A Christian university in Texas seems to have lost the plot when it comes to abortion. Abilene Christian University (ACU) has told a campus pro-life group to take down an “abortion is murder” sign on the grounds that the message constituted “hate speech” despite the school’s written policies offering no objective criteria for what speech qualifies as hateful.
ACU says its mission is to “educate students for Christian service” as a “divine calling that enriches our global society, academic disciplines, the university, and the church to God’s glory,” with “exemplary teaching” that “informs and impacts issues of global importance to the academy, church, and society.”
The pro-life cause would seem a natural fit for the school, but as Campus Reform reported, the campus pro-life group ACU for Life learned differently on October 14 when school officials noticed a sign reading “Abortion is Murder. Disagree? Let’s talk” at their resource table.
“You can’t have this,” dean for retention & student success Lyndi Felan told ACU for Life president Madelyne Arrowood, alongside assistant director of student services John Mark Moudy.
“How would you like us to rephrase it?” Arrowood asked. Felan responded simply, “Anything that is just not hate speech. I’m not going to write it for you.” Several students asked them to define hate speech, to no avail.
“You can get up or you can change the sign. Either way, it’s going to be a conduct issue,” Felan threatened before eventually approving the message, “Abortion Kills An Innocent Human Life.”