NOTRE DAME, PART 3

George Offerman

The arrests were the centerpiece of the weekend

Many pro life organizations came for the speech, and the media was already in place, due to the arrests. I had clarification of this because there were relatives of mine who happen to be in Denmark for this weekend, and saw me getting arrested on the news over there. I had several friends record the news over the weekend, and they covered many differing news outlets, and the arrests were shown for nearly four days. Many remarked how the most vivid image of the arrests was Fr. Weslin and him being carried off by the Notre Dame police. It was very shocking to the sensibilities of the faithful, and it was this event more than anything else during the weekend that triggered the response it got.

There were many pro life groups extremely critical of the arrests and of Randall Terry, and wanted to distance themselves from this event. However, it became such a magnet for bringing legalized child killing front and center, these same groups then jumped at the chance to get involved and are taking credit for the publicity this event received that they had little to do with creating. This was done while still condemning the tactics used by Randall Terry and the Insurrecta Nex team and many of these same groups who then called Randall Terry a ‘show hog’ for garnering the majority of the attention with the arrests, are now saying they were the main reason for the extensive coverage this event received.

What these groups don’t seem to understand is that arrests take the center stage due to the unjust nature of them. Signs, although important, do not garner attention from the media because signs are used in many locations, and frankly, are not newsworthy. When people are willing to put comfort, convenience and their good names on the line for a cause, others want to know about it. And despite the fact the pro life media resents the mainstream media, the mainstream media knows what is news, and know how to exploit a story for their benefit. The mainstream media, through their actions, made the arrests the centerpiece, because they know their audience, and know this is newsworthy. Randall Terry was not a ‘show hog’ and didn’t coerce any of the MSM to follow the story, the MSM did this all on their own because they know what is newsworthy, and the arrests met that criteria. The plane and the 2 mile long sign holding chain did not.

The aftermath of the arrests

Long after the speech and commencements and after the cameras were all shut off and packed away, 88 peoples’ lives were changed in a significant and an inconvenient fashion. We were now left in limbo by Notre Dame not letting go of the charges, and not attempting to persuade the prosecutor to drop the charges. We were chastised by many in the pro life movement, who accused us of seeking attention, and the purists and legalists were all defending the nebulous ‘trespassing’ charges, while ignoring the fact pro Obama supporters freely were walking around as we were being arrested. The alumni association, the Sycamore Trust, also discovered that two very controversial groups represented by the homosexual contingency were let go and not prosecuted for the exact same reasons we were arrested.

Notre Dame outright lied about this, as well as released public statements about our motives and intentions ‘to bring about chaos and possible violence’ as their reason to continue their pursuit of charges. We, as defendants, had to remain silent as we were openly slandered by Fr. Jenkins and Notre Dame, as commenting would have jeopardized our cases. Too many of the prolifers jumped on this bandwagon, and soon the ‘what you know that ain’t so’ crowd took control of the dialogue in condemning what we did. What was and still is true about us was we went on with peaceful intent to pray the rosary on a Catholic Campus to protest an abominable act that needed to be rectified. Most were grandparents and others who had never done anything like this before, and they have been misaligned by the university, many in the pro life movement, and most of the MSM.

Thank God for many of the worker bees and the few pro life organizations that had the integrity to back us up. Lifesitenews.com immediately jumped on this by starting a petition to have the charges dropped, and received over 17,000 signatures. Many of the ND alumni also came to our aid and began to publicly denounce ND and stopped donating to the school. Tom Dixon and the Thomas More Society represented us pro bono to negotiate for us. Overall, we did get the support from those who understood the need to protest this very unjust event, and did not get hung up on the ‘legalese’ of this, which many used as an excuse to do little to nothing. Shame on them.

Peace be with you

The vast majority of the ND 88 I had contact with stated they were there out of conviction, and many were willing to go to jail if necessary. The one thing our critics will never understand about this is the level of conviction each had when going on campus and the peace of mind most reportedly had before, during and after the arrests. There is no need to explain to the critics why we did what we did. We followed the orders of the Master, and if that is not clear by now, then it never will be. I know that I was at peace about going to jail, even up to one year if necessary. This life will be over soon enough, and there will never be another chance to do what is true and what is asked of all of us by our Savior. I am grateful, in the words of Fr. Weslin that I was ‘found worthy in the Master’s eyes’ to participate in this unjust event. That’s good enough for me.

As this chapter wraps up, those I continue to keep in contact with see what we did as the right and holy thing to do. There will be more battles that will require even more of us, and Notre Dame was simply a warm up exercise. We are constantly being called by the Master to reach beyond what we think we are capable of, and our only job is to respond in the positive: “Here I am lord, send me Lord”. What is next is more important than what was, and as far as I’m concerned, the ND 88 is finished. We may have a reunion some day, but we already lost one of our members, and some of the 88 have already declared they have no interest in attending any reunion.

Our prayer is that our efforts were not in vain, that they conveyed meaning, and started a process in which the Christian community was given a clear wake up call to get off the couches and kitchens across this great nation, and do something about the legalized child killing fields that are so prevalent. We will soon see if the ND 88 had this effect, and if so, real change will sweep this country and we will right a very evil wrong in our history, and thereby save ourselves and this country from judgment.

NOTRE DAME, PART 2

George Offerman

Why me Lord? Pick on someone else.

My wife had been back and forth from South Bend, assisting the Insurrecta Nex team and was in charge of media relations while I was back in Virginia holding down the fort. Randall called me shortly after his arrest and informed me that things were beginning to heat up at Notre Dame, and he and the team came up with another strategy to put more pressure on Fr. Jenkins, Obama, and Notre Dame to rescind the invitation to speak. It appeared with the initial arrests, that Fr. Jenkins was making a very clear statement that he intended to make this even happen; despite the fact it violated clear tenets of the Catholic faith, as well as the fact that Bishop D’Arcy had asked Notre Dame to rescind the invitation. If Fr. Jenkins was going to dig in his heels, so would we.

Randall Terry’s strategy was to send waves of people onto the campus with nothing other than rosaries to pray, and with very clear instructions to be peaceful and nonviolent. Because this strategy had not been used before, Randall was unsure whether arrests would happen, but one would have to be prepared to be arrested and to possibly sit in jail for at least a weekend. Since Randall knew I was coming back with my wife to south Bend for the weekend, he had asked me if I would be willing to be arrested. I told him I would think about it, but inside I dismissed this as foolishness and at that moment, had absolutely no intention of doing nothing other than protesting outside the gates. What I did not understand at the time was that someone with greater authority than me, had other plans.

The servant is no greater than the master.

God speaks to us in our own unique ways. God speaks to me in two ways I have readily identified: quietly when I am willing to listen, and with a 2 x 4 when I’m not. This was one of those 2 x 4 ‘moments’ and I have to admit that I put up a real good fight. The conviction came over me in such a way that the best I can say is that “I can’t not do it”. I could find no valid reason to not proceed on, and kept running into scripture verses that mandated me to act on what I knew was the truth. If Jesus found it good enough to get arrested under false charges, who am I to make any statement about how ‘unfair’ it is?

This process took several days, and my mind was not at peace until I made the decision to proceed onto south Bend, and participate in this protest to its fullest extent. However, I did not inform Randall of my decision, thinking he would encourage me to stay in jail for the weekend, if being arrested was the final outcome. It was then decided we would set out for South Bend on May 13 and I would be joining the first wave of prayer warriors to enter the campus on May 15th. Prior to going to our lodging, I asked my wife to drive by St. Joseph’s county jail to see what my possible ‘weekend home’ looked like. Even at this time, I was still hoping we would be left alone to pray and would not end up in jail, but also remembering rather clearly that I was willing to do the Lord’s bidding on this matter.

Arrested for praying.

That morning, there was a large gathering at the Francis Street house which served as the residential headquarters for this event. There were about 30 + people willing to enter the campus and risking arrests. The previous Friday, Dr. Alan Keyes and 17 others had entered the campus pushing baby carriages with dolls, and were arrested fairly quickly, and it was likely our fate would be the same. After getting into formation, we walked the 3 blocks to one of the main entrances to the campus, and could see the campus police waiting for us. There were also a myriad of pro Obama protestors waiting as well. After a quick prayer in front of the gate we proceeded in. We did not get much further than about 50 yards in when the police confronted us and ordered us to leave. (However, the pro Obama counter protestors were left alone) Dr. Keyes was the first arrested then the rest of us were eventually taken into custody. Fr. Norman Weslin was one of the last to be arrested on that day, and decided to go limp. It took 5 officers to get him to a separate van, and once they had Fr. Weslin squared away, we were off to St. Joseph’s county jail. In all, 22 of us were arrested that Friday, and 10 of us stayed in Jail overnight.

There were two other waves of arrests that weekend, 19 on Saturday which included Norma McCorvey and Fr Weslin again, and 27 arrests on Sunday, the day of the commencement speech. In total, 94 people had been arrested over the course of 3 weekends with the bulk being the weekend of the speech. The international media was all over the arrests, and many of the people arrested were approached by all sorts of media wanting to know their stories. The arrests and tactics used by the Insurrecta Nex team, coupled with the support of Dr. Monica Miller and CPLS and others made this event an international news item.

There is no question president Obama had to address the issue of abortion, knowing multiple numbers of Americans were getting arrested for speaking up for the life issue. There was no doubt that we were making a difference, despite the fact our first objective failed, in getting Obama cancelled. It raised the bar for the dialogue that Fr. Jenkins claimed to want to do by inviting Obama in the first place. Without the arrests, this event would have been lightly protested and there would have been minimal coverage of this event, as it is the case for the majority of presidential commencement speeches. However, we did not get the support of most of the pro-life movement, and many of the accusations by these groups were just starting.


To be continued

NOTRE DAME, PART 1

George Offerman

It has been nearly two years since the now infamous “ND 88” was arrested and had trespassing charges pending over our heads for that duration. Since this was an ongoing case, we had been advised by our attorney Thomas Dixon, to refrain from making direct statements or comments that may have jeopardized our case. Because this particular event and circumstances took on a life of its own and grew larger than any of us ever expected, others picked up the mantle and ran with it, and in the process, discovered more information that was very embarrassing for ND. It is in this way that many in the pro-life movement has shown support for our cause and without pressure from the various groups and influential individuals, we may have been looking at a very different outcome. As far as I am concerned, this is a very large victory for our side and it exposed the weaknesses of the Church and confronted them on their weaknesses and hypocrisy. This is my story of the events that transpired over the two months leading up to the Obama speech and honorary doctorate at Notre Dame.

It’s not my issue.

Nine of us from the Insurrecta Nex team had just returned from a very successful trip to Rome, in which we were able to meet with nine prelates and four representatives to present them with compiled information Oves Sine Pastore (sheep without a shepherd). It became apparent after this trip that we could not depend upon the American Church or most of the Bishops within the body of the USCCB to be overtly supportive of the pro-life movement (although many individual Bishops have been bold in their statements and support). Randall Terry had made suggestions while in Rome, that we ‘need a fallback position’ and it seemed at the time the soon to commence Sotomayor hearings and nomination to the Supreme Court would be this position.

Upon returning to the states, we learned that Notre Dame announced it had invited Obama to speak at it's 2009 commencements, and he had accepted. Notre Dame was also going to honor Obama with an honorary degree, and the school spun this as ‘opening dialogue’ concerning many of his ‘social issues’. Despite the fact it disgusted us, no one other than my wife Kathy thought much about doing anything other than writing letters of protest, and allowing for the local pro-life groups in the Midwest to do something about it. After all, we were focused on Sotomayor and getting the word out about her pro death positions to the country. It was not something we thought we should invest in, and it was seen as a ‘distraction’ from the stated purpose of moving forward in the soon to be supreme court hearings.

It was a couple of days later that Randall Terry had an ‘epiphany’ that it was Obama’s position, coupled with the Catholic Churches complicity in allowing this atrocity to occur that needed more urgent attention than even the Sotomayor hearings. So we gathered as a team, and it was decided that Randall and his family would re locate to South Bend for the next two months and begin a ‘boots on the ground’ campaign to have Obama cancelled from Notre Dame.

At that time, there was little commentary written about this atrocity, and no other groups were present at South Bend, and no other groups demonstrated any interest in pursuing this as an issue equiring their persence there. With a donated office, and two homes rented, the Terry’s and several members of the Insurrecta Nex made South Bend their home. And for the next two months, these vigilant warriors made noise that began to attract a great deal of media, both positive as well as negative. Many groups in the pro-life movement were negative about this effort, and were highly critical of tactics used and were convinced this was the wrong move to make. (Many of these groups ultimately showed up on the weekend of the 17th, and have been taking credit for the publicity and exposure to the media of these efforts).

As the efforts at South Bend began to bear fruits, it began to attract the attention of a much wider swath of the pro-life movement, and people of stature began to commit to this effort. Joan Andrews Bell, a well-known warrior from days gone by committed to the cause. Norma McCorvey, of Jane Doe fame, Fr. Norman Weslin, founder of the Lambs of Christ, Dr. Monica Miller of the Citizens for a Pro Life Society, Jack Ames of Defend Life, Missy Smith of WAKEUP, and eventually Alan Keyes joined in on the efforts.

The arrests start

Randall Terry, along with other protestors, entered the Notre Dame campus on Friday, May 1st with baby carriages filled with bloody plastic fetuses. While Randall was arrested fairly quickly, Diane Roccogrande nearly made it to the administrative building that houses Fr. Jenkins’s office. These arrests lead to a step up in tactics and ultimately set the stage for confrontation with Notre Dame. Had Fr. Jenkins let this effort play itself out instead of ordering the arrests, it may have been likely that little attention would have been paid, and this occasion very well may have generated little interest in the media. Since Fr. Jenkins decided to use the tactic of arrests, it ultimately brought about the ‘media circus’ he was hoping to avoid, and drew attention to his very un Catholic stance by inviting the most pro-death president in the history of the United States to speak at this prestigious university.

Once it was apparent that the tactic to be used by Notre Dame would take in the future for protests would be arrests, the nature of the tactics used by the Insurrecta NEX team also changed. It became apparent that in order to make the point we were attempting to make would require significant sacrifice on the part of all those who planned on going onto the campus. The team also decided to abandon the bloody babies, and simply challenge the school by coming onto campus and praying the rosary. The team thought that Fr. Jenkins would not be so bold as to arrest peaceful prayer warriors praying the rosary on a so called Catholic Campus. But to our chagrin, we were wrong in this assertion and it thus changed the whole strategy of what we wanted to do.

To be continued.

BOOK REVIEW: "WHERE ARE OUR SHEPHERDS?"

George Offerman

This book co written by Coach Dave Daubenmire and Dr. Gregory Thompson takes a very candid view of the multiple problems our society is going through, and accurately nails the cause of the problems. This book is a hard hitting, but is a thorough and honest look at the failings of the Christian Church in doing little to nothing about the issues. It is not for the faint of heart or the lukewarm.

The book starts out with a bang, with the forward laying out the problems, the causes of them, and the dereliction of duty of the church both by not shaping the debate surrounding the problems, and its passivity in surrendering its moral authority, and punishing those with the integrity and honesty to stand up and attempt to address the problems.

The story then moves to the setting at Notre Dame, and gives an overview of the main players, their views , rhetoric and actions, and how this small band of warriors shaped and changed the debate on abortion, and effectively ‘outed’ Obama, and the pretenders who are claiming to be Christian and are in positions of power and authority. The ‘standoff’ at Notre Dame was a prime example of how to stand up to authority in a God fearing manner, as well as seeing a ‘Pharisaic” reaction from the administration, specifically FR. John Jenkins in denying the basic tenets of the faith due to inconvenience and popularity.

The book then moves onto its main theme, that of the failure of the shepherds to be in the forefront of the debate, by neglecting the basics of the Gospel, the safety of the pulpit, the desire to get along and be liked, and ultimately, the inability and reluctance to train and develop warriors to engage in this battle. The examples and stories are very specific and make the point rather clearly that on the ground leadership is absent, and that most of the Shepherds fall into the category of ‘hirelings’ not having that true spirit of loving the church, but living a life of comfort while watching the majority of the flock they are supposed to be tending, go to hell.

One is struck by these examples and stories, that both Dr. Thompson and Coach Daubenmire have ‘walked the walk’ and their ability to utilize scripture properly, gives this read a significant moral gravity that is authentic and difficult to deny. This was a book I had to read in small portions, due to the fact it lead to much contemplation, as well as some heartache when thinking about how much time I have personally wasted on what are peripheral issues, but seemed important just a few years ago.

Their insight into the fact that most shepherds are not taught how to be warriors, along with not being taught what the Bible really says was validated by my own Seminary experience. This information would have never been taught where I went to Seminary, and the idea that one should fight for the faith up to the point of death, if necessary, was never broached. Yet real children die, to the tune of 4,000 per day, and the status quo is more focused on getting along, and not offending men, than offending God.

This book not only nails the problems with our shepherds and church, but is also rich in solutions that will work. Both of these men have been active in their ministries for over 30 years, and have the ‘scars’ to back up their assertions. Any warrior, picking this book up, will be clear on this point from the get go, and like myself, feel gratified that others are out there, that are fighting the good fight, and feeling the same way as these gentlemen. It’s time for the warriors to cover the backs of other warriors, since the mainstream pro life movement will not do that.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, whether a warrior, contemplating active participation in this war, or just to understand the struggles of those willing to engage the current evil in this society. I am personally grateful I was able to spend time in jail with Dr. Thompson and the others, as it was some of the best fellowship I have ever experienced in my life. I would encouraged those who may not yet be ready for the heavy fighting, to read this book with an open mind, and really take away the lessons portrayed. There are not too many ‘training manuals’ out there, but this definitely is a great ‘nuts and bolts’ book, and is a must read for the warrior. Thank you, Dr. Thompson and Coach Daubenmire for writing this.



For more information on this book, and to order, go to:

www.asleepknowmore.com