Intolerance is the New Black.

Well, the College Republicans are at it again.

Yes, the College Republicans, the same group that intended to bring Ann Coulter to our campus, but chose noted educational speaker Ted Nugent instead - and shelled out $12,000 of Student Budget Committee money for him (about 5x as much as the Organization for Women's Issues recieved total.) - has found a new way to make a mockery of themselves.

I just found out that they were involved with the "Genocide Awareness Campaign" (warning - CBR's website contains numerous disturbing photos) that I ranted and raved about earlier this week. Now, as if I should really be surprised by anything they do anymore, I am shocked to learn that, as part of "Conservative Week", they've sponsored another ridiculous and counter-productive event. This is one for the ages, folks.

The group has declared today "Illegal Immigrants, Get out of our Country Day".
Insert disgusted look here.

I was wondering what the hell the deal was when I saw a kid setting up a small circle of chicken wire in the free speech area (Union Oval), and I didn't find out until just now. Ready for this?

What I saw was apparently part of their "Catch an Illegal Immigrant" event. I don't know exactly what it is they're doing, and I'm not sure I want to know. All I know for sure is that they have proven once again why they do not deserve the funding they receive from the SBC. In an article in Monday's BG News, this year's SBC allotments were announced. The College Republicans received a recommendation of $5,250 (still 2x what OWI received last year), and they are not happy.
CR president Dan Lipian apparently sees this allotment as "insulting" and "an absolute disgrace."

No, Dan. What's insulting and disgraceful is that with last year's recommendation of $14,550, the best you could do was bring Ted Nugent to campus to rant about welfare and gun control and sponsor offensive and counter-productive displays such as those we've been graced with this week. What's insulting is that organizations which fight for the rights and recognition of underrepresented groups on campus were able to accomplish far more than yours and do it in a more responsible way with only a fraction of the financial means. OWI received $2,448. Vision - the campus LGBTQ group - only received $3,805 last year to fight for the rights of people who are regularly looked down upon or ignored. You received a gift and wasted it on trash. Shame on you.

These sorts of ridiculous displays do nothing to promote positive discussion or community on our campus and only serve to make people (potential students included) feel unwanted and unwelcome on our campus.

Ethical Reform? Try Again.

Once again, an anti-abortion group (the Center for Bio-ethical Reform -warning: disturbing photos and videos) has deemed it necessary to grace our fine campus with pictures of disfigured fetuses. This time, there's a different twist. They're calling it the "Genocide Awareness Campaign." And this time, they're not driving around in a truck with the pictures on the sides, they're not flying by with a banner hanging from a plane, they've set up shop in the "Designated Free Speech" area in the Union oval. I find this offensive and insulting.

As someone who is against abortion in nearly all cases, even I find it to be in poor taste to pull such a stunt. There is no reason why people walking to class across campus should have to be faced with such images against their will. There are better, more effective ways to prove a point.

Not only are they showing pictures of the results of abortions, they are comparing it to numerous historic 'ethnic cleansing' genocide campaigns. As pedestrians approach the display they first encounter signs that read "Warning: Genocide Photos Ahead." Several of the banners bear symbols of the Nazi movement in Germany. One reads "Different motives, different methods, same results." This banner has a photo of a mass grave from an 'ethnic cleansing' catastrophe in former Yugoslavia next to a picture of the remains of an aborted fetus. I think their own caption really says it all, though, "Different motives, different methods."

Dictionary.com defines genocide as "the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group."
A woman choosing to abort a fetus - for whatever reason - can hardly be equated to the targeted, systematic and willful destruction of an entire group of people. To do so is to insult the intelligence of the average passer-by and to de-emphasize the incredibly tragic and catastrophic nature of such genocide campaigns as the Holocaust, the conflict in Kosovo and the ongoing conflicts in Africa.

Furthermore, the campaign is apparently using the term 'hate crime' to describe the act of abortion. Again, this is a blatant attempt to use a loaded word to sensationalize their demonstration and elicit an emotional response in lieu of an intelligent, informed one. To compare abortion to hate crimes is to do a disservice to those people and families effected by such tragedies as the Matthew Shepard case.

Finally, I find it offensive that the group would engage in such actions for another reason. Imagine if you were someone who had been forced to deal with the decision to abort a pregnancy because the birth would have risked the life of the mother, or if the pregnancy was the result of a rape or similar traumatic abusive experience. Now imagine walking by those images and being reminded not only of the guilt you might feel from the decision, but also the pain of the original experience. Does this seem fair? Does this seem ethical?

I think not.

I think the Center for Bio-ethical Reform needs to seriously re-evaluate its priorities and methods and think very hard about exactly what their display is doing. The goal should be to educate, not to shock and disturb. Coming from someone who falls mostly on the anti-abortion side of the issue, even I find it offensive, and I think if they continue to communicate their message by such means, they risk alienating the very people they are seeking to educate.