Rusty Benson
AFA Journal associate editor
December 2011 – Ray Comfort is a well-known evangelist, speaker, author filmmaker and co-host (with Kirk Cameron) of the award winning television program The Way of the Master. He recently released a mesmerizing 33-minute documentary titled 180, in which Comfort shows us his attempts to change people’s minds about abortion in “man-on-the-street” discussions. People can watch it for free at www.180movie.com or order DVD copies at www.heartchanger.com.
AFA Journal: How did you go about this video project?
Ray Comfort: I went out with a camera and interviewed people as to what they believed about Hitler. … Then we went to local universities, colleges and Huntington Beach, California, and I put people into a moral dilemma and said, “Would you kill Jews? If a Nazi pointed a gun at you and told you unless you did it, you would lose your life?” When they said no, I said, “Why wouldn’t you do that?” [They’d answer] “Because I value human life.” Then I said, “Well how do you feel about abortion?” They would answer, “It is a woman’s right to choose.” I would say, “Do you think it’s a baby in the womb?” They would say yes. Then I asked them one question that caused them to change their minds about the issue of abortion from being pro-abortion to being pro-life.
AFAJ: What question was that?
RC: I would say: “Finish this sentence: ‘It’s OK to kill a baby in the womb when _______ .’”
AFAJ: What accounts for the fact that some of these interviewees don’t seem to have ever wrestled with the big issues of life and death, eternity, God, etc.?
RC: The more a nation gives itself to darkness, the more it hates the light. The Internet and television have given instant darkness to generations. These generations have lost the attentiveness to the conscience that speaks. [They have] an image of God almost as a divine butler. This view of God has been fed to them by the American church. God is a fix-it man. … He is a problem solver. … [That view] gives them license to throw themselves into sin with a smile.
AFAJ: What common themes do you see in their worldviews as expressed in their responses?
RC: A wise man once said, “Most, I fear God. Next, I fear him who fears Him not.” It is so profound because when someone doesn’t fear God, he has no qualms about lying to you, stealing from you, and even killing you if he thinks he can get away with it. … We are a nation that has lost the fear of God. But that traces itself back to the pulpits where we have [preachers] who have become nothing but motivational speakers. God has become nothing but a means to an end of happiness.
AFAJ: As you move into your dialog with these people, you present the Law of God – which condemns. Then you get an opportunity to talk about God’s grace in light of the Law that you’ve just presented. Are they generally happy to hear of God’s grace?
RC: Oh, yes. That is the purpose of the Law. It is like saying when someone hears from a doctor about a terrible disease that he has, is he happy to hear about the cure? Oh, yes, if he believes he has the disease, he is happy to embrace the cure.
AFAJ: How has 180 been received?
RC: We cannot believe what is happening with 180. We have nearly a million views in a matter of days, and thousands and thousands of e-mails of comments coming through from people who are saying, “I’ve changed my mind about abortion.” That is huge. So, we are encouraging as many people as possible to forward this to friends by the social media: Facebook and Twitter. That is powerful. We don’t have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars advertising this because it is free on the Internet if people will see the power just at their fingertips. 
