The murder of George Tiller, a late-term abortion doctor from Kansas, is a reminder of how passion for a cause can be twisted into extreme acts of violence.
Acts like that not only counter that cause, but push thousands of potential supporters away in the process.
Like any college campus, UCF is full of political and social organizations that petition in front of the Student Union and on the Free Speech Lawn in order to get students involved in local and national issues.
Protests and other demonstrations at UCF have been relatively peaceful and effective. Minus the occasional anti-war protestor, screaming incoherent ramblings into a megaphone by the entrance to the Union, and the infamous preacher Brother Micah.
We have an extremely active student body because healthy debate and sensible recruiting methods are encouraged.
Back in 2006, High Times magazine, a publication encouraging the legalization of marijuana, listed UCF as one of the top five counterculture colleges in the U.S. because of NORML’s high level of student support and political activism.
When tragedies like the death of Tiller occur, we should be even more encouraged to stray from the road that turns our activism and support for a cause into an excuse for violence and oppression.
Whoever was responsible for shooting Tiller while he was ushering in a church service was probably anti-abortion, but most certainly not pro-life.
Those who are pro-choice have found a hero and a martyr in Tiller and are all the more ardent in their support of abortion, while anti-abortionists who believe in peaceful protests have to combat the hypocrisy that has hindered their cause.
Yet even though supporters of abortion have strengthened their cause in some ways, they have also lost one of the very few doctors in the U.S. willing to perform late-term abortions.
No one really wins in this scenario.
It’s horribly ironic that those who yell the loudest or protest the most violently are usually the ones who recruit the least amount of people to their cause and do much more harm than good.
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