What It’s Like to Fight Abortion on an Extremely Liberal Campus
As part of a pro-life tour of Michigan, TFP Student Action visited the extremely liberal University of Michigan in the city of Ann Arbor. Some polls put the conservative percentage of students on campus as low as one percent. It was interesting to note how quickly opposition rose up against the pro-family message of TFP Student Action. Even before TFP volunteers could set up the campaign or even put on their red capes, a man shouted “Hail Satan!” at them.
“I am going to burn in Hell”
Only a few minutes later the first counter protest began with insults and obscene gestures. “I hate your face!” was one of the many childish insults hurled against TFP volunteers. One pro-abortion woman held a sign that read “FEMINISM IS” in big pink letters. Another refused to debate the issue of abortion, saying, “I am not here to argue.” The same woman started to mockingly shout, “I am going to burn in Hell.” After being presented with logical arguments the counter-protesters broke up and left.
Student Eats TFP Flyer
Although most of the students who approached the TFP volunteers were against the protection of the unborn, their arguments were shallow and often incoherent. A common insult was the accusation that TFP volunteers were “terrorists” or even “Nazis”, but, of course, they offered no proof to back up these gratuitous charges. A few TFP volunteers were spat at. One student ripped up a TFP flyer, ate it, and forced himself to vomit on the ground in front of the TFP volunteers. Another man came past on a skateboard cursing and swearing. Pink and blue hair covered his face and he wore a unicorn horn on top of his head.
Flagpole or Gingerbread House?
One interesting debate formed between TFP Student Action director John Ritchie and several students. As the students tried to justify the slaughter of innocent babies, they slid down the slippery slope into moral relativism. “Perception is reality,” affirmed one. Mr. Ritchie proceeded to ask them, “If I woke up this morning and said that flagpole today is a gingerbread house, would that make it a gingerbread house?” The response was alarming. “In your perspective, it would be a gingerbread house. Perception is reality.”
Pro-Life Woman Shouted Down
After about an hour, a larger but more clamorous counter-protest formed. One woman pranced around and refused to talk in a reasonable tone of voice. She jumped up and down and screamed for a solid hour. The most common argument of the counter-protest was to claim that TFP volunteers could not have an opinion about abortion because men don’t get abortions. The argument is so easy to refute: If you don’t need to own slaves to oppose slavery, you don’t need to go through with an abortion to know that it’s a living person with the right to life (not a clump of cells). Moreover, when a pro-life woman approached to debate the pro-abortion students, she was shouted down and was not able to talk.
“Thank you for coming with a clear message”
The spectacle of the counter-protest was so ridiculous that students began to complain. One student approached TFP volunteer Matthew Shibler and said he was “so put off” by the opposition screaming and throwing a tantrum, that he wanted to talk civilly “like human beings.” Later, two more students approached and said that they had spent a long time listening to the pro-abortion side and had given up waiting for a cohesive argument. They concluded, saying “Thank you for coming with a clear message.”
Wanting to silence the truth, pro-abortion advocates called the police, claiming that TFP volunteers were passing out flyers in an “aggressive” manner. When the police approached mentioning this complaint, a young lady, who had been observing the campaign for a while, jumped to the defense of the TFP volunteers. “I’ve been watching them,” she said, “and they’re not aggressive. They’ve been civil and courteous.”
Praying the Rosary Was Most Effective
Nothing seemed to persuade the pro-abortion students to engage in a civil discussion. Their antics revolved around vulgar behavior. With their loud screams, you had the distinct impression that they were attempting to smoother their guilty consciences, because no matter how much abortion is explained away and sanitized with euphemisms like “pro-choice”, everyone deep down knows the truth: abortion is morally wrong. Period.
Click here to defund Planned Parenthood
TFP volunteers decided to pray the rosary in The Diag, the busiest location on campus. At first, the pro-abortion advocates responded with bursts of yelling and jeering. But the rosary conquered and their vituperations gave way to silence. The power of the rosary was palpable. The same students who were screaming only a few minutes before were now silent. Then a large crowd gathered, intrigued by the sight. Because of the clear contrast between the calm volunteers praying and the vulgar pro-abortion advocates, many students asked for flyers and inquired what was going on. After praying the rosary, TFP volunteers sang the hymn “We want God” and calmly packed up.
“The young men stand boldly in the midst of evil spewing hatred and spitting at them,” observed Patrice, a TFP follower on Facebook. “God’s word tells us to stand firm and be bold in our fight against evil. And when we call upon the name of the Lord evil will flee, screaming and shuddering in fear. We definitely saw this happen in this video,” she said.
After watching footage of the campaign, Melisa from Texas added: “Satan doesn’t like his toes stepped upon. Great work young men, the pro-lifers, spreading facts and information. God bless y’all and be blessed on your journey TFP!”
In the face of these liberal shenanigans, the 13 volunteers were able to pass out about approximately 1,000 flyers in a few hours, as well as meet and encouraging many pro-life students to continue to good fight for Christ the King, His Holy Mother and the conversion and conquest of America for God.
Viva Cristo Rey!