It’s not an accident that one of the first events of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s calendar year focuses on the dignity of all people. Evangelicals for Life is a gathering that seeks to equip Christians to use our voices and leverage ourselves to proclaim the value of all lives—from the 7-week-old baby in the womb to the refugee in a Syrian camp to the 90-year-old Alzheimer’s patient who can’t remember her name.
But the call to stand for human dignity is not for the faint of heart, especially when the issue becomes politicized. To some, it’s egregious to advocate for the refugee on foreign soil. Fear, stereotypes, and the unknown dictate how many hearts respond to the cries of these vulnerable ones. To others, abortion is a woman’s right, making it unthinkable to proclaim that the baby in her womb has a fundamental right to life, regardless of age or stage. Self-interest or hopelessness often drive the call to consider the woman, but not the unborn child.
It takes courage to stand for life, and the ERLC has been leading the way through content, events, advocacy, and funding. One of the encouragements that bolsters our courage and keeps us moving forward is when we come face to face with like-minded individuals and organizations. This is precisely what happened when we were introduced to the incredible grassroots ministry of Stand for Life.
Stand for Life began as a social media post of a mother and her child. The picture that was shared had a beautiful filter with the word “LIFE” overlayed. What began as a mom’s proclamation of the preciousness of her child became an outpouring of stories from around the country, all extolling life as a precious gift from God with the hashtag #standforLIFE. Its popular social media accounts soon accrued more than 30,000 followers on Instagram and 42,000 followers on Facebook.
The ERLC was thrilled and humbled when Stand for Life approached us about taking the reins of this pro-life group in order to use our resources for a greater reach. This is a unique opportunity to share the stories of families who have chosen life when pushed by doctors to consider abortion; of women who opted to carry their babies to term and put them up for adoption rather than rid their bodies of a fellow human being; and of people who are laying aside their comforts in order to take care of a child in need of temporary care apart from their biological families.
You can join us in this first-of-its-kind endeavor at the ERLC. Making Stand for Life an initiative of the ERLC has enabled us to have an immediate and easy call to action in response to our other pro-life efforts. In a culture that values stories—as evident through our consumption of movies, TV shows, songs, and books—we should approach this opportunity to spread the Bible’s teaching about humans as created in God’s image through as many avenues as possible.
Online social media platforms provide access to a vast mission field. Will you help us take God’s pro-life message to as many as we can? Will you offer financial support to help us steward others’ stories of life with excellence and beauty? We’d be honored for you to join us in this new initiative as seek to glorify God by upholding his design for all the lives among us.
