I’ve read somewhere that Randall Terry is staging a comeback in the pro-life community. I know some people love him and others think he’s a shyster. I honestly don’t know enough about him to know which is true but I do know that theatrically stabbing baby dolls and pretending to kill a little old lady while dressed as a doctor doesn’t help.
And it’s not that I’m against using humor to get serious points across as evidenced by just about anything we’ve written here in the past two years but this just seems a little low-rent and ill thought out.
But look, I know that sometimes ideas that seem great in your head just don’t work in reality and maybe that’s the case here. But this little stunt seems less aimed at actually changing people’s minds than it seems aimed at getting picked up by the media.
I’m interested in what you guys think.
HT Jill Stanek
August 31, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Randall Terry is all about one thing. And that's Randall Terry. Don't be fooled by his antics. He cares about nothing but fundraising.
August 31, 2009 at 11:18 pm
That guy is a whack job. I wish people would stop pointing video cameras at him. He makes anyone else associated with fighting for the right to life look like whack jobs too.
August 31, 2009 at 11:44 pm
For some reason, this reminds me of a commercial an actress did to alert the public (as well as, I guess, victims who didn't realize they were victims–and abusers who . . . you get the point) to the reality and horrors of domestic abuse. I think it was Keira Knightley, and basically she comes home to a boyfriend who happened to see her kiss (or receive a kiss) from a fellow actor. The boyfriend then hits her, knocking her to the floor, and starts kicking her brutally over and over as the camera pans out, and we see that this is all happening on a stage. It was intended to shock, and I don't know that it accomplished anything beyond that. It was disturbing, more than anything else–but I couldn't say whether or not it was effective. I don't know anyone who has ever been a victim of abuse, though, and maybe something like this video would motivate a family member or friend to intervene and protect a victim who might otherwise end up dead. I don't know.
Frankly, if I saw someone stabbing baby dolls in public, I would probably assume he was unhinged and avoid him if possible. There are more effective ways to get the message across. I didn't even know who Randall Terry was until I was reading about the Notre Dame protests and about his walking around pushing a stroller with a "bloody" baby doll inside. Again . . . what did he really accomplish by doing that–other than getting his name in the news?
September 1, 2009 at 12:34 am
Look at all the people walking past him, except for the one guy on the right who seems to be thinking "Is he serious?"
If he can't even command attention where he is, then obviously the only attention he'll receive is the media's "LOOK! THEY'RE ALL CRAZY!" interviews. Sa-weet.
September 1, 2009 at 12:45 am
He's a detriment to the pro-life community, and every time he opens his mouth or does something stupid like this, it solidifies the pro-aborts in their ideology.
I once had an email exchange with one of his henchwomen, expressing my concern that their inflammatory and hysterical emails were doing more harm than good. I received a reply asking me if I felt better after my "little missive" and accusing me of not being very dedicated to the pro-life cause.
Before that time, I was open to Operation Rescue, would even have considered donating to them. IN that moment, I realized the entire organization is probably flawed and I wouldn't give them any of my money if they were the LAST organization around.
The couple years since have actually just born out the fact that Terry needs to step down and if Operation REscue is to survive, he needs to get out of the picture, off the camera, and have his larynx removed.
September 1, 2009 at 1:35 am
Adoro makes a good point. I've met Terry a couple times in my prolife work and even protested with him and Operation Rescue. He strikes me as obviously passionate about the cause but he comes across as fanatical and crazy and becomes the poster child for the pro-aborts as to what the typical "anti-abortion rights" person is like.
My experience with Operation Rescue and Randall Terry is that if you're not on board with their methods (when protesting, etc), then you're not really dedicated to saving the babies. I have yet to see screaming "YOU'RE A MURDERER!" at people to be effective. Now, I know O.R. does a lot of great work and has saved many babies, but from my personal experience, Terry cultivates a "you're with us or against us" attitude and it seems he's in "attack mode"; it's one thing to be on the offensive but he's fanatical in his tactics.
September 1, 2009 at 1:42 am
The problem is that everybody, from passersby to fellow protesters, are completely distracted. The focus is taken away from the message, from prayer, from the truth and it is put on the circus that is going on around them.
If I was ignorant of what was going on and happened to be walking down the street and saw that, I'd be kind of scared and wonder if the guy was on drugs; and if that's all I knew about the prolife movement, I'd never get involved even as a prolife person.
September 1, 2009 at 2:04 am
Randall Terry is unfortunately yet another example of a Catholic convert who can't seem to leave his Protestantism at home. His antics and life look much more like that of a circus tent preacher than the dignity and humility of a Catholic. God help him (and us).
September 1, 2009 at 2:29 am
And now, for something completely different.
It makes little difference who Randall Terry is, or what Randall Terry does, or where Randall Terry scratches himself when he itches, or anything else about Randall Terry. If Randall Terry didn't exist, another one just like him would rise up, and remind us all, that we haven't done enough to end the slaughter of the innocents.
When you put it that way (and I got sick of waiting for the rest of you, so I stepped in), Randall Terry is the least of our worries.
September 1, 2009 at 2:49 am
David you're wrong. I'll take Father Euteneuer over Terry anytime. There are plenty of others who remind us we need to continue this work. The difference is people like Father Tom say, "look at what we need to do" while Randall says, "Look at ME!" So, even on your little soap box there, you still fall short of the point.
September 1, 2009 at 3:04 am
"David you're wrong. I'll take Father Euteneuer over Terry… even on your little soap box there, you still fall short of the point."
Yeah, well, you MISSED my point. We still have legalized abortion in this country. We still have not changed hearts and minds. We couldn't offer an alternative to Mr Hope and Change. (Yeah, look what trying to be respectable got us with Republicans in the last twenty-some years.) All this, regardless of who we take over someone else. THAT was my point.
September 1, 2009 at 3:25 am
My wife says it depends if it is done outside a meeting with Obama pitching his program. Out of the blue, it does make pro-lifers look weird. I think she's right. But St. Francis was God's troubadour so, Randall may not be in bad company. As David noted, at least he's doing something.
September 1, 2009 at 3:26 am
Well, then you score a big "DUH!" for the day, since I believe everyone posting here knows the current state of the union as it were. Your "point" is far from profound, and has nothing to do with the topic at hand, which was clearly labeled in the title of this post.
I personally don't believe there will be any viable political/legal solution until there is an upswell in the populace. This is how it has always been (i.e. slavery, women's right to vote, civil rights etc). The government seldomly comes out to mandate for the public good, but prefers status quo due to the lobbyists and special interests. So, unless there is a groundswell and grass-roots effort to change morality and understanding of just what is a human life, there will be no change. THIS is why we need organizations such as the ones being mentioned here; to change public opinion on a massive scale. The question is are people like Randall Terry effective in doing this or not? Do you understand now?
September 1, 2009 at 3:42 am
"The question is are people like Randall Terry effective in doing this or not? Do you understand now?"
You know, it's hard to be taken seriously in an argument when you're labeled "anonymous." And since we still have legalized abortion in this country, it's safe to say that nobody's been "effective" just yet. That's what I understand.
I will concede, though, that people like Father Euteneuer are easier to be around than people like Randall Terry. If that's your gauge of success… well, you sure showed me, didn't ya now?
Then again, if your gauge of success is whether we as a nation have outlawed abortion, then we'd be in agreement. Our failure is the wind, guys like Randall Terry are the whirlwind.
September 1, 2009 at 4:37 am
he sure knows how to turn pro life into a circus–he is self promoting
first and foremost.
September 1, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Randall Terry's life and leadership lacks integrity. He did not lift up the cross and remain married to his first wife. He married his much younger second wife quite hastily before an annulment was secured all the while converting to Catholicism. I don't question his love for Our Lord nor his unyielding passion for protecting life. However, when the cross was placed in front of him (i.e. not serving his sentence after preaching for years to not compromise with the courts or breaking up your family the primary means of protecting your own children) he seems to avoid these crosses. I am not condemning him, I find carrying and embracing my crosses quite difficult and have failed at times. However, his public failures cause scandal and therefore he should out of the public domain and focus sanctifying the world with his sacrifices privately.
September 1, 2009 at 10:07 pm
So, all you critics of Randall Terry, please provide evidence that his tactics don't help the movement.
What we did at Moran's meeting inside and outside made Newsweek and Wall Street Journal declare that child killing is now in the health care debate. Before then all the "movement" was doing was sending out press releases and whining on blogs.
To preach to the world you have to get press. To get press you have to do something newsworthy. Handing out a rose, sidewalk chalking, and standing on a corner hugging everyone isn't headline news.
September 1, 2009 at 11:02 pm
What merit is there to talk and talk and talk, it's like saying, "Lord, Lord," and then, he will say, "I do not know you."
Anyone who speaks up for the unborn is a hero. Randall Terry is a man of peace because he is willing to fight with his words and theatrics for justice.
I am a simple person, but I know Terry did that 100 rosary campaign that he advertised on his website, and I know that Mary is more powerful as the mother of God than Obama in the white house and the media on the news.
If America cannot see that abortion is pouring the blood of our children on the graves of our ancestors, then we are walking ourselves hand in hand to gehenna, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
You all should encourage Terry. He is your older brother in virtue.
September 1, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Randall Terry comes from my neck of the woods. I participated in a "Rescue" and was arrested, a little over 20 years ago.
I did find Terry to be quite abrasive in personality. (I asked some question in an open meeting such as where we were going to assemble or what time we would arrive at the clinic, and he declined to answer on the grounds that he didn't know me and I might be, basically, a spy.)
However, a sweet little old man named Howard Potter, who owned the Potter's Florists building that we met in before the rescue, told the story of how Randall Terry became convicted that he had to do something about abortion, and shared this conviction as it grew with the other men in their 6 am weekly men's prayer breakfast. Howard Potter did not seem to me like a man who would be fooled by a fraud. I accepted Terry as genuine on his word.
I think Terry's first wife wanted to leave him or was at least very unhappy in the marriage because he put the movement ahead of her and their family in many ways. It wasn't just an abandon the old wife for a younger one scenario. At least that is what I understood. But I would say that it is true that his behavior caused his first marriage to fail.
Terry is an abrasive personality, or was when I encountered him. His methods of protest are often quite flamboyant. One may certainly disagree with them. But I think people are wrong who say that Terry doesn't care about the unborn or didn't care about Teri Schiavo, for instance. When he spoke about abortion to our group, I thought both his religious beliefs and his emotions on the subject were genuine.
And Howard Potter vouched for him.
Susan Peterson
September 2, 2009 at 2:51 am
A little history for any youngsters out there: The original Operation Rescue led by Randall Terry organized and promoted "rescues" or sit-ins in front of and within the killing centers. Over 40,000 arrests were made from 1986-1993. (Bet you never read that in the history books.) For all intents and purposes, this Operation Rescue no longer exists and has not existed since about 1993. (Although there are still organizations that use the Operation Rescue name, sit-ins no longer occur.) They were becoming so successful that they were killed by the U.S. Congress with the FACE act which was passed with the cooperation of the Republican Party. What had previously been a local misdemeanor became a federal felony. There were not enough people willing to go to prison for 5 or 10 years for sitting on a sidewalk.
Randall Terry's current tactics to "keep the pot boiling" involve various street theatre and other edgy demonstrations.
We definitely need to "keep the pot boiling" in some way so that society is not comfortable with killing a million babies a year. If you don't care for Terry's particular demonstrations, that is alright, but do something else that will help "keep the pot boiling".