A Bit More on Operation Rescue

I was not surprized to get a couple of responses on the ongoing battle between Randall Terry & Operation Rescue. 1 was a private e-mail. The other was a comment that I put up.

I will share part of that e-mail that is pertanent: "The reason I am writing is that your take on the Operation Rescue history is in error. Operation Rescue was founded by Randall Terry at least two years before the claim of Troy Newman. Mr. Terry has spent years appealing to Mr. Newman to change the name of his operation to anything else but Operation Rescue. He has the documentation to prove that he has the copyright to the name Operation Rescue. It was only with necessity to clear up this mess caused by the intransigence of Newman that he has brought suit against him. When I first wanted to bring in speakers to defend the Faith against the pro-abortion politicians, several elections ago, I looked to Randall Terry and Fr. Pavone. Priests for Life was too busy, but Mr. Terry came through at two venues for me. At that time I had never heard of Troy Newman. The name Randall Terry was synonymous with Operation Rescue.

Mr. Terry has paid a dear price for his activism, including an attempt to use the RICO law, intended for organized crime, to prosecute him for protesting on a public sidewalk. He and his supporters have been arrested, at the insistence of the Catholic bishop, and jailed for distributing flyers quoting the doctrine of the Church on autos parked in cathedral parking lots! Both Operations Rescue were at the Democrat National Convention in Denver last August. It was Mr. Terry's group that were arrested and held some hours by the police before they were released. I suspect Bishop Chaput may have been instrumental in their early release. Fundraising to carry on these activities is never easy and it is to the advantage of neither Mr. Terry nor Mr. Newman to continue this standoff."

Also here is a link to the article that was recommended in the comment: Operation Rescue Founder, Randall Terry, Exonerated by Catholic Priest, Clergy and...

While there is a lot I will leave up to you to decide, I do have a couple comments to add.

1st of all I was arround when Operation Rescue got off the ground. That quote I openned with from Proverbs was specifocly used because that is the Scripture Randall Terry used to explain his starting the group. I also have great respect for his use of civil disobedience. He also has suffered a great deal personally & financially because of what he has done in the fight to end abortion.

I also remember when he stepped down as head of Operation Rescue. It was made clear at the time that he was turning it over to others that it would stay Operation Rescue. To me that means he gave up all personal claims to the name. The name belongs to the organization.

I don't know where the truth entirely lies. There are things on both sides that do raise some questions. But I pray that it is resolved in a truly Christian manner. Operation Rescue has done a lot of good esp lately in Kansas, So has Randall Terry. & since his conversion to Catholicism, he has done much to hold the Catholic Bishops' feet to the fire. I know that some of his actions are still controversial. That is OK. The Pro-life movement needs to challenge people. & as I have seen here in DBQ, people don't always want to be challenged, so they will try & silence the messenger.

I thank those who commented. It brought out some things I wasn't aware of. I pray that people won't be scndalized by the problem. Rather, remember, we are all human. I have seen several disagreements over the years on methods & direction between the various leaders. That is OK. But, regardless of disagreements on methods or direction or regardless of the wrongs done by individuals, real or imagined, that should never stop people from the work of putting an end to abortion. Satan would like us to get caught up in fighting one another. Then we are no threat to him & his work building the "culture of death". With God's help we can solve the disagreements. We can solve the problems. But we must never let the problems stop us.