Until now, we in Tennessee have always believed that the best two things ever to come out of Alabama were (1) Dreamland Ribs and (2) I-59.*  But now you can add a third item to that list: Bama Students for Life (BSFL).

BSFL was recently awarded the Students for Life of America (SFLA) Student Group of the Year.  Perhaps their biggest project of the year was to host the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) last Spring.  The privilege of working with such a committed, intelligent group of young people was truly a gift from God.  BSFL’s media work was the best we have ever seen, and we learned quite a lot, just by watching them.

[We have noted that many of the student groups recognized by SFLA have hosted GAP or some other graphic image display.  We wonder if there is any connection?  But anyway …]

BSFL has created another firestorm on campus, this one making national news!  They went up against the University of Alabama (UA) … and they won!  Earlier this month, a UA official removed the BSFL’s pro-life display from a hallway display case after a few students claimed it was offensive.

What was offensive, you say?  Abortion photos from CBR.

But now FAB has learned that UA has apologized for removing the display and will allow BSFL to set up their display once again.  Praise the Lord for courageous young people!

Here is BSFL’s Claire Chretien on Fox News:

Here is Claire confronting the UA official who removed the display:

*NOTE:  FAB has learned that another famous invention originated in Alabama.  We’re not sure exactly when or where the toothbrush was invented, but it had to come from Alabama because if it were invented anywhere else, it would have been called a “teethbrush.”

GAP creates modulated conflict that draws a crowd and creates a forum in which abortion advocates are forced to defend the decapitation and dismemberment of little human beings.

In Part 1, FAB reported on a recent column in the University of Alabama student newspaper attacking the Bama Students for Life, apparently for hosting GAP in April.  I responded, and now John Speer has answered:

Sir, you don’t present any reasoned arguments. You offer an emotional appeal which is heartfelt, but lacking in any substantive evidence. You want to shame me by reducing the discussion to absurdity-either I want to kill babies or I don’t. There is more substance to the argument than my feelings. I don’t like abortions, but I have no right to tell an individual what they can or cannot do with their body. Please research some facts on infant mortality, lack of access to prenatal care, and the dangers of pregnancy.

Moreover, I did not call for censorship, I said guidance, also known as teaching.  In other words, we should lead by example and demonstrate to students what respectful debate should resemble. I cannot respect students who engage endorse BSFL tactics. I apologize, but that is the reality. There are pro-life groups I respect, BSFL is simply not one of them.

I responded:

Mr. Speer, thank you for your reply. I’d like to address your points.

The most important objection you raise is that we offered no arguments nor evidence for our position, only an emotional appeal. But in fact, that objection is easily rebutted because the pictures of abortion are the very best evidence that abortion is a violent act that decapitates and dismembers a small human being. I’ll take for granted that we all agree killing human beings is wrong, so why is it OK to kill certain human beings that are smaller and more defenseless than ourselves? Call me crazy, but it seems to me that the burden of proof lies with those doing the killing. Pejoratives and ad hominems do not make your case.

You are right to object to telling an individual what she can do with her own body. We all agree to that. But when an individual intends to carry out an act of violence that kills another human being without justification, then a civilized society is compelled to intervene, to protect the weaker from the stronger. We have a whole host of laws that prevent one person from acting to kill another (laws against murder), harm another (e.g., laws against assault, fraud, etc.), or put another person at risk of harm (e.g., laws against speeding).  All of these laws restrict the choices of people who would harm others.

People who advocate systematic injustice often couch their arguments in the language of choice. Even Stephen Douglas stated that he was opposed to slavery, but he believed that the Southern states should have the right to choose whether to be slave states or free states. At a personal level, people in those states were completely free to exercise choice in whether to own a slave or not. With systematic injustice, everyone gets a choice but the victim.

I know of no facts on infant mortality or lack of access to prenatal care that would justify killing an innocent human being. Regarding the dangers of pregnancy, we make a compelling case that abortion is justified when the life of the mother is in danger. In the case of ectopic pregnancy, for example, removing the baby to save the life of the mother is the only bio-ethically sound alternative.

You absolutely did call for censorship. You said that the BSFL should be “monitored” and given “strong guidance” because they are “uninformed.” Apparently, uninformed means “disagrees with Mr. Speer and his friends.” Of course, you wouldn’t submit to monitoring and “strong guidance” for your own column. In your mind, that wouldn’t be necessary because you are not “uninformed.” Let’s apply your rule both ways. If I claim your column offended me as much as our pictures offended you, and if I claim that your leftist views are a “high-profile disaster” for the entire country, shouldn’t you be subjected to special government monitoring and “strong guidance” as well?

Who is going to decide whose speech needs to be monitored and strongly guided and whose is not? You? Would you be for “strong guidance” if I (or somebody like me) were assigned by the government to monitor you and strongly guide you in the preparation of your column? Call me a simple country boy — which I am — but the line between “strong guidance” and censorship is impossible to discern, especially when it is applied only to certain people (i.e., those who disagree with Mr. Speer and his friends).

You say that you want respectful debate. Imbedded in that claim are two false assertions. First, you imply that the debate surrounding our GAP display was not respectful. On what do you base that claim? Despite enduring many ad hominem attacks throughout both days, we were able to have hundreds of respectful encounters with people who disagreed with us. Some resulted in changed minds. Some concluded with a handshake and a promise to respect each other despite our differing points of view. If you didn’t see that, you just were not looking. Second, your version of “respectful” is that you control the terms and conditions of the debate. You seem to be saying that showing pictures in public is not respectful and comparing the mass slaughter of preborn human beings to the mass slaughter of other people groups is not respectful. In other words, you want a debate in which we don’t present our evidence nor make our arguments. Or maybe you just want the debate to happen behind closed doors, where few people will see it. We don’t think it is disrespectful to show people pictures of reality.

Finally, regarding respect, we ask for none. Social reformers don’t expect to be popular, especially among defenders of injustice. We don’t care what people think of us, nearly as much as we care what people think of abortion. However, we do insist that our unalienable right of free speech be respected.

Bama Students for Life: uninformed, stupid, horridly offensive, creates high-profile disasters, requires monitoring and “strong guidance.”

Crimson White columnist John Speer took a swipe at the Bama Students for Life (BSFL) in a recent column.  Mr. Speer, obviously disturbed by our Genocide Awareness Project (GAP), wrote:

Uninformed groups such as the Bama Students for Life, who create high-profile disasters for an entire campus, should be monitored.  They require advisors who can teach them judicious principles and a voice of reason that can craft savvy, and not horridly offensive, goals.  Good intentions cannot cure stupidity; the only remedy for such a problem is strong guidance.

BSFL President Claire Chretien responded with a column of her own.  She wrote, in part:

I agree with Mr. Speer that photos of abortion are “horridly offensive.”  This is why we show them.  If abortion is so repulsive to look at, then perhaps this violence isn’t something we should tolerate as a civilized society.  Our mentors helped us plan and execute the Genocide Awareness Project, which sparked weeks of campus debate and inspired close to 1,000 pro-life students to join our mailing list.

Did you see that?  GAP inspired nearly 1,000 students to join BSFL’s mailing list!

Anyway, back to Mr. Speer’s original column.  I commented online:

Mr. Speer, ad hominem attacks are no substitutes for reasoned arguments.  If you could offer one good argument why it should be OK to decapitate and dismember little human beings, we would be grateful to hear it.  The fact is, you can’t.  Otherwise, you would make your case and let it stand on it’s own.  Instead, you resort to ad hominem attacks and name-calling.

But even that is not enough for you.  The evil you endorse is so disturbing, you can’t bear to look at it.  You are offended when your evil is exposed, so you want the University (i.e., the government) to “monitor” the BSFL and “teach” them to have goals that are not offensive (i.e., not offensive to you).  That is a thinly-veiled call for government censorship … which is an odd thing for a newspaper to endorse, don’t you think?

Take heart, Mr. Speer, that you are disturbed by photos of violent death.  Even though you endorse decapitating and dismembering little human beings now, your reaction shows that you still have a functioning conscience.  That encourages us to never quit.

But that wasn’t all.  More in Part 2 …

BSFL Vice-President Claire Chretien speaks to the media. Successful social reformers use modulated conflict to focus attention on injustice.

Creating and Exploiting Modulated Conflict

Historically, social reformers have not feared conflict.  They embraced conflict, even created it, to focus public attention on injustice.  They did it knowing their actions would invite persecution from a culture that was complicit or complacent about injustice.

The Bama Students for Life (BSFL) are masters at creating modulated conflict and using that conflict to focus public attention on abortion.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said

… I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.”  I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.
***
… so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies [i.e., annoyances or irritants] to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism …  The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.

At the U of Alabama, BSFL and CBR annoyed and irritated people who were complicit or complacent about abortion, people who desperately wanted us to leave them alone.  But we didn’t leave them alone.  We focused their attention on injustice, knowing that they would dislike us for having done so.  Based on the media coverage and the huge crowds of angry people, we certainly succeeded!

Media Coverage for GAP at U of Alabama

Television Coverage

1. Controversial abortion display stirs controversy on UA campus
2. Pro-life display on Univ. of Alabama campus stirs strong emotions
3. Controversial display ignites abortion debate (video report)

Newspaper/Online

1. Student group displays graphic abortion photos on UA campus (poll) (positive poll results!)

Crimson White (student newspaper)

1. Anti-abortion group sponsors ‘extremely graphic’ display on Quad (news article)
2. Anti-abortion groups should back up opinions with facts (op-ed)
3. Our View: Bama Students for Life should examine the language they use (op-ed)
4. Students sound off about abortion displays (news article)
5. BSL’s belief in their own infallibility has cost them credibility in this debate (op-ed)
6. Anti-abortion proponents only restrict freedom of choice for American women (op-ed)
7. BSL, Speer both fail in effectively messaging their case on abortion rights (op-ed)
8. How the pro-life movement can make win-win situations out of abortion debates (op-ed)
9. Consider the issue, not the language (pro-life op-ed)
10. BSFL’s images necessary to change culture (pro-life op-ed)
11. University’s public assembly laws must be re-examined (op-ed)
12. Changing from ‘pro-choice’ to ‘pro-abortion’ (the only coherent pro-abortion op-ed we saw, followed by a flood of name-calling and ad hominem attacks, with lots of comments from FAB)
13. Insulting the public not conducive to campus abortion debate (op-ed)
14. Counter-protesters were told to stop handing out fliers, student says (news article) (Note: CBR opposes restricting the First Amendment rights of people who lawfully protest against our display; the First Amendment is good for everyone.)
15. In response to ‘Examine Language’ (pro-life op-ed)

BSFL Blog

1. GAP Press Release
2. Highlights of Life Week

Can you name one other pro-life project that creates 15 items in the campus paper?

GAP creates modulated conflict that draws a crowd and makes our story irresistable to the press.

Young people like the members of Bama Students for Life (BSFL) give us hope for the future.  We can’t let them down.

BSFL hosted us on the University of Alabama campus on April 6 for the Pro-Life Training Academy (GAP) and on April 10-11 for the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP).  Here is what BSFL members said about it.

David DeStefanis:

Just seeing those pictures is enough to get someone uncomfortable enough to actually examine the issue of abortion and re-examine their own stance on it.
***
GAP created more dialogue and discussion about abortion than anything I’ve ever seen.
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To pro-life people who were against GAP coming here, I asked them if they could tell me a method or tactic that could make as big an impact as GAP did. And none of them could.

Ruth Bishop:

GAP revealed to students the ugly truth about abortion; a truth that must continue to be shared for the sake of preborn children and their mothers.

Levi Crawford:

I spoke with a Jewish friend of mine in class and asked him to come and see the GAP display. He wasn’t offended, he admitted [that the preborn] is a human life and that he would never be able to support unconditional abortion again.  He walked away with a changed heart, and I am forever grateful for GAP in bringing this change about.

Joanna Robinson:

GAP is crucial for any student group that wants to start a real conversation about abortion on their campus. You can talk about abortion all you want, but until people see what abortion is, it remains in their minds an abstract idea. GAP presents abortion in a very stark and real way that cannot be ignored.
***
I have been actively involved in my pro-life campus group for nearly three years, and I have never seen an event cause a discussion about abortion like GAP. I have seen first-hand the anger it caused, but I have also seen GAP working to change hearts and minds, not over weeks or months, but over the course of minutes and seconds. We need to make sure that no college student in America graduates without seeing GAP and becoming aware of the reality of abortion.

Claire Chretien:

We forced people to think about and talk about abortion.
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We are able to articulate the pro-life position to thousands of people, create a conversation about abortion that lasted weeks after GAP, make important comparisons between the contemporary genocide of abortion and past genocides, recruit new members, and show people the truth about abortion — that it is a gruesome, violent procedure that kills an innocent human being.

Zack Wepfer (BSFL Past President):

I can honestly say that this last week [of GAP] has been the week I am most proud of in my entire collegiate career.  I am so proud to accomplish what we did.  I cannot think of a better way to end my collegiate career.

Help us achieve the vision set forth by Joanna Robinson, who said, “We need to make sure that no college student in America graduates without seeing GAP and becoming aware of the reality of abortion.”

To be a part of that lofty achievement, please click here to make your most generous investment in the lives of babies and moms.   Young people like Claire, Joanna, Ruth, and David give us hope for the future.  We can’t let them down.  Please support our work on campus right now!

Bama Students for Life

BSFL Vice-President Claire Chretien speaks to the media. Young people like Claire give us hope for the future. We can’t let them down.