First Amendment in action at U of Rhode Island.

Eric Casey, a sophomore at the U of Rhode Island (URI), is circulating a petition to overturn the First Amendment at the University of Rhode Island (URI).  Story here.  To make matters worse, Mr. Casey identifies himself as a history major on his Facebook page.  YIKES!  I posted this online response:

Mr. Casey’s conception of the First Amendment is fundamentally flawed.  More about that, but we must first acknowledge that his petition is partly accurate. Abortion pictures are “highly disturbing” (his words). That’s because abortion is an act of violence that kills a baby.

Mr. Casey says that he doesn’t want to violate the free-speech rights of the College Republicans (CRs), yet his petition demands that URI prevent speech that he finds non-compliant with “the principles of respect and human dignity.”  Of course, he says nothing about those whose speech promotes the dismembering and killing helpless preborn children whose only crime is to be unwanted.  Would Mr. Casey sign a petition to remove that speech as well?

Do you see where this is going?  Once it is determined that non-compliant speech may be censored, then it becomes a matter of whose speech is non-compliant whose is not.  You can be certain that Mr. Casey will insist that people like himself be in control of whose speech may be disallowed and whose may be heard.  In this kind of environment, you can count on hearing the full range of political thought, from the far left to the extreme far left.  Fortunately, the First Amendment protects us from his kind of tyranny.

Our founders said that “all men are created,” that “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” and that “among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  The First Amendment doesn’t “give” us the liberty to speak freely, because that right was ours already; the First Amendment merely recognizes a right that is “unalienable” because of our status as human persons.  Whether you believe in a Creator or some kind of natural law, it is clear that the same foundational principle that protects our speech from arbitrary power also protects our lives.  Mr. Casey shouldn’t be so quick to give that up.

In his petition, Mr. Casey demands that URI withhold funding from the CRs as one mechanism to regulate speech.  He should be aware that the University of Wisconsin (UW) recently earned the opportunity to pay $500,000 in legal fees because of similar viewpoint discrimination (www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/4328?).  At issue was discrimination in the allocation of student fees.

Back to the subject matter of the GAP display, I have a question for Mr. Casey: If abortion is such a great idea, why do pictures of it make you so angry?  And how can it be that showing a picture of a dead child is extreme (your word), but killing the child is not?

Our purpose is never to condemn anyone who has had an abortion. If you need healing from a past abortion or help with an unplanned pregnancy, visit www.OptionLine.org. For more information on abortion, www.AbortionNo.org.  For more on freedom of speech, www.theFire.org.

Faithful volunteers like Debbie Picarello (right) make this project possible.

I got an e-mail from John Monaghan, the President of College Republicans at Radford University.  They hosted our GAP on their campus, which was a great success.  Here are a few of the things he told me:

I heard a great deal of positive feedback from both students and professors.  A friend of mine informed me that his Philosophy teacher was ecstatic we brought you all to campus and that everyone had a chance to be subject to the issue.  I really want to thank your staff and, of course, you for everything you did to make this happen.

It was a good thing most definitely and like I have told so many (who may have or may not have been in favor of the exhibit) that if only one person who saw that exhibit chooses life over abortion after seeing that exhibit and being more educated, then we have done our jobs and saved a one of God’s miracles, a child’s life.

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The one thing I was appalled at was how unsupportive my fellow students and Radford professors are of the First Amendment.  Freedom of Speech is what makes this country great and many of my peers and professors fail to understand there is always a differing viewpoint.  In Academia, sadly, the liberal push and spin is spread daily and students must decipher what is to be believed and what is the liberal spin that most professors add on.

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I was able to sign up an additional 38 names during Club Fair last Friday.  I think a lot of that was due to the GAP exhibit, so thank you for that.  My roommate will also be sending out an e-mail to all of the pro-lifers CBR signed up and either asking them to join College Republicans or asking one of them to step up and create Radford for Pro-Life Group.  I think either way, it would be a benefit to this campus.

Once again, thanks so much. Please tell your staff it was wonderful meeting them all.  If you are ever near Radford or Blacksburg, give me a call–I still owe you lunch!

Thanks, John.  You may owe me lunch, but we all owe you so much more!

Radford University announced our presence with this inscription etched in the wall of the Student Center, overlooking the GAP display.