Dr. Alan Keyes
Marysville, CA
Part 3 (Conclusion)

Once we start to remove, as a matter of course, what ought to be the deeply entrenched and engrained sense of prohibition that separates the decent heart of parenting from violence against the young, we will see, I believe, an epidemic of violence that will make the present supposed trend in child abuse seem like nothing at all.

That's why it has always amazed me, when people like Hillary Clinton come forward and pretend that they care so much about children. How can you pretend that you care about the lives of our children, when you are systematically destroying the heart of love that protects those lives? There is no way to reconcile these positions.

And so, step by step, we go further down this road. And now there appears in print, in a respectable newspaper -- what the people on the east coast say is the most respectable, but I think that is only because most of them don't read it -- a fellow telling us that . . . and what I found most telling in this article, by the way, was this line about "so, how do you provide grounds for outlawing neonaticide?" How do you provide grounds for it? Suddenly you realize that we are in a debate, about how we are going to justify telling mothers they can't kill their BORN children! And this debate was inevitable, once we told them they could kill their unborn children.

It has begun; we are engaged in that final stage. But what does it really represent? Is it just, then, a question of the deepening confusion of our morality? No, it's something else too. Because the other line I read to you from here that really needs to strike a chord is this one: "the right to life must come, the moral philosophers say, from morally significant traits." Now, I don't know what moral philosophers this guy was reading. Frankly, if that's what they say, I would call them the immoral philosophers, myself.

But I also know something else. This notion that the right to life, or any rights, come from traits -- where did they get this? Which traits? And if you happen to possess more of those traits, does that mean you have more of the rights? So something fundamental has just been utterly destroyed: the notion that in some essential way each of us, in our God-given humanity, has a claim to dignity, a claim to be respected in our human life and worth, that is the equal of every other human claim. That is gone now!

If you think through what this man said, in his words he explicitly rejects it. The great words of the American Declaration have now been utterly, explicitly rejected. And the great truth that was stated there has been openly -- openly -- rejected, for, I think, the first time I have seen in such respectable quarters. Because what did they say at the beginning of this nation's life? Did they tell us that our rights came from "morally significant traits"? No. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

They did not say that the right to life comes from your ability to be a "locus of experiences." From your propensity to "plan and savor" future projects. None of these things, none of these traits, none of these qualities -- indeed, no quality at all. Not your intelligence and not your strength, not your beauty and not your ignorance, not your weakness, not your helplessness -- NO QUALITY AT ALL is the source of your claim to basic rights. But rather, that which lies beyond the reach of all human will, that which lies beyond the scope of all human qualities, is the source of your claim to human dignity. For it comes not from any human judgment or trait whatsoever, but from the will of our Creator, God.

And that truth -- that simple, fundamental truth -- is what in fact protects each and every one of us from the arbitrary abuses of human power. And what guarantees that under any circumstance, we will have the opportunity to find that courage which is needed to resist oppression.

Because, don't you see where this sort of argument goes? Once you start saying that the right to life, or any rights, come from morally significant traits, it's a very small step to noticing that some people have more traits than others. Well, if some people have more traits than others, then they have more rights than others. The rights that the better class of people have, and that the lower classes of people don't have, those are called privileges. And we have taken this step away from the fundamental principles of liberty and representative government, back into the days of dark despotism, of rule by those who fancied, on account of their birth or other qualities, that they were born booted and spurred to ride the rest of us.

I have said for many years that this is where the abortion doctrine takes us. My friends, we have arrived. And as a people, if we do not awaken now, and understand what is at stake, and conduct this struggle for our nation's soul at every level, then we shall lose what, as a people, is the dearest thing we own -- that heritage of liberty that we are supposed to pass on to future generations.

This is what brings us here tonight. Because then you have to ask yourself: "This is all well and good, Alan. But what do we do about it? Surely you are not recommending that we just sort of sit back and take it?" No, I'm not. Nor do I think, as yet, that the time has come for any drastic action. There does come a time in human affairs, as our Founders knew, when the forces of oppression have gathered to such an extent that you better check your powder and make sure it's dry. But you know, we live in America still, and as of yet, these corrupting and corrupt ideas haven't destroyed our ability to participate in our nation's life. Little by little it is being eroded, but it has not yet been taken away.

If we are willing to get involved -- if we are willing to take the time to understand the real nature of the danger we face -- then we can make head against it. First, as we must, by doing everything within our power to fight the evil doctrine that is destroying us. We CANNOT back away from what has to be the ultimate goal of this effort: to replace the lie of Roe vs. Wade with the truth that all life, from the moment of conception IN GOD'S MIND AS CREATOR, must be respected by human beings, and not destroyed.

We must fight for that principle, and we must do so in every way, making sure that we never, in my opinion -- and I'll say this unequivocally, and I'll say it to the prejudice of every leader who happens to fall under this rubric, and I don't care. Some of you know that I am a Republican; this is a rumor that has gotten out. I have to confirm its truth. A staunch one, in fact. But I'll tell you this: where's my first allegiance? It is to no party whatsoever. It is to no pursuit of power, whatsoever.

My first allegiance must be to God, and to His truth. And any time any party departs from that, I will depart from them. It's why I told many people -- I watched this last little election week. I don't think it was an accident that this article appeared on November 2nd in the New York Times Magazine, defining a new extreme in America's consciousness. Because the old one was partial-birth abortion. The old extremists -- Mr. Clinton and Christy Todd Whitman, and people like this, who pretend that it's okay, if the little head is still in there, to suck the brains out. See, that was extremism, in my book. That was beyond the pale.

Sad to say, a whole slew of so-called "pro-life" leaders went in to support Christy Todd Whitman, and in doing so effaced that line of extremism. I don't understand that, myself. I really don't understand it. If David Duke espouses tax cuts, does that mean that we can support him? Not in my book. Because he is a racist extremist. He wishes to crush out the rights of people because of their race. Well, if it's extremist to crush out the rights of people because of their race, then surely it ought to be extremist to crush out the lives of babies because of their helplessness.

And there is a long list of people on my side of the partisan line that have now lost my allegiance utterly -- I will never follow them, will never support them. They will no longer be in my book of people I can follow. Dan Quayle; Steve Forbes; John Kasich; John Engler; Jack Kemp -- all of these people showed up at Christy Todd Whitman's behest to put their stamp of approval on extremism. And to tell us that it is okay to take babies' lives, so long as you cut our taxes.

It is not okay! I don't want your blood money! I will not take it, at the price of America's conscience! You can keep it! You can have it! I don't want it.

We have got to take a stand. And we can't let partisanship, and we can't let anything, get in the way of standing on that common ground which in fact defines our identity as Americans. There are so many things that might divide us: race and creed and background and nationality and ethnicity. We are such a motley crew as a nation. If those tangible things are all we've got, then we are not a nation at all. We have those things which cannot be felt, and yet we feel. We have those things which cannot be touched, and yet have touched us to the heart, and made us live, and even willing to die, for the sake of this nation we love. But which we love not because it is ours, but because it has stood, through all these decades, for a human hope, for human life in common truly good.

And these principles of moral right, which define us as a people -- we cannot abandon them, without destroying our identity as a people, and without withdrawing that hope which we are supposed to offer to all the world. No, see, we have to fight for that.

But there's something harder still. And it brings us right back to the reason that we're sitting together here today. Because this battle we fight right now isn't like some of the ones we've had to face in the past. The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement -- these were all things that, at some level, could be decisively dealt with on the battlefields of war, on the plains of legislative debate, on account of great speeches given from platforms, like the Lincoln-Douglas debates.

But today, on this whole business of the moral fate of our country, the question of our allegiance to the nation's moral principles isn't any longer about the allegiance that shall be shown in our Constitution, or in our legislature, or in our state governments, or in our city councils. In the form of this issue of abortion, and the right to suicide, and all this constellation of things, the question of our allegiance to our moral principles as a people has been brought home to us. And the question is being put, and must be decided, not just in our legislatures, but in our hearts; not just by what our leaders say to us from platforms, but by what we, as leaders, are willing to say in those worlds in which we lead.

The fate of this nation will be decided by what you as mothers say to your daughters; by what you as fathers say to your sons; by what you as brothers say to your sisters; by what you as husbands say to your wives; by what you say to your friends. By what you do to your neighbors, we shall decide the fate of this Republic. If we continue to go along; if we continue to be more afraid of losing their friendship, and not being popular, and not making this money, and not getting that contract, and not having these people come through the doors of our church, then we are of seeing this nation's soul corrupted by its rejection of the authority of our Creator God, then we shall surely perish as free people and as a civilized nation.

And that's something WE have got to do. It will not be done by others for us. It will not be done by leaders somewhere out there. It will be done by you, or it will not be done at all. And this is the challenge, you see? And this is why I say that you sit upon the front lines of the battle. For what you decide will decide the issue -- beginning, of course, with what you decide tonight.

I don't know why you came here. Some of you came to have a good meal, perhaps. Some of you came to hear a speech, I'm told; they tell me I gave to give one. As you can see, sometimes those expectations are disappointed. But I don't think that's why we came here today.

Whatever we thought we were doing, what we were actually doing, I deeply believe, is answering the same call of God's providence that was on the hearts of the patriots who founded this nation. And of the people who called to its conscience to end slavery, and to fight for civil rights. That was on the heart of those who responded when the shadow of evil crossed lands they did not know, and people they had never heard of, and yet they were willing to respond, even to the sacrifice of their lives, for the sake of those things they had been taught were true, and good, and right.

We face a harder challenge. We may not be called upon to die upon this or that battlefield of war, physically to sacrifice our lives. We are rather called upon in all the little decisions of the day, in all the intimate divisions of the heart, to decide whether we shall live according to those truths for which others have died; whether we shall life up life, for the sake of which others gave their lives. That's what we must decide.

And in a very special way, you gathered here tonight, you can decide it. I know that many of us are people of faith. People of faith pray a lot, because that's what we were told to do. And I believe in prayer. Do you believe in prayer? I believe in prayer. (applause) I think that God doesn't lie, and He said, he who seeks will find; he who asks will receive; he who knocks will find the door opened unto him. That's what He said.

Prayers will be answered. People are fond now of remembering that passage from the Old Testament which calls upon people to turn from their wicked ways, call upon God, and He will hear our prayers -- He will heal our land. Have you ever prayed that prayer? I have often prayed that prayer for this country. I have looked at its deep wounds. I have looked at its bleeding spirit. And I have cried out to God, "Help us, please, again, as you have helped us many times before."

And do you know something? I think He's answered the prayer. So many good-hearted people like yourselves have been upon their knees, have begged Him for His aid, and He has answered our prayers. He has, indeed.

But we miss something. You know what we're missing, what we may not see? If right now, in this community, there is a young woman caught in the dark night of confusion, induced by the moral turpitude, depravity, and seductive lies of our times; if she has found herself in the midst of a pregnancy that came because she walked a path that they said would bring her so much joy, and instead it has brought tragedy and confusion; she's trying to make up her mind, what she should do. It's a time of fear and great anguish. It's a time when many can forget, what you and I, perhaps, remember: that no matter how dark it seems, and no matter how lonely it may appear, it is never so dark the light does not reach us; and never so lonely that God is not there. But people can forget this.

Thanks to our prayers, though, right here in this same community there is a voice that could speak healing; there is a mind that could reach into that darkness and enlighten it; there is a heart that could touch that confusion, and let it know "you are never alone." There is.

But what you have got to know is that as you pray, as God answers the prayer, the prayer is yours and you are the answer. For it is your hand that could be the hand of healing. It is your voice that could be the voice of hope. It is your heart that could be the heart of love.

Somewhere in your experience, there is the insight that could touch someone right here, in this community, and turn them from the path of death into the path of life. Somewhere within your reach there is the wherewithal, there are the resources, there is the time, that will provide the winning margin that will save a baby's life, and with it a mother's soul. You can do that.

And in the process, you will not only save two precious lives; but you will take that step which of itself will save the life of your nation. For we have prayed; and you are the answer to our prayers. We have asked; and He has given . . . you, the call.

I wouldn't be here tonight, if I didn’t believe that you would answer. I frankly don't think that you would be here either. But if you go out the doors, and you've had a good meal, and you've heard a speech, and this and that and the other, and you haven't made that commitment, you haven't decided what your place will be -- then maybe you misunderstood. For we are called, in this moment of decision, to decide. We are called, in this moment of crisis, to be the ones who, through our action and will, will turn this nation from its rejection of life and mercy and God, back to its bedrock belief that He is the source of our justice, that He is the cause of our hope, that He is the great provider of that future through which we are to offer hope -- not just to ourselves and our posterity -- but to all His human race.

We think of ourselves, sometimes, as ordinary people. But in God's plan there are no ordinary people. There is only this extraordinary moment when He calls, and we decide whether we shall answer. In that decision lies our freedom. I believe that you shall use it well. For you too must wait to hear those words that we so long to hear: "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Welcome to the kingdom of your God."

God bless you.

KEYES 2000!!!!!!

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