White Crosses
My boy and I were riding our bikes early this morning and came across a local church that is standing up in Brandon, displaying old whitewashed wooden crosses in memory of the 748 South Dakotan children who were aborted in 2006. Just across a very narrow stretch of road on the other side of the display is a cemetery, filled not with wooden crosses, but crosses made of stone. Most are inscribed with the date that someone came into this world, then a dash that somehow represents an entire lifetime, and finally a date that they passed on. Most are decorated and adorned with flowers, frequented stops along life's busy highway for those left behind who choose to remember and celebrate a life once lived.
There's no real difference between the wooden crosses here or the stone crosses there, except that on one side of the road, those crosses are recognized to represent people, human beings who once lived. And on the other side of the road...they aren't. One side was granted the right to life, the other wasn't. Nothing separates them or makes them any less human.
In fact these crosses on this side of the road are an offense to some people. There's no flowers, no mourner to lovingly care for their upkeep. They are so abhorred that in recent years these little crosses have been yanked out of the ground in the night and thrown in the river. Do you wonder why it is that they strike such a tender chord, why some are so unable to stand for what those crosses stand for, why they are more inclined to tear them down and throw them away rather than see them for what they represent?
So what if we could give each whitewashed cross a face? What if we could see the child behind the symbol? Would we be so quick to dismiss them then, to throw them away if we could look into their eyes? If we could hear just one of them speak, just one audible giggle, would we stand up for them?
What if on this busy stretch of road as we zoomed to work we looked over to our amazement at 748 toddlers, 2-year-olds, unsupervised, unchaperoned, with no teacher or guardian in sight? Only inches from the street, would we be concerned for their safety? Would any of us stop to make sure one of them, so young and innocent, didn't wander into the oncoming traffic?
In 2003, the year my daughter was born, there were 819 abortions in South Dakota.
Today, she is 5 years old. She smiles, she cries, she laughs, she loves, she mothers over her new puppy, and she is an amazing speller. She eats up attention and she's an expert at Eskimo kisses. Today she's very excited because she gets to paint her toy horse in rainbow colors.
So today we see these crosses, and hundreds of choices that were made to end the life of a child, and one child who was given another choice, a right to life, just like you. In the image below, what do you see? Do you see one child or two? Of course you see that beautiful little American girl with rights, but do you see the little boy or girl that she's holding onto, that child that wasn't given the choice?
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17 Comments:
Somber. Tragic. Haunting.
Your eloquent words of sadness will replay in my mind many times in the days to come.
Each individual cross we see should sting us in our soul...each one...until it finally hurts us into action.
Neil
You captured the photos and the many unheard stories beautifully. If only more could see this world through your eyes.
Thank you for the words, pictures and the time to post this blog. As someone who gave a small amount of time to fix 50 crosses from this very set you photographed, I am ecouraged by your perspective.
WOW! POWERFUL!
Thank you for your words and pictures. I hope that this makes it around the world because your words and pictures deserve it.
You are very talented. God has given you a gift and I am so proud that you have used it in this way.
God bless you and your family!
Beth
Abortion must be safe and legal the alternative would be more horrible than what you see in these crosses. What penalty would you give to the mothers who sought an abortion and doctors who provide safe care if it is not legal?
To 'Anonymous'...
I have family who have experienced abortion when it was illegal and unsafe, pre Roe v Wade. They will still cry today, remembering that moment so vividly. They can tell you every detail through the tears, and although it's been more than 30 years, the pain and the anguish are just as real as if it were yesterday. The truth is that it is no more or less horrible, legal or illegal. The truth is that the life of a child is still lost, and in methods no less inhumane.
So maybe we should ask these mother's who made the choice to end their child's life the question of penalty? Is 30 years of tears and heartache the right price to pay?
I honestly cannot see a more horrible picture in my mind than what I see when I look at the crosses. I see a child who was denied the chance to live. I've seen the images of what that looks like in reality, when the abortionist has finished the work. I've seen the remains of a human being that had every right to a life as full and rich as your own. I photograph newborns all the time, only days after they are born. I study them through the lens of my camera, only inches away. They look at me and they smile. They feel the warmth of the studio lights. Their cries subside the moment they hear mom's voice, because it is a familiar sound from the womb. They fall to sleep in the warmth and the security of being cradled in her arms. They are safe, and they are alive. The crosses represent children, just like the ones I photograph, but those children were instead disposed of. Their rights were completely abandoned as a choice was made on their behalf to stop their hearts from beating. I don't see a more horrible image than the truth of that reality. If you look at those crosses and you only see an opposition to your choices, then I don't think you are seeing the truth. If you are offended by those crosses, you have to ask yourself why.
You have to think of the purpose and plan God has for the mother's life? Sure the baby might not be in the plan of the parents or individual at the time but it is God's plan for that person to carry his creation, not to destroy. Life isn't always what we want but want God wants for us. Sometimes it isn't easy the things in life we go through but there
are reasons for it. Since when did the world decide to go against his will and make it okay to destroy a human life?
Thank you for posting this.
I am a vehemently pro-life college student. I grew up in Brandon and am very familiar with that church and that graveyard. When I see the graveyard, I see symbols each representing a life, a person who was loved in life and continues to be loved in memory. When I see those crosses I see symbols representing lives that were dismissed and rejected. Both sites evoke a sense of sorrow, but the image of hundreds of completely innocent babies sentenced to death by their mothers, the very people who should be most willing to save those precious lives, is overwhelmingly tragic.
As a student in Minneapolis I feel helpless to inform SD voters about 11. I am fervently praying that we will choose to end the holocaust we call abortion, and that hopefully this measure will encourage other states to do the same.
Very sad, I have seen the crosses also..but, What of rape? incest? birth defects(that will result in a short (maybe an hour) life, etc. etc. etc. You have a darling daughter, that you wanted. If your wife was violently raped (etc.etc) and left for dead, hum, lets say by a black guy, and now the government says no abortion. Would you or your church lovingly raise the child (boy)? I very much dought it. So now what, pawn the child off on the state, foster parents??? The bottom line is it should not be considered a form of birth control! But there are exceptions to all rules. Do not let the government dictate how you live your life, and tell doctors that even if that boy will die shortly after birth, YOUR WIFE WILL carry it to term, her first child. Sorry, I vote pro choice, MY choice. Ps I realize you can dis-approve this view, will you? Lets see?
The fundamental flaw in your thinking is that somehow the circumstance that brought the child into this world should be able to influence whether or not that little boy or girl should be allowed to live.
Do you not see that?
The child is innocent.
You see the crosses and you think that there is an assault on your choices.
What you fail to see is that it's the child that pays the price. It's the child that loses his or her life. It's the child that is given no choice.
You do have a choice.
You should have a choice.
That's your right.
It is not YOUR right to make that choice for the child inside.
It is not YOUR life.
It should not be YOUR decision to end that child's life.
So I'll ask again. What do you see when you look at that image.
Do you see 1 child or do you see 2?
Would you stand here today and tell me that I could end the life of my daughter, and that it's my right, as you say, MY CHOICE, to make?
Would you condone the taking of that life?
Of course not.
I'm asking you to see those crosses for exactly what they represent.
The cross in her hand, regardless of your position, WAS a child.
The cross in her hand, would be a child today, as beautiful and as innocent as my daughter, or any other.
The cross in her hand, was a child whose life was ripped away.
Daniel, you obviously place high value on ALL human life. God does too. So do I. Many don't. I believe 'annonymous' thought she was on to something with her questions ... as if in that scenario, anyone in their right mind would choose to murder that baby!? That perspective, regardless of how twisted, is all too common in a world where "self" is often at the center. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I would not only choose life for the innocent child, I would forgive the poor man that is in desperate need of a Savior. Not because I'm something special, but because Christ IS. I just pray that all who have seen Daniel's post and all who will see it catch at least a glimpse of truth, hope and redemption available to all of us when we choose life, both here and eternally.
All children are precious. I personally would never have an abortion. But I don't feel that it is my right to tell other women what they can or cannot do with their bodies. Children are a gift from God, but not all people that end up pregnant unintentionally are going to raise a child in a way that would be honorable to God. Not all children are lucky enough to grow up in good, loving homes. I've seen that hate and rage of a child who was born into a home where they were unwanted and neglected... the results are devasting. Each woman knows the decision that is best for herself... let that decision remain open to her.
It is not your right to tell a woman what to do with her body. I absolutely agree. But it is not her body we're talking about. It's an entirely separate human being. The child inside has his or her own mind, own heartbeat, own life. This is not the mother's body. If it were just the mother's body, then killing the child inside would also kill the mother. It does not.
Not all children are loved. Not all children are nurtured. Not all children are wanted. Obviously.
That doesn't give us the right to prematurely end their lives because life might not go so well as we'd hope for them.
Do you know the future? Can you see tomorrow? I only know One who can.
Take away everything that I have today, every beautiful and loving thing. Take away anything I cherish, and I won't turn and tell you that you should have just killed me before I left the womb. I have lived. I have received this gift of life. It was my right, and I wouldn't change a minute. You take the right of that child, who in just a few short years could have an intelligent conversation with you about life, and you throw it away, before they are given a chance to speak. The thin layer between the womb and your eyes doesn't change the fact that the child inside is alive with a beating heart. It's not your right to kill that child just because you can't see him or her. It's foolish to assume that because the child is out of sight, we can simply put them out of mind, and take away their life.
A friend of mine works in a Sioux Falls hospital where a 9 year old recently gave birth. NINE YEARS OLD. I don't know exactly, but would have to assume the pregnancy was the end result of incest or rape. Do you really feel that the law should be able to force a NINE YEAR OLD little girl, who has already lost her innocence because of some horrible act, be forced to give birth to that child?
First go back and read what the ban stands for. In cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother, the ban is not enforced. Those exceptions have been included at the request of the voters.
It's easy to look at the basic information that you've provided for shock value alone, but if your information is correct, the fact stands that a nine year-old chose to give birth and carry a baby to term. Are you complaining that she decided to carry the baby to term, or would you prefer that her choice be removed and she be forced to abort because of her age? Today, the ban isn't in effect, and this was something the family went forward with. Had the issue been a result of rape or incest, or had the girl's life been in danger because of her age, the ban would not be enforced.
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