- November 2, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The creator of the pro-life Internet movie phenomenon “180” says “thousands” of testimonies have poured in describing how the movie’s haunting reminder of the Holocaust and arguments about abortion have convinced the authors of the letters to oppose legalized abortion.
The video became a major phenomenon on Youtube following its release in September, ranking as #2 most discussed, #2 most viewed, and #3 top favorited film last month, according to data posted on the Pro-Life Rocks Facebook page. It has already surpassed 1.3 million views.
The 33-minute pro-life documentary opens with disturbing footage of several young people failing to recognize Adolf Hitler, an ignorance that creator and interviewer Ray Comfort ties into widespread acceptance of today’s Holocaust: legalized abortion. As the young adults who are interviewed in the film are forced to connect the legalized killing of Jews with society’s acceptance of the killing of unborn children, they are seen changing their minds to oppose abortion.
“180 is a rollercoaster-ride of emotions, because you watch people squirm as they are put into a moral dilemma by asking if they would bury Jews alive (something that happened in the 2nd World War), at the point of a Nazi gun,” said Comfort. “It’s a character-test as to how much people value human life. To be ignorant of perhaps the darkest part of human history will inevitably result in the devaluing of life, and a repetition of the Holocaust.”
Comfort says he hopes that the movie “may be coming to a high school near you”: late last month, between 180,000 and 200,000 copies of the 33-minute DVD were given out at 100 of America’s top universities, and now the Jewish author and TV co-host is turning his attention to high schools.
While some may object to teaching high school kids about the Holocaust, Comfort, a Christian pastor who is Jewish, says such education is a dire need in America today.
“I came back to our studios [after filming 180] with 14 interviews with people who thought that [Hitler] was a communist, or an actor, or they had never even heard of his name,” he said. “These young people are rather ignorant as to perhaps the darkest period of human history, because the American education system has failed them.”
Comfort said that the 180 videos are already “going like hot cakes on a cold winter’s day” in local handout campaigns.
But the most fascinating thing about 180 is not its popularity, but its impact on pro-choice audiences, he says. “The amazing thing is that people who watch it, change from pro-abortion to pro-life,” said Comfort. “We have received thousands of emails from people, many of whom have changed while watching the movie.”
One public high school student in West Virginia wrote in an email about how 180 helped change her entire class’s mind about abortion. “This past week in our civics class we were writing essays about laws that we wish would change in America. After seeing this video I choose to do mine on abortion, and how I wished it would be illegal,” she wrote.
After I had finished reading my essay, a discussion arose in class (obviously) about how they thought abortion should be a choice, especially if the child is unhealthy or was caused because of rape. But once we started to compare it to Hitler and the Jews everyone’s minds started to change. ... Because of 180 I was able to turn around the entire class opinion about abortion and by the end of the class, 25 of the 25 students and my teacher as well had all raised their hand agreeing that abortion should be illegal.
Another simply wrote: “I used to vote pro-choice. I will not ever do so again. EVER.”
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