COLORADO, March 4, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – NFL great Ben Watson and father of five with twin boys on the way spoke this weekend of the “importance of family” and the “horror” of our abortion culture.
“Family is a gift, ordained by our creator,” said Watson, the recently retired tight end for the New Orleans Saints. “It should be cherished, not mocked; upheld, not ridiculed; held together, not torn apart.”
“The strength of our families will ensure our future, or it will condemn it,” he added.
Watson was addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gathering at Colorado Christian University.
“We are dying as a culture,” declared Watson, explaining that we are not having enough children, and that will only change “when people understand the importance of family.”
Quoting Psalm 127, Watson read:
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children in one’s youth.
How blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them …
“I love that vision of arrows. Children are like weapons,” said Watson, to the delight of the crowd.
“Children are like weapons that we pull out and shoot into the culture,” he continued. “Think about the effect that we have when we raise our children the correct way. We instill values into them. They change culture.”
Watson spoke of the “epidemic of fatherlessness” in the U.S., where one out of four children – 19 million – lives without a father.
“Many social ills would be eradicated if fathers, if men, would do what they are called to do” and “be what they are called to be.”
Abortion and sexuality
“I watched in horror as many of you did as New York legislators cheered – like they were at the Super Bowl – when the bill passed to allow [the killing of babies] up until birth,” said Watson. “I watched that in horror.”
“Sixty million have been killed since Roe v. Wade.”
“We always have to steer to the truth that life begins at conception,” and continues until natural death, explained Watson, saying, “We need to be ‘pro-whole life people.’”
Watson also talked about how lines have been blurred regarding marriage and sexuality.
“One man, one woman. That’s what [God] ordained for us,” said Watson. “We need to be people [who] steer the culture back” to God’s plan for us. “We need to be people who want to get in the driver’s seat” to do this.
Don’t be afraid to enter the public square
“Even though it’s not popular, speak to the culture about what we know is right,” continued Watson. “We don’t get anywhere as believers, as families, as mothers and fathers, as conservatives, if we don’t enter into the conversation.”
“Bind up the nation,” and “bridge the gap,” he encouraged, explaining that this starts at home, “but from there then permeates out to the public square.”
“If we don’t do what we’re called to do, our families, our neighborhoods, our culture, our world will suffer,” concluded Watson.