Serious post... Watch out!

There are certain perks that come along with being a 20-year-old working on a college campus. I see people I know all the time. I also have the chance to meet new people every day. However, college campuses are the targets of many activist groups, many of whom I agree with and many I don't.

I understand how it's everyone's (and anyone's) right to say what he or she wants to say to whomever he or she chooses to say it to. Don't, on the other hand, think that shoving your beliefs in my face will draw accord on my part—hell, you're lucky if you even get my attention.

Walking in from lunch today, I noticed a crowd of people gathered, chatting, holding up enormous posters that I couldn't clearly see. As I paced closer, I clearly saw the two posters a handful of people were hoisting. One poster had a picture of a dead fetus, or what was a dead fetus, showing the bloody head separated from the body, and above the picture, in bold, black letters, was printed "Abortion." On the other, a picture of a healthy baby, one that could presumably be seen on a Gerber commercial, was shown with the word "Life" printed above it.



There were men, women and children of all ages with this pro-life group. One little girl, whom I can't seem to get out of my head, that was toting the "Abortion" poster couldn't have been older than five—the poster was taller than she.

What kills me is how easily I've found it to be to infuriate me. An elderly woman, holding the "Abortion" sign and smiling from ear to ear, tried to stop me as I walked by and give me a pocket-sized bible. Without looking at her I told her to get her hand away from me. As weird as this sounds, I hate hating people based on their beliefs. I have friends—not close friends, but friends—that are Christians. They know not to even bring it up around me.

But, honestly, right now I am sick to my stomach, and not because of the grotesque photos. I'm sick at how hateful I can be, and how I'm totally helpless. Abortion is one of those issues that arises way too much passion in me. I'm not a woman. It doesn't directly affect me. But it affects my mom. One day it could affect my young niece.

It makes me sick to think that 80 percent of Americans (supposedly) are Christians. Of all the religions in the world that are seemingly peaceful and non-invasive—Judaism, Buddhism, Islam (moderates), Hinduism and others, I'm stuck in the country where eight out of ten people claim to be a member of the most supercilious, dangerously ethnocentric, and downright inane religion of all.


If you really want to show the difference between life and death, you should show much more than dead fetuses and healthy babies. You forgot the picture of the 12-year-old girl who's been raped by her step-father on a regular basis for the last five years. You forgot the picture of crackwhores. You forgot the picture of Hitler. And Osama bin Laden. But rationality and logical reasoning aren't primary concerns for these groups. (Yes, I'm saying they're insanely idiotic.)

We're practically setting ourselves back 100 years, in terms of progressive thinking, each time a pro-life rally is held. No one—that's right, no one—can provide a sound argument against abortion without bringing religion into the picture. Don't tell me it's murder. As harsh as it sounds, I'd much rather have a fetus aborted than a grown human being executed for a crime.

I dream of the day when Christianity is irrelevant in the ways of government. I understand how religion adds balance to millions of people's lives. Some people need it. For meaning. For hope. For answers. And, mostly, for emotional insurance.



Some people (like me), on the contrary, don't.