This past week, a group of protesters was pointed out to me on campus. I was surprised. A protest at Liberty University? I mean, I knew that in the past some people had tried to organize a small, peaceful gathering, but it was shut down because they didn't have a permit, and this is a private university. So to see people standing on the corner of a major traffic circle holding up huge, graphic anti-abortion imagery kind of shocked me.
I came to find out that for whatever reason, the exact corner of ground they were standing on was public property and that they had a valid permit to protest.
So as far as the university was concerned, there was nothing campus police could do about it. Concerned Liberty students, particularly young women, called the police department both on campus and in the city of Lynchburg. Perplexed mothers did more research into the group to discover that they specialize in this kind of protesting: demonizing abortion, and the women who do it, through displaying violent images publicly.
I'm not saying I'm pro-abortion, but I am definitely NOT pro-"Hey, let's shame and demonize women who choose this option and force all this graphic imagery on the public." This kind of protesting spreads hate rather than love – and worse, they do it in the name of Jesus Christ. That is NOT okay. Things like this are NEVER okay.
The group, Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, better known as AbortionNO, has been sued numerous times for the way they present their case: in fact, their website (https://www.abortionno.org) brags about all the lawsuits that they have won over being able to display violent, graphic images and videos to the public. What kind of a message does that spread? They're essentially saying, "Hey, look at us! The mass general public and their concern for society can't stop us from spreading our message."
My boyfriend pointed out to me that the Bible verses the group displayed on their signs were the most random, out-of-context things. In his words, it's like they did a word-search for "baby" and "killing" and used the first verse they could find. For instance, one of the references they used was an Old Testament passage about how the pagans in ancient times used to sacrifice their babies to false gods.
AbortionNO tried to link that passage to society today and make it "relevant" by producing a sign showing a baby being sacrificed to a demon. This group legitimately preaches that abortion is baby sacrifice to demons and shames Christians who don't believe the same things.
The whole situation confused me. Why would this group, among all the college campuses across America, choose Liberty to protest at? Liberty is the world's largest Christian university, largely known for its conservative values. The vast majority of students here already are pro-life. Then I remembered: this weekend is College For A Weekend, Liberty's immersive college experience for high school students looking at attending here. Then, I got really irritated.
Thousands of visitors will be coming this weekend to check out the campus and all it has to offer. Young, naive high school students just getting the feel for their future. Parents determined to see if this will be a safe, productive environment for their children. And young, curious siblings who are just along for the ride.
I'm sure that AbortionNO knew what they were doing when they picked this weekend to come here. I'm sure they knew what kind of image they would present to all the visitors. Although they may think their mission is noble and just, what are all the visitors going to think? That Liberty is affiliated with some extremist, anti-abortion, so-called "Christian" group? Sadly, by this group choosing to protest on this campus this exact weekend, many parents and high school students will think that the campus is something that it really is not.
Like I said before, most students at this university hold pro-life views. In fact, Liberty even has a pro-life club, LifeLine. But under no circumstance would they ever present themselves in the manner that AbortionNO has and continues to do. See, the true Christian way to approach this matter is not to throw it in the public's face aggressively and angrily. The true Christian way does not shame or blame women for making that personal decision.
What kind of godly love does that show? Jesus didn't come to earth, point at all the sinners, and say, "The devil has possessed you." No, he came to Earth, approached the sinners in love and said, "Your sins are forgiven; go and sin no more." He said, "Go preach the good news of the Gospel." Jesus came not so that the believers would violently try to turn peoples' minds around. He came so that believers would share the truth in love, offering support and help and counseling for those in need.
Though it truly hurts me that this anti-abortion group feels the need to protest in such an extreme fashion, I can only hope that someday they will see that what they are doing is causing more harm than good, not only to the image of pro-lifers but also to the image of Christianity.
