He said it: Pastor Bob Mears on the pro-life movement

Before his death in 2002, Pastor Bob Mears of Laconia was a fixture at New Hampshire’s annual March for Life. He usually spoke at the memorial service held the morning of each march, marking the site where the remains of aborted children were once found dumped in the trash. A committed Christian, powerfully pro-life, the pastors’s words from 1996 are as timely as ever.

Pastor Robert Mears, 1996. (New Hampshire Right to Life photo)

The real pro-life movement is nonviolent. It doesn’t depend on guns, whether they are wielded by vigilantes or police. Jesus has called us to take up our cross, not a sword or a gun. The only weapons Jesus has given us are the weapons He Himself used, the truth and love of God.  

Scripture tells us not to return evil for evil, but to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, pray for those who injure and insult us. We can suffer for the truth, and many in the pro-life movement have. Some of us will have to die for the truth. But we cannot kill for the truth.

This is the pro-life movement. It is a witnessing community, a caring community, a nonviolent community. It is the movement within which those of us who were too young for the civil rights movement learned some of the principles of nonviolent direct action.

It is speaking the truth to women who are facing threatening pregnancies. It is telling the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins to those who have had an abortion and can’t handle the guilt. It is speaking the truth to those in authority, whether they want to hear it or not. It is exposing falsehood, speaking up on behalf of those who can’t speak for themselves, and sacrificing to help people in need, whether big or little, young or old.