Last year, Jan 18th, there was an amazing event in downtown Portland which I attended (the image to the left is not it, more on that in a bit). The event was the 50 million lost event, in which 7000+ people, young and old, of all faiths, gathered in Pioneer Courthouse Square to stand in solidarity for the protection of all human life.
This was the first such event I ever attended, and I went home truly amazed by the number of people present, and the peaceful, hopeful tone of the event, -- even as there were some vocal opposing voices from planned parenthood. I looked forward that evening to seeing how the local media would chose to cover the event. I am a realist, so I expected a particular slant to the coverage, however, I was stunned that the local media was breathtakingly silent. Many much smaller gatherings of people for various causes in Portland routinely receive headline coverage by the local media. It seems to me that the only possible reason for this silence was a conscious decision of the local media. I know it is not popular to say, but really, shame on them for failing to objectively cover an event in which 7000+ gather for peace and hope, to uphold the value of life, and yes to oppose the atrocity of the culture of death as a solution to 'problems'. So why would the media fail to cover such a huge gathering of decent citizens in an unbiased straightforward manner?
Because images, and the truth are tremendously powerful.
A case in point is the opening image above. In early 2007, my family and I were in RCIA on our way to being received into full communion in the Catholic Church. I will never forget the amazing images I came across from the 2007 Washington Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I was overwhelmed by the 100s of Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and Religious, the young people sitting on the floor, and the throngs of people that jammed the Basilica to capacity. I was about to become Catholic in 1 month, and these images gave me much hope, strength, and certainty that I was indeed on the right path. Here was the clear voice of truth which is so plainly lacking in our public debate. The images left me with a deep desire to be present in that Basilica and to join in prayer for a change of heart in our great nation.
The annual prayer vigil fro life will be going on in Washington again on Jan 21-22 2010. Living in Portland Oregon, I will not be able to be there (maybe someday :-)). However, this coming Sunday, I will enthusiastically join with thousands of Oregonians at the March and Rally for life in Pioneer Courthouse Square. I hope anyone reading this will prayerfully consider joining in this peaceful, prayerful event for life!
For the record, I did find one local story came out on the day of the event last January. It is truly an amazing (in a sad way) story by oregonlive, and must have taken some serious effort to ignore the peaceful diverse crowd of 7000 people in order to capture the few photos that were almost all negative, divisive, and woefully unrepresentative of the overall event. You can judge for yourself if you have the time by comparing oregonlive's coverage to actual raw images and video of the event.
Part one of 3 youtube video
Photos: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07030113.html
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