Chalking does not further causes
Mike Romano
junior
I think it's funny that Ed Cohen, a member of the ND Peace Coalition, acknowledges that the pro-peace defacing of pro-war chalking doesn't help their cause. It's funny because he seems to be under the impression that the regular, not-vandalizing-the-chalking-of-others type of chalking actually does help their cause. Wake up, Peaceco: No chalking helps any cause.
I challenge any of you to provide one example of a case when someone has had an opinion swayed by a phrase etched on the sidewalk. In fact, I challenge you to find one instance where a person has even been moved to think about an issue because of chalk.
You might point to the fact that since you began your bold acts of free speech, discussion of the sidewalk chalk has notably increased on this campus. This is true, but a closer look will reveal the nature of the debate. More people attack or defend the chalking itself than the messages contained in the chalk phrases.
Honestly, what are football-weekend visitors supposed to do? See a peace sign scribbled on the ground and convert? Or maybe you expect that someone will walk past the highly intelligent phrase, "Drop Bush, Not Bombs," and say to himself, "My God, I have been living a lie for years. After seeing this, though, it all makes sense!"
Let me tell you, from a non-member perspective, the real effect of chalking. As far as I can see, chalking only reinforces the stereotype that peace activists are self-righteous and blind to the realities of the world. You actually do a disservice to your cause by chalking.
I will admit, there is plenty of obnoxiousness on the other side of the spectrum. War hawks, from all that I have seen, are more than willing to attack people and shrug aside arguments. This doesn't help, either. I continue to hope for a reasoned debate on the issue, a debate that incorporates both the respect for human life that makes killing abhorrent while recognizing the imperatives of protecting life from assault. I would offer a starting point for the debate myself but for my own uncertainty as to where I stand.
Though people might defend their beliefs with vacant catch phrases, I doubt very much that hurling such phrases back and forth across the ideological spectrum can ever convince anyone of anything.
So, in closing, I have two messages for the Notre Dame public: "Intelligence, not obnoxiousness," and "Reasoned debate, not catch-phrases." With any luck, people will see these two snippets and re-examine their lives.
Mike Romano
junior
Dillon Hall
Nov. 15
All Viewpoint Stories for Monday, November 18, 2002
