Hillsdale College for Life began a new series exploring the pro-life argument this Monday. The student club, dedicated to protecting unborn lives from abortion, is hosting a series of video viewings and discussions every Monday during Lent at noon in Lane 124. Pizza and drinks are provided as students watch to a video series produced by Scott Klusendorf, president of the Life Training Institute.
The lectures are designed to educate students on the moral and theological reasons behind the pro-life view, as well as provide them with the tools for talking to non-Christians regarding the pro-life position. Senior Kathleen Russo, president of Hillsdale College for Life, explained why the organization is putting on the series.
“This is a video series and it involves a lot of experts, and the video shows the experts meeting with real students and showing how to discuss pro-life beliefs with others,” she said.
Erik Halvorson, senior and vice president of Hillsdale College for Life, said there are two areas of focus in the course. Halvorson explained that Christians must understand the theological element of the pro-life argument and also be able to convince unbelievers why life should be valued from a religious point of view.
“It is the fundamental point of Christianity to value human life because human life is made in the image of God,” Halvorson said. “It is a fundamental aspect of Christianity, to love your neighbor.”
Halvorson said Christians often fail to convince those who do not share their religious views of the pro-life message.
“We also cannot impose our faith on someone else. Many pro-life Christians run into that dilemma,” he said. “It is really important for us to understand it does not have to be a Christian pro-life argument, even if — as Christians — it comes back to that. It is important for Christians to make the secular and scientific argument without contradicting their faith.”
There were fifteen students who attended the screening of the first video in the “Life is Best” series. Feedback from event coordinators was encouraging in light of student engagement and interest in the event. Russo said she hopes students can derive some benefits out of the series.
“I hope this series builds intelligent students,” she said. “The first thing that needs to happen for our country and our society to value life is we need informed people to talk about topics with intelligence. Hillsdale does so well in arming our students to talk about these issues.”
Hillsdale College for Life welcomes all who are interested and anticipates that more students will attend the video series in the coming weeks.
“We hope as the event gains traction, more will come,” Russo said.
