A WORLD-KNOWN HOSTAGE SITUATION TOUCHED NASHVILLE, IL

A WORLD KNOWN HOSTAGE SITUATION TOUCHED NASHVILLE, IL

For about 25 years I was part of the Washington County Right-to-Life group in Nashville, IL. When abortion was legalized, I heard it on the car radio and thought to myself, “There will be a civil war over this. The American people won’t stand for it.” But there was only silence.

Now that it was the law, few preachers contested it. It was shocking. So, we in the Right to Life Organization made it our goal to educate people as to why killing unborn babies was wrong. It was mind-boggling that people didn’t hold all human life sacred. Our group was made up of some of the most dedicated women from various county churches and a priest.

An older gentleman, Mr. Zimmermann, sat in on one of our meetings. He was from our area and wanted to be a member of the group. A couple of weeks later we started hearing about a plane being hijacked. The persons in the plane were held hostage on the tarmac in Beirut. One of the crew members was Christian Zimmermann. As it turned out, he was the son of the man who had joined our group. He was also a minister.

He was beaten, along with a couple of men who were beaten to death. Long story short, they were held hostage for 17 days and eventually resolved the situation but not without casualties. A few weeks later, if that long, the Mr. Zimmermann that was part of our group, died. His funeral was held in the Lutheran Church in Nashville, IL. I assume that cockpit crew member, Christian Zimmermann, an engineer, I think, was there but I didn’t get to attend because of my job. It was worldwide news for a long while. And yet it touched our little town in a heartbreaking way. The father likely died from stressing over the plight of his son and we lost a much-needed member of our organization.

So, here we are, millions of aborted babies later -- more than all wars combined -- and little has changed. The men who killed several of the hostages didn't hold life sacred. As a nation and as individuals, do we? Does the size and location of these human beings not count? Though there are more preachers on board, we need all of them on board and more people praying and doing their part in educating people about this travesty of justice. I'm sure both Mr. Zimmermans would appreciate that as part of their legacy. Good can come from bad sometimes.