Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Procession of "Healing"

I must be a glutton for punishment. I keep opening e-mails from the "One News Now" organization. The latest features a story about a group who puts on something called "The Procession of Healing." I'll let them explain what this is all about:

"People who have abortions or were involved in an abortion [are] very traumatized by it and [feel it's] something they can't be forgiven for," says Jones. "So we decided to do...what we call the 'Procession of Healing,' which is a funeral procession through our downtown area. Last year we had about 300 cars going through the downtown area with black flags."

Wow! So women who have had abortions are traumatized. I have no idea whether that is true, but it's probably safe to assume that some women do have feelings of regret, or of loss, or whatever. I assume this would be a tumultuous time for someone who has had to make this extremely difficult decision. But hey, in case there are any women in town who have terminated a pregnancy but don't feel sufficiently emotionally scarred, let's parade up and down the fucking street in hearses with black flags you know, to be sure that they know that here in Knoxville, TN a lot of us are looking at them as murderers. that should help!


Event founder Aaron Jones, worship arts pastor at Trinity Chapel in Knoxville, Tennessee, explains the event further. According to Jones, in excess of 3,000 abortions take place every year in his area, and the funeral procession gives people a chance to mourn the loss of those lives. He adds that the procession also offers a time of healing for women who have had abortions.

"So we just use it as an opportunity to mourn but also to an opportunity for women...to begin closure and to begin a healing process -- and maybe for some it is closure for them," Jones suggests. "And so that's what this is all about."

You know, Aaron, maybe a lot of these women didn't really need a healing process until your morbid little procession. Do you honestly think you're helping? Can't you at least be honest? I would think a statement along the lines of "we're gonna show those baby-killin' bitches. They'll think twice before exercising choice in family planning after the shaming we're gonna throw at them!" would be a little closer to capturing the spirit of the event.

At least this kind of crap is confined to Tennessee.

The Procession of Healing will be taking place in five other cities: Minneapolis, Minnesota; Miami, Florida; Johnson City, Tennessee; Franklin, North Carolina; and Madisonville, Tennessee.

Oh, God Damn it!