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Pro-Life Works: Why Saul Alinsky Matters March 20, 2010 Why Saul Alinsky Matters Barry Box Texas Right to Life Member Until the last election publicized Alinsky’s methods for community organizers, I had never heard of Saul Alinsky. David Horowitz’ Freedom Center connects the dots between Alinsky and others: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/saulalinsky2.html. Alinsky’s teachings are relevant to our Pro-Life cause because they explain how the Left views ends and means. Ann Coulter’s Godless: the Church of Liberalism further connects the dots by explaining why abortion is the Left’s holiest sacrament. I read Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals to understand its profound influence on liberals, progressives and community organizers. Back-cover quotes describe Alinsky’s influence on Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, and I have seen pictures of Obama teaching workshops on Alinsky’s method. I’ve also seen Chris Matthews on camera calling Alinsky a hero at MSNBC. In Rules for Radicals Alinsky acknowledges “the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.” Alinsky writes on pp. 24-25, The man of action views the issue of ends and means only in pragmatic and strategic terms. He has no other problem… He asks only of ends whether they are achievable and worth the cost; of means whether they will work… Life is a corrupting process… He who sacrifices the mass good for his personal conscience has a peculiar conception of ‘personal conscience’; he doesn’t care enough for people to be ‘corrupted’ by them… The means-and-ends moralists or non-doers always wind up on their ends without any means. Alinsky’s tactics openly defy the Ten Commandments! If we carefully scrutinize all government plans and legislation, we can use President Reagan’s “trust but verify” philosophy to counter Alinsky’s tactics, being shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. We must be especially vigilant with healthcare legislation. This includes bills without government-funded abortion because Alinsky taught gradual evolution through baby steps, and because President Obama opposes our Pro-Life cause. Let’s constantly beware of any use of Alinsky’s tactics because they permit lying, cheating, stealing, or worse provided they are for the “mass good”. We should regularly encourage our Pro-Life leaders and respectfully remind anti-life leaders like my Congressman Chet Edwards (D) and Senator Hutchison (R) of our Pro-Life convictions, regardless whether they label themselves conservative or liberal or subscribe to Alinsky’s tactics. Only through persistent prayer, hard work and greater awareness of our opponents’ tactics can we prevail. |
