Here sweetie, hold this sign for Mommy
Driving home from lunch yesterday, Brad and I saw hundreds of people lined up along our road (which is a main street through town before it tapers down to our little neighborhood) holding signs to protest abortion.
I wasn’t bothered so much by their presence. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly…fine, if that’s how you want to spend your afternoon, I don’t care. And I wasn’t even all that bothered by their message. Their signs simply protested abortion, not specifically the legalization of abortion. Even though I presume that was the subtext of their message, I didn’t get too annoyed since most signs simply said things like “Stop Abortion” and “Adoption: The Loving Option.”
If they’re just encouraging confused women to consider their options, then fine, stand there all day. I doubt they changed a single person’s mind about anything, but I’m sure they felt pretty good about their day’s work, so I did little more than roll my eyes at the spectacle in general.
But what really bothers me, and I wish I would have had a camera to capture this, is that all these parents had dragged their young children out to the street corner to hold signs, which were bigger than their bodies, that screamed “Abortion Kills Children” and other heavily-charged statements.
Children. Forced to display the opinions of their parents on 2′x3′ placards. On street corners.
I know that my future children will inevitably be influenced by my personal opinions, and I know that I’ll be a little be devastated if they reject what I consider to be my generally open-minded ideas of civil rights. But while they’re not even old enough to form their own opinions about what is right and wrong, I hope I have the decency to not force them to express mine for me. On the street. With signs.
October 2nd, 2006 at 8:41 pm
I saw protesters this weekend too..but weirdo PETA people with dead baby elephant signs outside the Van Andel while the circus was going on. I roll my eyes too…I think they look ridiculous, and rarely get any attention at all.
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:18 am
I completely agree with you Shannon. Nothing else to say.
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:21 pm
You know how I feel about abortion ….
I wouldn’t call this assembly a protest as much as just bringing attention to the fact that so many unborn babies are ruthlessly killed in the name of “choice” (which should come before the act of making babies) and a time to pray. The assembly is called Life Chain and it happens every year on the first Sunday of October.
And parenting is all about teaching kids right from wrong and helping them make good choices.
October 4th, 2006 at 9:58 pm
I would have to agree with Cindy. Well put.
October 6th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Forcing a child to hold a sign that says “ABORTION KILLS BABIES” is helping them make good choices? Isn’t that making the choice for them? Did the child get to choose from two signs, “ABORTION KILLS BABIES” or “ABORTION DOESN’T KILL BABIES” (whatever the opposite would be)?
The pros and cons and evils and choices concerning abortion are all a different subject for another day, but this is completely different.
I am all for teaching your children right from wrong. But let them decide when they are ready when it comes to something like this. Leave them at home and explain to them what you are doing, and then someday, if they feel the same as you after having a little more life experience under their belt, they can join you or do their own thing.
Forcing an opinion on someone isn’t teaching them right from wrong, it’s telling them.
October 7th, 2006 at 9:35 am
This was actually in response to Brad’s post on a similar topic, but I thought it had relevance here as well:
I think it’s interesting that mine and Brad’s discussions on using children to express a parent’s opinion has inevitably also become a discussion on abortion and choice. Because it’s such a polarizing issue, I guess it’s irresitable.
Regarding the children holding signs… I can agree with Scott and say I see where the parents are coming from. But that doesn’t make it right. What I said to Brad earlier is that what if I saw this demonstration and wanted more information, so I pulled over? If I asked an adult, they could tell me why they’re there, what they believe, what the demonstration is all about. If I asked their five-year old child, all he or she could do is regurgitate some words their parents have fed them. Obviously kids will learn and usually adopt their parents beliefs; I hope my kids learn mine! But there’s a difference between teaching them values and dragging them to the streets to hold a sign that displays your own opinions on such a dividing issue. In this case, the children, I believe, were more or less being used as simply an extra body in a large demonstration.
And regarding abortion, let’s be clear that the opposite of pro-choice is not pro-life: it’s anti-choice. I don’t like abortion any more than those demonstraters, or any more than Adam above. I will always encourage other women to choose other options, and I will never choose an abortion for myself. But after just as much reflection, research, and contemplation, I cannot be convinced that that choice should be taken away from me. That the government should choose for me. And I’m so grateful that my boyfriend loves and respects me and all women enough to agree with my (our) right to choose.
October 12th, 2006 at 7:22 am
probably enough said on this, but i’ve been thinking…
we ask our young kids to do and participate in lots of things they don’t understand at the time … everything from sitting through a baseball game to waving palm branches on Palm Sunday… it may or may not be fun for them, they may “get it” a little bit, but full understanding about what it’s all about doesn’t come until much later in life…
I can think of some good things about kids holding signs with their parents, whether or not they understand what the signs say. Things like: my parents have strong convictions about this…. my parents are willing to stand up for what they believe, even if others disagree with them or even mock them…. our country gives us the freedom to express these beliefs in public…. I am a valuable part of my family… even though I am young, my voice counts, I can make a difference in the world… Again, these things may not be totally understood at the time, but they are assimilated over the years…
OK, I’m done now… enough said.
Love ya, Shan
November 28th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Hi.
Good design, who make it?