I've read the Constitution, yes. And yes, I've read the first amendment. So I understand the right to freedom. I think freedom is a wonderful thing. But it stops when you take away somebody else's freedom.
Outside my highschool every 10 months or so are a bunch of protestors against abortion gather to hand out fliers and booklets to cars and children coming home from school. Let's get this straight... the LAST thing I want to see after coming out from Language Arts is a huge sign with a picture of a recently aborted baby detached from a few of its limbs, the letters above it spelling out "ABORTION".
There are wrong, wrong, wrong things with this type of protesting. What, you might ask? They're taking away our freedom. They are removing us of our right to our own opinion. Is that right? I'm not asking if it's legal or not. I know it's legal. But they're doing this right outside our highschool where kids can be intimidated and manipulated. Think about it. We're teenagers, we've got our hormones on the rampage... a disassembled baby could easily cause us to puke.
I talked over this with my mother, and I informed her that the next time they show up outside our school, it will be a battle of wits... one brain pressed against another. She informed me, "Well, you can try, sweetie. But these people are so narrow minded, they have a comeback for everything you throw at them. They won't even listen to you."
I understand this statement completely. But here's what I'm confused about. How can these people possibly be good protesters if they're not willing to listen to the ideas, questions, and comments of others?
I'll give you an example. The man (yes, it was a man... point for me) who handed me these fliers basically said "hi" and thrust them in my direction. After asking what was being shoved in my hand, he mumbled, "pro-life" and walked away to attack another victim.
I was tired this day, so I didn't even bother to argue with him. But the whole way home, I thought about what I would have said if I was in the mood. The points I would make would be in this order:
1. You're a guy... guys don't get pregnant... why are you trying to influence my choice?
2. These posters are really sickening. Not only are you taking away our right to having our own opinion, but you're also taking away our innocence of never seeing an aborted baby. Not only that... you're taking away our right to have a decent meal and keep it down.
3. Abortion should be illegal? Let's use me for an example. I'm out on a date, somebody slips the date-rape drug into my drink, rapes me and I get pregnant. You're saying that I should go through the pain and agony of labor? That's not fair to me... I didn't want this baby in the first place.
4. Do you realize that with this flier you're handing out a booklet talking about the wonderful sastisfication of getting married and having a baby? Isn't that rather contradicting to what you're trying to prove?
In my eyes, there are two different kinds of protesters... those who make an opinion and follow through with it, and those who try to change opinions that people have already made. This second one really gets me angry. If protesters are outside a factory, chaining themselves to posts and arguing that this factory causes too much pollution, fine. I really admire people like that. On the other hand, if we have certain issues that everyone has to develop an opinion on in order to hold an intelligent conversation, I consider it morally wrong for protesters to say that people's opinions are wrong. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
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