"REMEMBER LEPANTO!!!!!"

Simplex Vir atAmerican Rumpo put up a post, 10 Rules of Engagement to Stop Abortion. He has some excellent ideas. However, as I warned him, I am slightly rearranging them & moving #5 to number 1 & repeating it as #11 in keeping with my belief we need to start & end with prayer. His Marine Corps connection will be obvious at some points, even to an Air Force brat like me. (I've added a few notes for emphasis.)

1. Pray daily and assist at Mass, offering your prayers for the slaughtered innocents and abused women. (&, as I added in a comment, especially pray the Rosary & the Divine Mercy Chaplet. REMEMBER LEPANTO!!!!!)

2. Place a large stop abortion sign of some kind in the window of your vehicle, I have obtained one at a recent March for Life event. It is a big red stop sign placard that says "Stop Abortion Now". It is an attention getter. I have already had three people come up to me at work, two asking me aren't I afraid to have that in my window. Wear shirts, whatever so that when you are out and about you are making people think and pushing buttons. Keep it in the forefront of people's minds.
3. Do not invest any money in companies who fund or donate to charities that fund abortion services in any way directly or indirectly. This includes your 401K's, if you cannot control what your nest egg is being invested in take it out, absorb the loss, and only invest in Catholic funds. It sends a CLEAR MESSAGE. This encompasses many of our many companies in America so here are two mutual funds that are 100% Catholic and promised not to compromise Catholic beliefs with their investments.
http://www.avemariafund.com/home.htm
http://www.epiphanyfund.com/
4. Make your voice heard, if you hear people talking about abortion in any way shape of form BUTT IN. People need to know the truth and we need not be afraid to tell them. You are God's voice, work hard to inform people.
5. Those who support/promote abortion are the enemy. You cannot be their friend, you cannot play nice and associate because they are "misguided". Make no mistake abortion is evil and those who perpetrate this travesty on innocent babies and vulnerable women are to be rebuked and called out at every turn. This includes companies, write to each board member, owner, and non-profit directors who's activities are supporting abortion. Let them hear you Lima Charlie!

6. Call and/or write your representatives and senators every week, especially those that have supported abortion law. Politely inform, bash them, or mix it up. Just keep writing. Here is a site where you can find out who yours are and get their contact information.
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
7. If you Priest or Bishop is not speaking up against abortion, and publicly, attending rallies and marches. Call them to the carpet. Remember the words of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (on the right of this blog). We must make Priests and Bishops accountable.
8. If you are married have bunches of children, raise them up Catholic and teach them to fight for life. This seems simple but it is one of the most important. By being fruitful and multiplying you can change the cultural landscape very quickly.
9. Pull your children out of public schools. This is a MUST! Your children are going to be instructed counter to anything you instill in the home. The public school is not a safe place for children anymore and it will become much worse in the years ahead with the ultra-liberal secularists running the show. (I would add a caution about many "Catholic" schools as well. Not all of them are authenticly Catholic like they once were. Look very carefully before you decide to send them to one. Remember, there is always homeschooling.)
10. Do whatever you have to in order to keep your little ones out of daycares and do not hire nannies unless they are with you to help. You cannot put your child's life and values at risk with strangers. God gave that child to YOU, you must raise it and love it! (or them.)

11. Pray daily and assist at Mass, offering your prayers for the slaughtered innocents and abused women. (&, as I added in a comment, especially pray the Rosary & the Divine Mercy Chaplet. REMEMBER LEPANTO!!!!!)

Like I've said time & time again, we need to start & end with prayer.

Here is his opening explanation: "I have been thinking of ways that I can in my personal life effect a stop to abortion. At the same time I am trying to do things that I can share with the public that will allow them to also have an impact. What I have come up with is some basic rules of engagement to have the quickest effect on Abortion. These are not in order of importance:"

& here is his conclusion: "I know some of these are extreme, but the other side has been extreme for a long time while we have sat for the most part on the sidelines trying to be civil. Of course many out there have been fighting all along. The rest of us are sorry we are so late to the battle. Watch every dollar you spend and try to make certain you are not providing profits of funding to companies and charities that misuse the money to support abortion."

__________

Other battles & wars have had memorable battle cries. So why not this battle to defend life? The Mass/Divine Liturgy & the Rosary are the 2 most powerful weapons that the Lord has given Catholics in the battles we are facing. (St. Michael & the angels are another, but more on that in another post.) "REMEMBER LEPANTO!!!!!" is a reference to the Battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571. The victory was attributed to Our Lady, as a rosary procession was offered on that day in St. Peter's Square in Rome for the success of the mission of the Holy League to hold back Muslim forces from overrunning Western Europe. Since Mary under the title of Our Lady of Guadelupe has become the patroness of the Pro-Life movement, a battle cry that reminds us of the power of the Rosary seems very appropriate.

& even if, like me, you have no children, you can & must support your friends who do in their efforts.