Memorial University Students’ Union said to be Delusional For Outlawing Campus Pro-Life Group

On Friday, September 28, 2007 we blogged this story: Memorial University of Newfoundland Students' Union Denies Club Status to Student Pro-Life Group.

Since that time Patrick Hanlon, President of the student pro-life club in question—MUN for Life—has advised that the club’s application has indeed been officially turned down.

In today’s issue of the MUN student newspaper, the MUSE Online, the newspaper reports on a concerned student, Conrad Abbot, who addressed the board about something he found to be disturbing.

Abbott wanted to know why MUNSU denied ratification to pro-life group MUN For Life. He said the Union gives itself a bad name by not ratifying non-left-leaning clubs.

He noted furthermore

“The university is about broadening your horizons,” he said.

The board’s reply?

We just don’t appreciate some of the tactics they’ve used. … They haven’t been conducting themselves in a manner that’s sensitive…MUN For Life has offended people and made them cry…this group also advocates taking away legal rights from over half of our membership.

Also in today’s issue is a letter to the editor from another concerned party, Alex Bill. His letter is headlined “Right to lifers are outdated, not outlawed.” He starts his letter by stating

MUNSU representatives are doing students a disservice by refusing to ratify the MUN For Life society, letting their personal politics interfere in what should be a simple debate.

He goes on to say they

…couldn’t resist turning the debate into a philosophical argument about abortion itself, an unprofessional turn of events divergent from the issue at hand.

It’s presumptuous to assume that MUNSU ratification represents some sort of ideological endorsement, and undemocratic to deny ratification simply because a group represents a different opinion than the Union.

…If MUNSU thinks ratifying this group somehow threatens their own position or compromises their credibility, perhaps they are the delusional ones.

Who is going to set these “delusional ones” straight?

Christians are to be salt and light in their societies. Lots more salt required here.