filthy rich corporations to fund it, and a gaggle of famous people to influence the masses. Who could ask for more?
The one thing to fear is that the opposition will persist through prayer, witness, education, and unrelenting advocacy for the innocent and defenseless. They will appeal to the inherent logic and compassion that the Enemy placed within each human. Having stood bravely in the face of great adversity, they have proved to be a convicted lot that should not be underestimated.
If they succeed in spreading the truth, our mission will be doomed.
Be forewarned!
Your affectionate Uncle and master of distortions,
Screwtape