Protesting People Protesting

A few weeks ago, a 26 year old named William Carl Kapp decided to stand up for his beliefs and convictions in a very... odd way.

When Kapp passed an intersection in Iowa, he saw an elderly couple in their late seventies holding signs protesting abortion. The sign depicted a picture of the head from an aborted baby. The 26 year old pulled over, approached 77 year old Donna Holman, and grabbed her sign from her. He destroyed it until her husband walked up holding a video camera and calling 911. He said to Donna's husband and the video camera, "you can take as many pictures of me as you want, because I'm proud of what I did." They began to argue and Kapp said, "you know what that image is on there? that image is awful! Children do not understand when they see an image like that! A four year old child, how do you explain that? That's a headless baby!" The video shows Kapp calling his employer at a lawn care company, explaining how he would be delayed coming to work in the company's water truck. He told his boss that he saw something that he felt he needed to take care of, but will probably be delayed with the police.

I find this situation so interesting. Quite frankly, William Kapp's reaction shouldn't be shocking to us. He said the sign he destroyed was "awful," "horrific," and "obscene." Abortion is awful, horrific, and obscene. The point of graphic abortion signs is to show how grotesque the reality of abortion is. We should react in horror to images like these.

However, Kapp's reaction wasn't what the sign was supposed to inspire. He is being charged with stealing and destroying personal property, as he should. While it is shocking that someone would approach an elderly woman, steal something she was holding and proceed to destroy it, I find the way the Holman's reacted even more shocking. The video, posted by the Holman's, is called "Left Wing Extremist Errorist." Kapp shows no signs of being a left-wing extremist, rather he recognized the horror of abortion. He didn't use the terminology of left wing extremists--used the word "baby" instead of "fetus." At 5:52 in the video, Kapp shakes his head and asks, "Who is your God, man?" Holman's response left me speechless: "Well he's not yours. You serve the devil. You do his work."

Kapp looked stunned and didn't say anything for a few seconds. The heard thing about speaking about abortion is you never know where a person is coming from. If you say someone serves the devil for merely removing the sight of abortion from their eyes, how would they react if they had an abortion in their past? If they were responsible for an abortion? I think the pro-life movement would be so much more effective if we couple truth with love. We need to be sensitive with others. We need to display truth, but not in an abrasive, condemning way. If we come across as judgmental, they will retaliate. If our words sound violent, we should not be surprised if people tune us out or come back even more violently.

I am really saddened by this video, and I think neither person handled themselves very well. This is really challenging for me. When this happened, the Holman was angry. A stranger 50 years younger than him approached his wife, grabbed her sign, destroyed it, then repeatedly told him that he was proud of his actions. That would make anyone angry! But we are told to conduct ourselves with love even then, when it is hardest.

Everything we do to defend life will be futile without love. 1 Corinthians 13:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

What do you think the pro-life movement would look like if we conducted ourselves with the love described in 1 Corinthians?