Big Smiles in Empty Suits
5 Aug 2005
In 1971, a United States Senator explained his opposition to abortion in a letter to a constituent. In the letter the senator wrote, “While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized—the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.” The senator went on to add, “I share the confidence of those who feel that America is working to care for its unwanted as well as wanted children, protecting particularly those who cannot protect themselves. I also share the opinion of those who do not accept abortion as a response to our society’s problems…When history looks back to this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to…fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.”
Who was this ardent past champion of the pro-life cause? It was none other than liberalism’s present darling, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. Like Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, Dennis Kucinich, Jessie Jackson, and a host of other liberal icons, Senator Kennedy had no problem switching his political stripes from pro-life to pro-choice in order to further his political fortunes. Men like these, who readily disavow the unborn child’s right to life in order to improve their poll numbers, are what I call “hollow men.” Though they profess to be filled with virtue and values, on the inside they are void of any such thing. They’re not motivated by deep-rooted moral and religious convictions, but only by political expediency, which is proven by the relative ease with which their “heartfelt convictions” are changed in accordance with the changing winds of public opinion polls.
My problem with hollow men is not so much that I disagree with their beliefs, but that I find them to have no real beliefs at all. They are “make believers.” Furthermore, by painting up real believers as extremists, hatemongers, and bigots, they appear determined to force the rest of us into the ranks of make believers as well. God forbid, however, that we should acquiesce and become like them, big smiles in empty suits.
Don Walton
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