By Maggie DeWitte
For The Catholic Messenger
ALTOONA, Iowa — It’s time for the pro-life movement to think outside the box. That’s what Iowans for LIFE (IFL) is doing at its Oct. 24 annual fundraising banquet at Prairie Meadows Ballroom from 6-9 p.m.
Like most nonprofits, IFL has followed a staid format in past banquets, characterized by a nice meal followed by speeches. Not this year. The theme, “A Clash of Creeds,” will imagine a conversation with Margaret Sanger, Ayn Rand and St. Teresa of Kolkata moderated by G.K. Chesterton. Experience a conversation that will immerse you in profound ideas that inevitably lock horns on issues such as sexuality, poverty, welfare, contraception, God and abortion.
Each of our three “guests” is a strong woman in her own way. And Chesterton adds wit and piercing intellect to the conversation. Sanger was a prominent eugenicist, proponent of birth control and founder of Planned Parenthood. Rand wrote a novel in 1957 called “Atlas Shrugged,” which spelled out her libertarian creed of “Objectivism.”
Sanger and Rand were atheists, a subject Chesterton explores with them. St. Teresa expresses a belief system in stark contrast to the former, grounded in the richness of her Catholic faith, and Chesterton fleshes out each of their respective creeds with zeal in his own inimitable style.
Chesterton is a hard man to describe. Is he a poet, a novelist, a philosopher, a theologian, a biographer, an orator or a debater? He is all of these and more.
Individual seats are $60 per person or a table of 8 is $600. Seating is limited. For more information or to reserve a seat, call (515) 255-4113 or visit www.Iowansforlife.org.
(Maggie DeWitte is executive director of Iowans for LIFE.)
