Carleton students go off deep end

It's finally done. The Carleton University Students' Association voted overwhelmingly on December 5th to deny resources, space, recognition or funding to "anti-choice" student groups, i.e. groups advocating an end to abortion.

They're trying to pretend that this is not limiting freedom of speech since pro-life students will still be able to gather on campus, but they won't be able to use facilities or resources of CUSA.

Not limiting freedom of speech, eh? Nice try. In the debating world, that's called an argument that commits suicide because the very essence of the argument contradicts what it is trying to prove.

Think for a second: Why did CUSA pass this motion in the first place? They say it was to end "discrimination", as they define it. According to CUSA, anybody who is advocating an end to abortion is acting in a discriminatory manner towards women. Therefore, these groups can't be tolerated and must be muzzled. Since CUSA does not possess all the necessary powers to enforce a strict suppression of these groups, it did the most that it could, by denying them any legitimacy, club status, resources or facilities. The point is precisely to shut down these groups. There is no other reason to pass this motion.

Supporters of the motion will claim that they've done nothing to restrain freedom of speech. That's baloney. They know that the purpose of denying club status to these groups was to make their life more difficult in the hopes of getting them out of their hair. Don't believe their rhetoric.

CUSA is so narrow-minded that it doesn't realize that abortion is one of the motion divisive issues of the last 50 years. CUSA is pretending as if the debate was settled and that it is somehow "common knowledge" that anybody with a contrary opinion is some sort of anti-woman bigot that can't be accepted on campus.

Having studied at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, I know how these student bodies get easily corrupted by the power game. Students are so young and imature that they readily seize any opportunity to impose their values on others. It's like having a child in a candy store. They can't resist.

It's hard to fathom the hypocrisy of a University in a democratic society allowing such a suppression of freedom of debate. It's mind-boggling.

Carleton, which was already struggling with an image of "Last Change U" is now clearly on the black list of flaky institutions. I would never study there and won't give a penny if they ask me to donate.