Life not an issue to be taken lightly
Re: “Pro-life controversy strikes at Carleton” (October 15, 2010).
Dear Editors,
Last week, there was an article about my experience at the Genocide Awareness Project.
Although many were ive of the fact that I stood up for my beliefs, some were outraged by the nature of the display.
In actuality, the first time I saw GAP I was confused by the comparison of abortion to the killing of innocent Jews, African Americans, Rwandans, etc. Were they suggesting women were like the aggressors?
But rather than mumble in disagreement, I asked those involved to justify the project.
In the dialogue that followed, not only did I find the justifications logically and morally sound, but the purpose of GAP became clear.
The comparison is between victims of genocide, not the actors committing it.
Although the following is a modest justification, I eventually acknowledged that all victims were denied personhood, seen as burdens, killed in sheer volumes, and most importantly, all were human beings.
For those that do not think abortion is the killing of an innocent child, I understand why they could find the comparison offensive.
But I think it is better to ask, clarify, engage in dialogue and be reasonably challenged, instead of accusing GAP participants of being anti-Semitic, racist or anti-woman.
I frankly do not know how such claims are logically derived.
Those who participate in GAP are Jewish, Catholic, agnostic, Caucasian, African-American, post-abortive, abortion survivors, essentially from all walks of life.
I’m sure nobody would accuse the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Alveda King, a GAP participant, of being insensitive to the lynching of African-Americans.
Personally, I would be intrigued to find how a post-abortive black woman s her views.
And so, a group at Queen’s requested that I apologize to “all victims of genocide.”
So here it is: I am sorry that this world is dominated by the perverse notion that the stronger can take advantage of the weaker; but we are fighting against it. I wish you were here with us.
I apologize to anyone who misunderstands our intentions. But when truth is revealed as it has been to me and the pro-life community, how can we stay silent?
We realize the images are hard to look at, but the point is to make everyone think about the issue in a framework they may not have considered before.
Our intention is not to single out women as the aggressors, but the innocent children as victims.
Repeating the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “America will not reject racism, until America sees racism,” Dr. Alveda King adds, “America will not reject abortion, until America sees abortion.”
Zuza Kurzawa, ArtSci ’13
President, Queen’s Alive
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