I love my state so much right now!  And hey, if you want a place, I’ve got one that will be for rent soon, literally just down the street from the famous Coalition for Life where Abby Johnson walked in and changed sides!  ;-)

Thanks for sharing!

And of course which is the more culturally Catholic state?

New Jersey of course.

Good job.

I’m surprised the network would air such a positive portrayal of pro-lifers. I live in Oklahoma and, while they can’t play football very well, Texans should be proud of their pro-life convictions ;)

I know where I want to live.  And it ain’t Jersey!

Trusting in God’s Wisdom

There once was a man who proclaimed he did not believe in God.  “God could never love anyone and if he existed, I would insist that he prove it to me”, he often proclaimed to friends.  “God takes lives all the time and the poor and down-trodden are first on the menu”, he would say further. Even though the man was often kind to people all throughout his life, he believed that one should live life to the fullest in every way. He also believed strongly that a woman had every right to an abortion, and if she chose to do so, it was her business only.

One day the man found himself in front of an abortion clinic watching women walk in as protestors were praying and begging the pregnant women not to go in the clinic.  A woman who was protesting began talking loudly to a young pregnant woman who was walking into the clinic. This immediately enraged the man and he began yelling at and cursing the woman who was protesting and others began to join in.

The young woman walking into the clinic became scared and upset at both the woman protesting and the man, and immediately turned and ran away from the clinic. This enraged the man and others even more and they escalated their yelling and insults toward the woman protestor. The woman protestor cried and left the scene.

Many, many years later the man was in a serious car accident and was thrown from the car. As he lay dying, many people consoled him as an ambulance rushed to the scene. A young priest who had also been called to the scene began to perform last rites. The man, although in terrible pain and very terrified, gruffly said to the priest, “Don’t waste your breath with that prayer, Father, I’m not a Catholic and even if I was, God has never gone out of his way to help me – take a good look”.

The priest gently smiled at the man and stopped saying the last rites. After a few seconds, the priest began to softly recite the Divine Chaplet of Mercy. “For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion, have Mercy on us and the whole world”, he recited over and over. The man peacefully passed into darkness.

Suddenly, a great light engulfed the man along with great love. The man was more afraid than ever as he knew he was in the presence of God. He asked what was happening and who it was that he was speaking to. He asked this because he could only see one form but felt there were others in the area as well.

“I am Jesus, Son of the Living God, and you have been born to a new life. We are here to judge your life on earth”. Immediately, as in a video, the man began to see his entire life in review.  The good and the bad.
Many times when he helped the poor, other times when he freely partook in sins of the flesh. Times when he helped the elderly, and times when he intentionally hurt other people. The life review seemed to stop as quickly as it had started and the man felt ashamed.

Quickly, however, the man recovered, and recalled what he had said to friends during his life. “What chance did I have when my creator never showed any effort to reach out to me with love?” “Why did you not even try a little to help save me from myself?”.

The Lord looked lovingly at the man and played back the life scene in front of the abortion clinic. The man was mortified as he watched himself become enraged.  He was overcome with resign and asked the Lord what happened to the woman protestor who had left the scene those many years ago.

The Lord responded, “She was called to me a few days later, she had accomplished her mission”.

“And what of the woman that decided not to have an abortion that day?”, he asked.

“She bore a healthy son and passed to me after childbirth, she had accomplished her mission”.

The man looked down and felt very sad. He slowly looked up and softly said to the Lord, “I wish I would have met her son; that I could know what he looks like and see how he turned out in life”. But, I never did, and yet you show me these images anyway.”  Lord, can you not show me one instance in my life where you went out of your way even a little bit to show the extent of your love for me”?

“You met her son at the twilight of your life”, said the Lord, “He will be joining us soon – he has accomplished his mission”. “Come, let us go to heaven”.

The man felt happy, relieved, and curious all at once, and felt compelled to ask Jesus two final questions. “Who was this woman’s son and what was his mission?” , asked the man.

“He was a simple priest who believed in God’s Mercy, and you were his mission”, responded three voices.

The entire episode contrasted Texas with New York and New Jersey on abortion, “gay” parents, interracial relationships and over-involved pageant parents. Across the board Texas people stepped in to stop the berating and taunts of shame. Some even personally witnessed to the abuser and abused as seen in the abortion-only clip. Texas cares about people, not things, not ideologies, not group power, but about people.

Signed,
A resident of the East Coast

I’ve lived my entire life in PA, but I’ve said for years, if I didn’t live here, the only place I’d seek out to live is Texas.

Matt, I’ve lived in Illinois the past nine years, but the prior 17 years I lived in Texas.  I’m interviewing for a job in the Dallas area this Friday.  I’m ready to go back.

Of course ABC had to be cheeky in the end ...“in the end the bible belt lived up to its name”  As though believing in GOD and supporting LIFE is a malediction. +JMJ

I live in Colorado Springs - a bit of the Bible belt inserted there.  It has a similar culture.  A culture that is heavily evangelical just like Texas.  Since there are over 100 national Christian organizations headquartered there, there are a lot of very serious Christians.  They are disciples.

Where the ticket attendant at the airport will say “I’ll pray for you” if you are in distress as you drive through.  Where the guy at the home store will tell you about how God healed him.  Where the waitress will giving you her testimony 5 minutes after you’ve placed your order.

Cultural Catholicism or Catholic identity is not necessarily the same as discipleship.  And you can really see the difference.

Oh, you made me cry this morning. I am so proud of the women who stepped forward in this video. The producers chose their location within the Dallas area purposefully. I wonder how it would play out in downtown Houston though, where we have that huge abortion facility on the highway right next to two universities.

Thanks for sharing this!

For the record, I’m from NJ.  In this situation, though, I would have stepped up like those Texans to try to grapple with those children for their lives, their souls and those of the unborn. YAY for those who did the same!

Does Jennifer have room for 10 more???  Hats off to Texas!

Isn’t it interesting that almost all the pro-choicers were siding with the young man? I thought being pro-choice was all about being pro-woman.

So hey East Coast, how about we engage the culture, and do all we can to make our states more like Texas? I love Texas too, but there are an awful lot of young people here on the East Coast that need us more than ever! Texas is a great model. “Be not Afraid” to be a Texan in your home state!

I lived in Texas doing travel nursing for over a year. They are wonderful and caring people and they are a majority Catholic state or close to it.

In defense of NJ and an observation on TX…You could stage that scene in different areas of TX and NJ and get a different result…for example the Memorial area of Houston is overrun with queers and the mayor of Houston is a queer!...ann richards former TX governor has a daughter named cecile ...ring any bells? (Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards)  Hate the sin…love the sinners and pray for them.

The bullying and overbearing woman who identified herself as a teacher in New Jersey and used her position of authority to impose her beliefs on uninformed minds ought to be removed from her teaching position for using it as a platform to propagandize. Had the teacher read and understood the Declaration of Independence she would be supporting Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Governor Chris Christie removed himself from a meeting with the National Education Association when it tried to bully him. My immediate family is comprised of five teachers and another who heads the Middlesex County Right to Life in New Jersey.
  Christopher Henry Smith, R-NJ leads the House of Representatives in pro-life activities and if often seen on Eternal Word Television Network. 
People who repudiate Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness forfeit their citizenship

I’m not surprised that, out of all the people who stepped in to comment on the situation, none of them were men. We’ve spent a generation telling men that they have no right to an opinion on abortion (unless they support it, of course), and many among us have come to believe it. I’m sure that there were men there who wanted to encourage the girl to keep her child, but they likely didn’t want to be chastised for daring to influence her “choice.”

I’m also not surprised that the people in New Jersey were more supportive of the boy than the girl in this case. I live in New Jersey, in a conservative county at that, and I can say that there is a pervasive liberal culture here that treats pro-lifers in general and especially pro-life men as monsters. There are many pro-lifers here in New Jersey, but we’ve been socialized to keep our mouths shut and our opinions to ourselves and that’s hard to overcome. I would like to say that I’d step in if I was presented with a similar situation to this one, but I really can’t say for sure one way or the other.

Those that didn’t see the entire episode must understand that it wasn’t just about abortion, it was about compassion for other human beings.  The same state showed people supporting homosexual lifestyle as well.  You might want to watch the whole episode before you start praising TX and bashing NJ.

I’ve often thought about moving to San Antonio or Panna Maria, TX. I wonder if my relatives in Texas are pro-life.

I was surprised that a major media outlet was so respectful. Interesting.

What if these three Texas ladies starred in “The Real Housewives of Texas” or “Texaslicious”?  Now that would be some great “reality” T.V.!

Who cares which response seems more loving? How do you know the more loving response is the wiser? The idiots giving advice are not the same people who (they think) will have to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. Who do they think they are, making a very grave emotional choice, the consequences of which they will not even have to bear, on behalf of another couple?

Of course this means that while I’m bashing others’ support for the Texas version simply by virtue of the responses seeming more ‘loving’ (whatever that means), I object to people in both TX and NJ dishing out advice like it’s nothing, although that’s a smaller matter, and of course capturing people’s reactions was the objective of this experiment anyway.

Speaking of which, (and I’m sorry if I sound ignorant because I haven’t watched the whole programme and only the video above) where is the proof that all other variables were fixed, besides the state in which the experiments were carried out? Was the female actress also crying in the NJ version? Were they speaking as loudly, were they performing the act in the same sort of place that would attract the same demographic of customers? I.e. was this is a fair experiment? Additionally, the woman quoted as saying ‘I hear you’ with regard to the issue of raising a child at the age of 16 may have been quoted out of context. I was appalled by how any nuances in her opinion which we didn’t even get to hear fully, were smoothed over by the summary ‘Not keeping the baby’. She NEVER said that. Clearly this experiment serves a more rhetorical, persuasive function than being a truly objective, logical investigation.

And anyway, what’s so surprising about the fact that people in TX are more overtly pro-life than people in NJ? What has the video actually proven?

Sorry for the rant. Just had to.

Oh, and the findings will only reflect extreme opinions because only people which such strong opinions would feel the need to go up to the couple and give them advice/pray for them/whatever. The experiment is skewed such that those who do not interfere are ignored, and so are their opinions.

This clip made me more proud than ever to be a Texan. By being concern and giving advise, these women are saving these young people from a life of regret.
The other side just wants the quick fix even if it means the life of a child. When was there ever a choice to kill your own child.
We all have the right to live. I congratulate John Quiñones and his crew for showing this sensitive and human subject, because there is an alternative to killing and it is to give live to your child.

I am in tears, this is great , the woman who prayed, God bless you

Thank you, Catholic on Tuesday. As an Eucharistic Apostle of the Divine Mercy, your Post “Trusting in God’s Wisdom” is a Prayer.  A prayer that the Eucharistic Apostolate of the Divine Mercy and the Message of Jesus Christ to St. Faustina would spread to the furthest corner of the world for people to realize we have a Loving, Caring, Compassionate and very Merciful God who desires that each soul He creates is protected, loved and permitted to live the full span of its life, He, Himself has decreed and to be united to Him at its journey’s end on this earth.  Sadly, to millions, His Son’s Sacrifice on the Cross to purchase our redemption with that ultimate Act, would be in vain due to man’s inhumanity to man. Abortion is the greatest evil and the worst abuse and despicable rejection of God’s love and His plan for Mankind

Come on down to Texas!  Plenty of room! :-)

as a woman that made the wrong “choice” at the tender age of 18, i am so very proud of these “texans” for standing up for the baby who cannot speak for themselves.  it is not part of a woman’s body.  that baby has a heartbeat at just 21 days.  he has his own “dna” separate from it’s mother.  a mother does not have 4 eyes, 4 legs etc.  the mother is carrying the baby, but it is NOT her body.  great work!

I’m not from Texas, but I love this piece. Why is abortion legal, but the poor young high school girl who has the baby and abandons it in a dumpster or some where else to die is charged with murder. It just aint right. a life is a life…...  I am pro life, but if abortion is to be an optional right to the parent. then it should be allowed until the child is 18 years old, and no longer under the decisions of the parent.  I bet some of the kids of today, would start to behave, and pay a lot more attention to the guidance of their parents. the threat of aborting them might carry more weight then grounding…  (trust me this is only a joke to emphasize the stupidity of abortion…  murder is murder)

God bless Texas!

A compelling piece of truth.  I’m from Alabama, and I don’t pretend to know what factors may have influenced the folks in New Jersey and/or the folks in Texas.  What I do know however is that the folks in Texas showed compassion and were unafraid to make themselves vulnerable in order to provide guidance to a young couple who had a difficult situation to confront.  My girlfriend and I were also 18 when this decision became personal to us; and all I can say is that we chose life at the time because of the support we had from family and friends in Alabama.  Our oldest son Daniel was and is a gift to the world; he is also a father himself now and is truly “loving” to my grandson Atticus. We must trust Christ to show us the way and must be light to those in darkness by how we live our lives - thank God for the good-hearted folks in TEXAS!!!