Day 7: New London, Conn., Westerly & Providence, RI

New London is Bruce's birthplace and the place of Bruce & Beverly's first apartment in 1981. Situated right on the shores of the Long Island Sound, it is a curious mix of multi-family lower income families  virtually within shouting distance of million dollar beach-front properties. Bruce & Bev lived in the bottom floor of a three-family house just a block from the ocean. But on this day, their 19-year-old son Aaron leaves flyers exposing the horrors of abortion at the doors. Bruce drove three literature teams (including three Murch children) through the residential neighborhoods of New London, while the rest of the Missionaries and the rest of the Murch Family manned the signs at the busiest intersection in New London.

All was not peaceful as the natives got restless. One young man, claiming to be "pro-life" but outraged at our signs, grabbed one of them and broke it over a signpost. He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, after refusing to pay for the sign as an alternative to arrest.

Bev and other missionaries contended with neighbors at one of the busy corners, as they all came forward to decry the photos and defend "choice". It is amazing that they still try to defend it after being shown what it really is. But they do. Overall this was a good stop.  People were receptive to discussion and many folks took the literature in-hand. Missionaries at the end of the line could see people reading it in their cars as they passed. The police were a mixed bag, some quietly thanking us for being there, while one officer quipped, "you guys are just extremists that have pushed the limits of the First Amendment too far".

Westerly, Rhode Island

Westerly was an interesting stop. It is the gateway to the Rhode Island beaches, and borders Pawcatuck, Connecticut.  It is another mix of affluence and lower middle class. The Chief of Police introduced himself to Bruce and was on the scene for the entire event. He expressed thanks for being there and revealed that he is a Christian. As neighbors and even a city counselor approached him to "do something about these people", he explained (with a smile on his face) that this was our Constitutional right, and that local ordinances could not be established which would curtail or infringe upon that right.

The Police on the Pawcatuck side were not as friendly, but they put up with us, given the cooperation that was seen on the Westerly side. The two departments traditionally work closely together.

As usual, some locals came out to vociferously debate. This scene, captured in the Westerly Sun the following day, depicts Bruce in an argument with a local who thought that convicted murderers (of any sort) should not be executed, but that it was just fine to kill judicially innocent children. He had the gall to call Bruce an "inconsistent pro-lifer", because he thought that murderers should be executed by law, and innocent unborn children should be protected by law.

In an interview in the paper Bruce was asked about his children being "brainwashed", and questioned whether his small children understood anything about abortion. Here is an excerpt from the interview:

The Rev. Bruce Evan Murch had his nine children and his wife with him Monday. His 11-year- old son Jesse was holding a poster portraying a dead fetus.

Murch said he has been accused many times of brainwashing his children, but said he is just teaching his kids at an early age what to stand for. Murch said his 19-year-old son has been hitting the streets with him since he was 6.

"My two littlest kids, my four- and five-year-old know the difference between a live baby and a dead one," Murch said. "They want to be alive. They are not stupid."

As we packed up to leave, these two girls came out in a "counter-protest" calling our pictures "filth" and cursing and screaming. They came from school of "hair design" up the road. The newspaper in their report made it seem like this was a major counter-protest involving a good number of people that lasted the duration of our visit. In fact, these two showed up with their home-made sign on a side-street as we were making our way back to our vehicles.

In spite of the reactions of the crowd or the police, which changed from city to city, the media was consistent. They distorted, exaggerated and outright lied in virtually every article that was written. But we didn't really expect any more than that from them...did we?

Providence, Rhode Island

Today was a hot news day in Providence. The Mayor, Buddy Cianci, had just been found guilty of fraud and racketeering. In his 20+ years as Mayor of the city, it had been openly known that he was corrupt and of his ties with organized crime, but as one local said, "he may be a crook, but he's OUR crook". This is one twisted town.  Interestingly, Mayor Cianci and Bruce now have something in common: they have both been convicted as "racketeers" under the RICO law. What's wrong with this picture?

Providence regularly uses it's mounted police for traffic duty, and we weren't helping the traffic situation. That was of course, good for us, as folks were stopped for long lights and our literature crew had time to hand them all flyers. Bruce had some of the Murches stationed on a brick island in the middle of the intersection, right across from the screaming lesbians on the opposite sidewalk. Two of these "women" were recognized as being in Burlington, Vermont a few days earlier, over 250 miles away.

At left, Elijah Murch waves the standard of George Washington. It depicts an evergreen tree with the motto: "An Appeal to Heaven". At right, mocking, cursing lesbians spew filthy language and chant slogans; you know, the same ones you've been hearing for years: "Pro-life, that's a lie, you don't care if women die" and their old stand-by: "not the church, not the state, women must decide their fate". When 86-year-old pro-lifer Francis Sullivan, a local resident and long-time friend of Bruce's, went to speak to them, they cursed and mocked him. 

But Francis has a thick skin after years of pro-life action. He was arrested and put in jail many times during the late 80's and early 90's doing sit-ins with Bruce and others at abortion clinic doorways to try to save the unborn. He'll be find. But as  for the lesbians, as the scripture says "The wicked shall be turned into hell."

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