Testimony

From A Visitor to Ground Zero....


Knights of Columbus Oratorical Contest: Respect for Human Life
Title: A Courageous Voice, Not Hindered by Controversy
By: Amanda Achtman, Grade 11 Bishop Carroll High School Student

I first learned about the International Silent Day of Solidarity in an Alberta Pro-life electronic newsletter via Email. The Silent Day of Solidarity is about being silent in solidarity with the unborn whose voices have been silenced by abortion. Their lives have not been validated and I believe it is important to recognize them. Their graves are in our hearts. Their names are unknown. Their graves are in our hearts. We miss them. We have sadness for the loss of the aborted children, but hope for the unborn children. The Silent Day of Solidarity brings with it hope for the future. We have to let mothers know that their unborn babies are precious and deserve to be born.

Last year, in grade ten, I brought the idea of hosting a Silent Day of Solidarity to the Youth fFor Justice committee in my Catholic high school and it was approved. While one other member of the committee volunteered to help, everyone else made comments like:commented that, actually “It is too controversial…” “There may be students in our school considering having abortions…” and “People will think we are judging and condemning them no matter how we promote this event.” Initially, I struggled with the lack of support, but was determined to embrace the challenge.give not let the controversy hinder me, and to be a courageous voice as Pro-Life encouraged in their literature about the ‘day’.

My partner and IWe designed the posters and displayed them around the school. We also had quotes celebrating life published in the daily school newsletter.

On the day of the event, our school chaplain said a prayer over the intercom and students were invited to the chapel from 11 in the morning until 1 o’clock in the afternoon to pray and to do schoolwork in silence. Despite, the lack of attendance in the chapel, I thanked God for the day and for the work that He was doing through this event. It is not significant how many people came. I was once told that for every person in actual attendance, at least 10 others were influenced. The next day my chaplain told me, “Amanda, what happened yesterday was worth 110% of your efforts.s, if iIt made a difference to at least one person.”

That Silent Day affirmed my passion, desire, and sense of responsibility to be a voice, stand up for life, and to make it happen again.

This year, now as a grade 11 student, I brought this same initiative to the same youth committee again. This time, more discussion and consideration was given during the meeting. Students were hesitant, and very reluctant to be part of a day of Solidarity with the unborn. A couple of students were indifferent to the idea. , while oOthers explained that they are pro-life, but accept the fact that others are not and concluded in the end that they did not want this committee to be affiliated with this type of event. Another student asked, “Why don’t we just do something like this for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) because that would be far less controversial?”

As a group, we have been struggling with what constitutes social justice.what social justice is. It disappointed me how quickly the teacher coordinators of the group tried to close the discussion and shift to our annual focus of homelessness. (Surely, everyone is in support of affordable housing, right?) I thought, I can accept the fact that I do not have support from this student group, but it is not acceptable for us to avoid the dialogue that was emerging as we grappled with this issue simply because some people felt uncomfortable.

After the meeting, I prayed and reflected about whether or not God wanted this to happen and I simply could not deny it. Conversations and circumstances kept verifying the need and the reasons for this Silent Day of Solidarity at my high school.

I brought the idea to the school principal and she agreed to let me coordinate the Silent Day of Solidarity on my own..It was even more exciting when a close friend said, “I don’t necessarily have the same beliefs as you, but go for it, because you care about it and have a passion for it.”

I designed posters for the event. These pictures were carefully chosen to celebrate life, to bring joy to people’s hearts and not tears to their eyes. The Silent Day of Solidarity is all about “loving, compassionate pro-life, not angry anti-abortion.”

Again, quotes were published in the daily school newsletter that is read by all staff and students. We even included the fact that a baby’s heart begins to beat around three weeks. This is significant because many people believe that life begins when there is a heart beat and this occurs likely before the mother even knows she’s pregnant.

Finally, the Silent Day of Solidarity arrived. The day began when my school chaplain called the school to prayer over the intercom with a reflection centered around the themes of the Silent Day. Then, she invited students and staff to the chapel.

With my understanding of the controversy surrounding the issue of abortion, I knew that not everyone would agree with the initiative. However, defending the right to life and celebrating the Gospel of Life in a culture of death is not an easy task. Nonetheless, knowing this only enabled me to prepare to conquer challenges…and challenges did arise.

Shortly before the two hours of silent prayer in the chapel, began I discovered a letter next to my poster on the chapel door. It was addressed “To the Administrative group of the Silent Day of Solidarity:” The final paragraph said: “We object to expression of a catholic ideal as an insensitive, dogmatic ultimatum that alienates and ostracizes those who have been, or have helped a friend through an abortion experience. If the Catholic Community of Caring really wants their pro-life message to reach teens, then they ought to be a little more understanding, a little more compassionate and much less condemnatory of the people they are trying to help.”

Despite the challenges, I committed this Silent Day of Solidarity to God. He blessed the event yet again and throughout the entire day students were conversing in hallways, tackling the issue at lunch, and examining the posters more closely. I overheard a student sharing with another student how she could not imagine having an abortion because the psychological damage would be too much for her. The dialogue was amazing!

I was furthered challenged when I was on the bus coming home. I encountered a student who asked if I had been at school. When I told her that I had, she asked what I thought about the “whole abortion and prayer in the morning thing.” Before I answered, she said, “I mean, it’s caused a lot of controversy in our school. I heard the posters were pretty funny.” She had no idea that I coordinated the event! She continued explaining that as a pagan she doesn’t think any religion should force its beliefs on others. Then, I asked her what she thought the purpose of the Silent Day was. She said that judging by the chaplain’s message, “It sounded like she was just trying to make everyone aware of the issue, to think about it, and maybe to swerve people to the pro-life Catholic belief.”

It was a challenge to pursue this endeavor, but it was worth it.

I want to encourage all of you present here today to be challenged by controversy, not hindered by it. And because life is sacred and human dignity must be upheld, let us be the courageous voices for those who are silently waiting to be born!