The reaction to the demonstrations of the Ohio-based, anti-abortion group, Created Equal, when it came to campus Tuesday and Wednesday was overwhelmingly negative. The protesters, angry passers-by and columnists in this newspaper expressed their ill will toward the group and its demonstration. Some students claimed the whole demonstration was ineffective. Others thought it was tasteless.
I was a bit shocked that not a single person defended Created Equal. I have great disagreements with the group, its tactics and beliefs. But, at the very least, I believe that someone should offer a defense of the group and what it did.
I’ll give a list of a few defenses.
First off, Created Equal has every right to demonstrate on campus. A common complaint is that Created Equal abused its First Amendment rights. If using the amendment means abusing the amendment, then clearly the group is at fault, as well as the protesters. Obviously, this rationale is ridiculous and false.
Using the First Amendment to its fullest extent means a group can say and display its beliefs. When beliefs are presented, arguments and differences of opinion should be expected. What ensues is an educational moment of sorts. Each side in the debate learns what the other side believes.
A debate did not happen, and this wasn’t Created Equal’s fault. Some students — a handful, to be fair — angrily shouted at the demonstrators and a man knocked signs off a Created Equal table. Students violated the rights of Created Equal, not the other way around.
We like to think that because we are in college, we are open-minded and receptive to different beliefs. As was demonstrated, when we are presented with beliefs that are not popular on campus, we are not completely receptive.
If we are being honest with ourselves, we do not want to have an abortion debate on campus, regardless of tactics. Most people stand firmly in either the anti-abortion or pro-abortion rights camp. Neither side wants to engage the other. Perhaps the only way to engage the other side is to use shock tactics, such as drawing a wire hanger on a Turlington Hall wall or presenting horrific post-abortion images.
Secondly — and this pains and disgusts me to say — the horrific tactics work. This is not a justification, this is a fact. Those who claim otherwise are lying. If the brutal tactics of the anti-abortion group didn’t work, we’d never see them on campus. There is something completely disturbing yet emotionally powerful about the images and video on the plaza.
Finally, young people are inspired by those who act on their convictions. We wish we were strong enough to believe in a cause despite adversity, like civil rights leaders. When it comes to groups like Created Equal, however — groups that we by and large disagree with — we demonize them.
How dare they come to campus and tell us what they believe! They can’t be acting on their own convictions because their convictions are not my convictions! If they don’t agree with me, they must be ignorant!
Created Equal believes in what it believes. The images displayed are results of a particular procedure. Demonstrators believe in their cause so much that they are willing to travel to multiple locations, often with intense verbal and even physical threats coming their way, in order to tell people what they are constitutionally allowed to say. Those who criticize the group deny Created Equal the right of holding its beliefs.
Once again, I am not agreeing with Created Equal, its tactics or beliefs. I just wish that we were honest with ourselves.
The group had a right to demonstrate on the Plaza of the Americas and Turlington Plaza. I just wish that both sides, when engaged in debate, would act more civilly and less hypocritically.
Michael Beato is a UF economics junior. His column usually appears on Thursdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 3/16/2015 under the headline “Created Equal and criticizers hypocritical”]
