Silencing pro-life discourse ‘a shame’
Dear Editors,
Re: “Talking Heads” (Journal, Jan. 22, 2008)
In this Tuesday’s Talking Heads, the Journal decided to comment on the 20th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in Canada. As I read through the responses, I was irritated (though not surprised) to see the responses were entirely pro-choice. When the Journal decided to ask students about after-hours childcare, they managed to find people who commented on both sides of that issue; yet with this controversial issue, they could not manage to find a single person on campus who would comment on the pro-life side of the abortion debate.
The abortion debate can be rife with conflict. In a university setting, we should be open to scholarly debate on all issues, but not all universities seem to this policy. In the previous fall term the student associations of Vancouver’s Capilano College, the University of British Columbia and Carleton University all denied club status to pro-life clubs on their campuses.
Although Carleton reversed its decision after a few scathing editorials, this attempted silencing of the pro-life position is unacceptable in a country where multiple discourses are supposed to be both available and encouraged. I believe Erin Millar from Macleans said it best: “There is no inherent human right not to be threatened by a point of view. In fact, being threatened by ideas is necessary to progress.” The abortion debate in Canada is far from over. In Canada a fetus may be “terminated” at any point before birth, even if it is in the process of being born. According to abortionincanada.ca, many European countries restrict abortions to between 12 and 24 weeks into pregnancy. Surveys posted on abortionincanada.ca collected by Gallup polls over the last 30 years also show that two thirds of Canadian women some form of protection for the fetus during pregnancy.
It’s a shame Canadian universities are silencing the unpopular position on a topic that demands our attention. If universities can’t be a source of multiple discourses, how can we expect people in our supposedly multicultural society to be tolerant and open towards those who have different paradigms than their own?
Janice Duynisveld
ArtSci ’08
Abortion a ‘bad solution to social problems’
Dear Editors,
Since Jan. 28th, 1988, Canada has boasted unrestricted access to abortion. I would like to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to eradicate all abortion legislation as well as reflect on the benefits of abortion in our country.
Abortion is essentially hailed as the greatest advancement to society since the discovery of the wheel. Twenty years ago abortion proponents were clamoring that legalizing abortion would solve a horde of social issues. Today, we are still faced with the same inexcusable problems which remain far from resolution. We have more divorce, poverty, welfare, teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted disease, crime, child abuse and a generally more violent and fractured society. Furthermore, pro-lifers are often accused of being insensitive to children’s needs.
Abortion advocates argue that we need abortion because so many children, if allowed to be born, won’t have decent food, clothing, housing and education. Although I agree that child poverty is atrocious, I doubt that one of the wealthiest nations on earth lacks the resources to care for them. Poverty makes a child’s life difficult. Abortion makes it impossible.
I think it’s about time that we acknowledge abortion to be a bad solution to social problems. After all, you never hear of anyone volunteering to die to solve a social issue; they merely insist others do.
Gabrielle Ferri
ArtSci ’10
Queen’s Alive vice-president
University experience not exclusive to ‘Frat Boys’
Dear Editors:
Re: ‘Frat Boy’ Culture needs to change (Jan. 22 2008)
Have you ever been called “Whitewashed”? Well, probably not if you’re Caucasian, because clearly you were born with white skin and not “washed” with it. But if you are like myself, a visible minority that grew up in North American middle-class suburbia, then it’s possible you have been.
For me, it started in high school and has definitely not ended during my time at Queen’s. Many people of all different races have called me this name and I’ve always laughed it off. Well I’m not laughing anymore. Why? Because I’m not white! Why should I be told that I’m compromising my skin colour for wanting to make the North American culture my own just as much as the West Indian culture I already have? I was born in the States and raised in Canada; I think that gives me the right to take in the culture of these countries.
Last week an article was written about the fact that the “frat boy culture” at Queen’s is to blame for ongoing problems with racism. The author did make many constructive points in the article and I agree that cultures of all different kinds should be promoted and celebrated on our campus and we should all make a conscious effort to incorporate that into our time here. However, I found it disturbing that this idea of “frat boy culture,” which the author says includes partying, watching sports and making trips to the library associates with the white, alpha-male university student. I do those things—does that make me just another white (washed) alpha male on campus? The North American version of the college experience isn’t a solely white masculine ideal. This is where the asinine concept of “whitewash” comes from. Welcome the fact that North America is home to many different races and there are many aspects to its culture that we can all enjoy and share in. We don’t have to wash ourselves white in order to be a part of it.
Ashley Singh
ArtSci ’09
‘Queen’s pride’ something to be proud of
Re: Curb Queen’s Cockiness – Jan 11, 2008
It can be argued that some Queen’s students exude a cocky attitude stemming solely from their enrollment here. These students naively assume that simply attending a school places you in a more ‘gifted’ category than others. For the most part, I would say that this attitude wears off as students become aware of the fact that there are talented, intelligent individuals at all Canadian universities.
Regardless, Queen’s has an amazing academic reputation because the school and its students have earned that. From what I’ve gathered from students at Queen’s and other Canadian schools, it’s hard to succeed at Queen’s. That is why Queen’s students do have a right to be proud of the school that they attend. It’s wrong for students to feel discouraged from displaying pride for their school and its academic reputation. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of outside pressure attempting to diminish pride in the Queen’s reputation. Mr. Taylor refers to this when he mentions friends asking him about Queen’s in a ‘prissy tone’. We shouldn’t have to feel that we should downplay pride in attending Queen’s just because outsiders judge us for doing so. And honestly, employers do consider schools’ reputations when reviewing applicants. They’re not going to look solely at the school but they do consider that there are undeniable differences in various universities’ academic standards.
That is just my take on where pride belongs at Queen’s.
Katrina Clarke
ArtSci ’09
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