Would You Have Chosen to Walk Out At Your Graduation?

[Anonymous]

About 100 or so students walked out on guest speaker Mike Pence at Notre Dame's graduation in protest. The students cited the Vice President’s history of anti-LGBTQ actions including the passage of Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in 2015, which some say legalized discrimination against LGBTQ people and families. The school said it would only intervene if they students protests "seriously interrupted" the proceedings, which, apparently it did not.

I don't care whether you agree with the students reasoning for walking out or not, but what I do care about is, if we are going to be a country where we value our freedoms, how can you then be pissed over people actually exercising their rights to peaceful protests? People don't just protest what you personally want them to, they protest what they feel is important enough to make a stand against. Look at a North Korea or a Russia? You think they have the freedom to protest their leadership, to talk about the problems they see going on? They can't, and if we start saying, sit down and shut-up, what happens when it IS something you care about and need to make a stand about? What then?

And yes, you may be saying, well, what are 100 people walking out going to do, he's still VP and presumably isn't going anywhere fast, but in this world of social media that we live in now, we KNOW that one person doing one thing or having one thing done to them can get millions of views across the world and can inspire a movement. People no longer need seven 1 million marches to get people talking and walking. Not saying this will or won't do that, but this is our current climate when it comes to social justice or injustice.

[Anonymous]

I certainly support the right to protest. But protesting has no meaning anymore. People protest everywhere about absolutely anything, and indeed about absolutely nothing. It has become a pathetic joke. This one is no different, and those students who walked out on their own graduation wasted their graduation ceremony on a meaningless gesture that just made them look like idiots. That's what they'll remember, and it's how they will be remembered.

[Curmudgeon]

Let the stupid commiecrat fucks walk out. Go Pence.

[Nostalgiasteve]

"commiecrat fucks"? Are you really that insane as to say that just because people a protesting a VP because he doesn't care about the interests of US citizens then they have to be communists? And more specifically "commiecrat fucks"? What a joke...

[Nostalgiasteve]

(*are protesting) slight correction.

[Curmudgeon]

@Nostalgiasteve they are walking out on behalf of non-citizens they say. Maybe you should try to keep up...

[Nostalgiasteve]

"Try to keep up" This implies that I don't which is false. And Ok... so acting on behalf of non-citizens makes one a "stupid commiecrat fuck" is what you're saying then? Please elaborate.

[Anonymous]

I would be happy to have an anti LGBTQ speaker. I am tired of all the PC crap. There are other opinions that should be heard too.
The liberals are so intolerant of any views being discussed that aren't their own.

[myTake Owner]

But again, we cannot have the right to hear other people's opinions if we don't also have the right to protest. It can't just be fair to say or protest against something when you agree with it; the freedoms of others should also be exercised or no one gets them and we end up in some society where police roam the streets kidnapping people for saying anything.

[Opinion Owner]

A graduation that is a once in a lifetime event, I'm sure with parents watching and trying to enjoy their kids' moment is totally the wrong time to protest.
I don't believe in spoiling rare family events regardless of someone's political beliefs.

Even if Bernie or someone was speaking at a graduation, I wouldn't walk out and mess up an event like that. It is too disrespectful fo the families there.

[myTake Owner]

but the same could be said of someone shouting boos like they've done at other rallies, or yelling loudly at town meetings when someone is trying to speak. There is no "right time" to protest, and all they did was silently walk out, and I assume the graduation kept going as planned. This is far better of a decent protest, then most I've seen.

[Dred1614returns]

I had never heard of the speaker for my ceremony last weekend, but no matter who it was or what they said I wouldn't have walked out.
The idiots that did should be ashamed of themselves.