Relativism on Steroids: Pro-Life vs. Pro-Abortion Debate on Campus
Pro-lifers “biased,” but 9/11 terrorists “justified”?
Defending moral values on campus can seem intimidating. However, TFP Student Action decided to take on the challenge and visit Penn State University on September 25. Their message was simple: Defend innocent life and fight the culture of death that promotes the killing of the unborn in the name of “choice.”
Arriving on campus, TFP volunteers set up a large banner that read “Pray the rosary to end abortion” on the sidewalk across from the HUB-Robenson Center. Soon, hundreds of students walking to lunch were receiving the TFP’s hard-hitting flyer, 10 Reasons to Protect the Unborn. Several responded with a nod or smile of approval while others, visibly bothered, rushed by in disgust.
"What you're doing takes courage," said one student. "Keep it up. I support you!"
"God bless you abundantly for all you do to defend the unborn," said another. "You are REAL men, men of Faith, men of action."
The slippery slope of moral relativism
Years of relativism in education has produced a generation of moral bankruptcy, leaving some students without the ability to distinguish right from wrong. However, TFP Student Action volunteers, already far too familiar with this prevalent attitude, were ready to respond using logic and common sense.
For example, TFP volunteers met students who claimed that pro-life advocates oppress women and in the same breath, they said that the terrorists who carried out the 9/11 attacks could not be condemned because they merely had “different values from us.”
“You can’t say that they [terrorists] were really bad because you don’t understand where they came from.” A female student said. “It was justified for them, payback for all the times that we bombed the Middle East.”
Another woman claimed that the TFP couldn’t “force” its beliefs on others because “there are no universal morals.”
“So if you met a group of people that practiced cannibalism and human sacrifice as part of their culture, would you be fine with that?” pressed a TFP volunteer.
“I would totally be fine with them. They just have different beliefs then I do,” the pro-abortion student answered.
If cannibalism and human sacrifice are seen as merely expressions of “different values,” what will prevent even worse abominations from being accepted as normal by society? Such is the slippery slope of moral relativism.
Heated debates
It took a few hours for a pro-abortion group, sporting Planned Parenthood t-shirts, to form a boisterous counter-protest. Rather than discuss the issue civilly, they attempted to silence the TFP’s rally by screaming pro-abortion slogans such as “my body, my choice!” and “keep your rosaries off my ovaries!” In response, TFP volunteers sang “God Bless America” and prayed the rosary.
Heated arguments erupted everywhere.
Student: “A fetus isn’t alive until it can survive outside of the mother’s body.”
TFP: “An unborn child can survive outside of the mother’s womb at 24 weeks, so what about all of the abortions that still happen after that?”
Student: “It’s still the woman’s choice. No one can tell her what to do with her body.”
TFP: “But wouldn’t it be murder?”
Student: “It may be murder to you but not to me.”
One student tried to compare an unborn child of an unwanted pregnancy to “a parasite; kind of like a tapeworm.” When explained that a human life has immensely greater value than a tapeworm, she just rolled her eyes and walked away.
Pro-Life speech is not free speech
In a later article published by The Daily Collegian, a pro-abortion student had this to say about the TFP campaign on campus:
“They are not based on fact. It is a very biased. They are here to rile people up and change people’s opinions on something they shouldn’t have anything to say on… Penn State has a very strong belief in freedom of speech… this is not a freedom of speech. This is more for lack of a better word an authoritarian kind of thing and they just want to be in control.”
In other words, the twisted mindset is this: Liberals claim that they believe in free speech, pro-life opinions don’t count because they don’t coincide with their own views.
God bless all the pro-life students at Penn State -- there were many -- who stopped by and expressed their support for the right to life.
"You certainly made quite an impact here at Penn State," offered one student. "It's great to see this discussion happening again, because truth has a way of prevailing over lies. Our community is praying for you and your efforts. Thanks for setting a positive example."