Monday June 14, 2010
What Are We Up Against?
Editor’s Note: Kathleen Gilbert is the LifeSiteNews U.S. bureau chief. She resides near Washington D.C. She has a B.A. in classical studies from Christendom College, located in Front Royal, Virginia, from which she graduated with a near-perfect GPA, winning her the position of salutatorian of her class.
Imagine finding yourself on a mission to conduct espionage in enemy territory. You see human faces around you. None of them have a personal grudge against you; some you could even be friends with. But should they know who you are, or why you are there, they would have more than just a grudge against you. It’s not you, of course. It’s what you represent – you’re there to foil their plans, and they will do all in their power to stop you.
Sleuthing around the Women Deliver conference – a veritable new Babel of the international pro-abortion and population-control movement – as an undercover reporter with LifeSiteNews.com last week was not exactly life-threatening. But there were certainly parallels with espionage. The experience was a fascinating plunge into an enemy stronghold – an experience that exposed critical information and gave a unique venue for contemplation on our present conflict. I’d like to share with you some of the fruit of that contemplation.
The conference was, as I’ve already pointed out in my reports, a pretty lavish deal (If you’ve ever tasted Douwe Egberts coffee, which flowed by the gallon there, you’d know what I mean). The buffet dinners, featuring various international dishes expertly prepared – plus a well-stocked open bar – helped take the edge off after each exhausting, day-long marathon of breakout sessions, interviews, and speeches.
I could not help but wonder as I roamed the vast convention center, saw top celebrities up close in the center’s gorgeous ballroom, and kept up my energy with a steady stream of incomparable coffee, what it would be like if the pro-life movement were as well-funded as this. I doubt that pro-life, pro-family conferences would ever be quite as obscenely opulent, but even still, the Women Delivers conference made the vastly less attended, usually spartan meetings and operations of our own movement almost seem laughable.
The small staff at LifeSiteNews doesn’t run on Douwe Egberts (sadly). Cheap coffee in abundance will do to sustain us as we spend each long day digging deep for the information that best explains the real story: what’s behind both the culture of death and the forces that fight against it.
And while we have to squeeze every last drop out of our relatively paltry budget – one so small that some are amazed that we can continue, much less produce the volume of quality work and original investigative stories we do – we keep going on the firm conviction that our work is absolutely vital.
We also carry on with the great hope that more generous people will eventually recognize the value of this work and will lift its working finances up to a more respectable and more effective level.
One personal encounter with a pro-abortion person at the conference sticks out in my mind.
As I stood in the registration line, I began conversing with a beautiful and intelligent young woman, perhaps in her early- to mid-twenties. She told me she worked for a group that organized interfaith cooperation on a broad range of issues. Asked whether her group handled “reproductive rights,” she said they did not “yet,” admitting that it was difficult to get religious groups behind the push for abortion.
With a cool and self-assured look, she told me that she felt it was her “calling” to advance the legalized killing of the unborn. “If I can’t do it there,” she affirmed, “I’ll find another place to do it.”
Her steely determination fit right in at this conference extravaganza: it was fascinating, for a little bit, to imagine myself part of this huge movement as its leaders hashed out the path to success and repeated with admirable tenacity their vow to scrounge up even more power, usually through more money, wherever they can find it – usually from governments and the rich elite.
And it was clear that they, having been in the business long enough, took deeply to heart the absolutely critical need to keep the donations rolling, or else see all their work vanish before their eyes.
It’s unfortunate that so much depends on funding, but it’s a fact that cannot be ignored. Truth has enormous power, and yet when it comes to swaying public opinion, it’s often the side with the money to disseminate its message to the largest number of people in the most attractive or professional manner that wins. The Obama campaign certainly showed that.
We realize that, to a large extent, this will always be a David and Goliath battle. Still, I deeply hope you can see why we’re obliged to ask you, our readers, for support – particularly now, in this absolutely critical summer campaign.
Sadly, so far, that campaign is falling desperately short.
We are nearing the deadline for reaching our goal, one that is ambitious but covers only 20% of our total yearly operating costs – and have struggled to pass even the one-quarter mark of bringing in just that 20%.
If you feel you can give anything at all – $20, $15, $5 – even just spare change – please take just a moment and donate now.
Keep in mind that a big reason why we’re allowed to be the unique news agency that we are is because we rely on the donations of so many of our readers. There are very few strings attached to our work. We have the freedom to go where no one else has the time, or patience, or (perhaps most of all) zeal to go.
In short, if you think LifeSiteNews does valuable work, it’s up to you whether we’ll be able to keep doing it.
While other big media were present at the Women Deliver Conference, none of them were catching the real story. The sheer volume of communication was enormous – but only someone with an ear for the agenda of the pro-abortion, anti-family and population-control movement can distil the real story out of a slew of talking points.
I should add a special note of thanks to Samantha Singson of C-Fam whose years of experiences at such meetings helped me to further understand the implications of what took place at Women Deliver. LifeSiteNews consults extensively with leaders and professionals in order to bring you the real story.
This is what LifeSiteNews does best: even when we cover stories already dominating the mainstream media, we are dedicated to bringing to you, the reader, the storyline that reveals to you the core significance of the events. We won’t waste your time with the polished sound bites leaders want to have published.
That’s what we’re here for. Those of us in this information gathering and reporting mission are indeed, as a great Christian writer once said, in “enemy-occupied territory” and we who are in the trenches rely solely on you to sustain us.
We have a great team of 8 journalists, plus administrative and technical support staff and 2 summer students to help lighten the heavy load. It is amazing how well we all work together and how we all share the same passion for this work.
But we need your help.
If you have given already, we thank you with all our heart.
If you have not yet given, please consider taking that step. We are totally convinced that this work is worthy of your support.
Kathleen Gilbert
U.S. Bureau Chief
LifeSiteNews.com