Shattering the Glass Palace
Pro-Life Activism on University Campuses
By Camilla Gunnarson

It has long been known that liberal ideology dominates the environment of university campuses. The Post Second World War brought neo-Marxist, relativist social science thinking onto university campuses. Today, post-secondary education is steeped in individualistic relativism, the eclipse of God and the elevation of man. Academics, together with left-liberal politicians, judicial activists and the liberal media have created a world in which the social order is continually being undermined. But the good news is that several university groups are stepping up to counter the liberal indoctrination with a dose of transcendent truth.
           
Pro-life groups are forming on university campuses across the country.  These young people vow to expose and combat the secular humanism that has lead to the social ills of our day.  National Campus Life Network (NCLN) is a co-ordinating body for university based pro-life groups across the country.  Currently there are eighteen groups on university campuses across Canada.   Their mandate is to support, unify and expand individual pro-life groups on post-secondary campuses.  By equipping students to defend and promote life on campus, young people are winning the battle of ideas.
           
Johanna Miller, President of McMaster LifeLine at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario says, "As we fight to maintain our values, health, and peace of mind in the fast-paced world that is today's culture, students play a vital role in the pro-life movement.  As university campus pro-life groups continue to form across the country, we are a pro-life force that is determined to change the way people think about abortion.  We live in today's modern culture, and know the mentality of our newest opponents.  We walk with the women who are most victimized and misinformed.   We shape culture, and we will shape the future. Young people of today are determined to rebuild our culture. We are grateful for the support of our unrelenting predecessors who have struggled for so long to save human dignity and we welcome the opportunity to join the movement where the battle must be won, on the university campus."
           
Elaine Zettel, Vice-President of LifeLine shares, "As the survivor generation, we have never lived in a society where abortion was not accepted as the norm and euthanasia didn't threaten to further devalue our medical system.  There is no going back, only working together toward a new society that respects all human life…A clear understanding of the threats to life, and an ability to communicate our reasons for defending life, will be the effective tools that we need to fight against the culture of death.  As students, we constantly hear arguments against life from our classmates, coworkers and professors.  Learning about the life issues will allow us to answer their questions and act to shape the society in which we desire to live.  As I look to the future I see the younger generation taking up the torch of the pro-life movement and bringing it into our schools, our work and our families.  By working together we can fight back for all of the men, women and children who have become victims of our abortion culture by exposing the truth.  In this way we will mould a new Canada for life.” 
           
These young people are not simply engaging in stubborn debate; they are actively involved in bringing about a culture of life. Pro-life university students recognize that their peers are among the most at risk for having an abortion. Statistics Canada reports that 70% of women who have abortions are twenty-nine years old and under.  Many of them have discovered either through first-hand experience or through close friendships how detrimental abortion can be on women and society. 

           
Moreover, the ideological monopoly of "ideas" taught in the university environment gives rise to the degradation of human life. But, these students reject the thinking that freedom is subjectively known, individually lived and indifferent to God.  Instead, they embrace freedom that is based on objective truth, lived in solidarity with others and needs God.  By refuting relativism they are pointing out the inconsistent and illogical worldview of exclusive humanism.

           
We see the emergence of two cultures co-existing side by side, the culture of death and the culture of life.  It was Pope John Paul II who coined these terms.  He described the culture of death as "a sad and vicious circle: If you lose sight of the value and dignity of life, you will lose sight of the presence and power of God. And if you lose sight of God, you will lose sight of life. When that happens, life becomes one more thing, one more bit of property that we can control and use up.“  These young people are responding to his challenge to, "Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion, and your fortitude at the service of life."  For John Paul II warned,"When God is forgotten…the creature itself grows unintelligible"
           
In contrast, the culture of life is a culture that chooses life, a culture that values every person not for what he or she can do but for who he or she is. It is a culture in which reason and faith lead man to discover the transcendent truth of reality. 

The truth of life will overshadow the darkness of death and it is through these young people that our world will experience a renewal of life and society.  Their light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

Camilla Gunnarson is the part-time editor of LifeCanada News.