The tradition of students, as I have been told, is to camp beside the cannon in order to paint it. You can paint it however you want-but it is obviously subject to reasonable limits. A group of students decided to paint the cannon with slogans calling to “end abortion” and “protect every life”. They planted pink and blue flags to represent aborted fetuses every year in Canada, and they even stood beside it to answer questions and hand-out pamphlets. Is this within their rights? Absolutely, but some rather angry students did not think the same.
Now let me preface what I am about to say with a few facts: one, I am a first year CJPP student; two, I am a right-wing conservative (yes, I support Harper); three, I am a Roman Catholic; four, I am absolutely pro-choice (strange I know). It made me absolutely sick to see students physically destroying and vandalizing the display, which the pro-life students worked very hard on. Sure, I do not agree with what they’re saying, but that gives me no right to destroy what they have worked on and silence them because they do not conform to my beliefs.
It seems to be the trend of Social Justice Warriors to push for equality, activism, freedom of speech and religion-unless of course, any of the above does not conform to their twisted ideology. Students forget the most important thing about freedom of speech, which is that it also includes the freedom to be offended. I am disappointed to see such grotesque and malicious behaviour taking place on a university campus. Attacking others for having a different opinion is unacceptable and should not be tolerated on campus.
University is an institution for all peoples to come together and engage in academic discussions. This includes people who have different ideologies and religions. It is what university is supposed to stand for. This is a place to bring forward all ideas and debate them with your colleagues. Unfortunately, this is oft forgotten. I do not feel welcome to discuss any ideas that I currently hold. I do not discuss the election (being conservative is a dangerous thing around here) because I will be scrutinized and attacked for it. Why does this happen, one might ask? It’s quite simple. I do not hold the same opinion as the majority and because of this my character and ideology will be attacked, absent of any actual intellectual debate.
This entire fiasco reminded me of a great quote I heard: “If you’re not liberal when you’re young, you have no heart. If you’re not conservative when you’re old, you have no brain.”
I do not agree with the “pro-life” activists, but I respect their rights that allow them to speak their mind. I did not attack them or vandalize their displays because I disagreed with them. Am I offended by their painting of the cannon? Yes, but it does not give me a right to destroy it. If I was really that bothered, I would have approached them and engaged in a debate about our clashing ideologies. The actions of students on Wednesday made me very upset and worried about the next four years I plan on spending in Guelph. I will close by saying that I am very disappointed to call myself a Gryphon, after the actions of “pro-choice” students. If a right-wing student is telling you to respect everyone’s rights then you are definitely doing something wrong. It’s time to start recognizing everyone’s opinion and everyone’s rights (even the ones that make you pissed off). The opinions that upset you are the most important ones to respect. So play fair Gryphons, and be respectful of one another.