The Culture of Death on the Defensive

Trevin Wax has a great list of 10 reasons why he is optimistic about the pro-life struggle against the culture of death here. (via Justin Taylor)

I think the tide may well be turning in the US against legalized abortion and that the necessary groundswell of public support for the pro-life position that would be necessary in order for a change of the law (i.e. Roe v. Wade) to do any good is now building.

Here are Wax's 10 reasons. But you really should read his explanation of each one; he points to a lot of encouraging facts and statistics, as well as stories and quotes.

10. Recent polls.
9. Abortion's treatment on television and movies
8. The Revulsion at sex-selection abortion
7. The exposure of Planned Parenthood's corruption
6. Planned Parenthood's talking points
5. Abortion as a "tragic choice"
4. Young people
3. Ultra sound technology and pregnancy support centers
2. The third wave
1. God hears

I'd just like to comment on what Wax means by the "Third Wave." By "Third Wave" he means the recent surge to the fore of Black and Hispanic church pro-life activism. The Roman Catholics constituted the first wave and the Evangelicals joined in during the 1970s as the second wave. I think Wax is correct that victory will come with Black and Hispanic leadership.

The recent (since 2008) resurgence of conservatism in the US is not something new. The conservative movement has been building its strength in the US since the 1950s and took a great leap forward in the 1980s. Since then the hold on power by the liberal governing elite has become increasingly tenuous. What we are seeing is not so much more people becoming conservative as conservative people becoming better educated, more politically savvy and more influential in the culture generally.

The left-wing 60s radicals have had a good run but they have not been able to solidify their hold on American society in the way in which their European counterparts have been able to consolidate their power in Europe. For this we can only be grateful to God because Europe is in a death spiral with demographic decline and economic stagnation mutually reinforcing one another as the culture of death predominates. The battle is far from over in the US, but the victory of cultural Marxism in the US is increasingly in doubt.

You might think that the battle of homosexual marriage is going poorly for the traditionalists even though abortion is going somewhat better for them. But on that, see the next post.