Under the Tarnished Dome
I'm sure most of you know the disturbing, shameful, embarrassing, disgraceful news.
Jack Higgins © 2009 Chicago Sun-Times
It was honestly difficult for me to imagine another person possessing more love for the University of Notre Dame than I. That all changed last Friday when Our Lady's University announced it will give President Obama the second most famous Catholic world stage at its Commencement ceremony this May. Worse yet, they will bestow an honorary law degree upon the Commander-in-Chief of the Culture of Death. It is difficult to put into words how hurt and disappointed I am. My stomach has been in knots and my heart in pieces. (As an aside, I have not been able to don a single article of ND gear and going on 8 days since the announcement, this means I must either do laundry or go shopping.)
I'll have much more to say on this hypocrisy, but for now I want to encourage you to watch this video from alumni and sign these two petitions.
http://www.realcatholictv.net/ndobama/
http://www.notredamescandal.com/
Finally, we need to flood Notre Dame President Jenkins with calls, emails, letters, and most importantly prayers. Here is his info:
Rev. John Jenkins, CSC
400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574-631-3903
president@nd.edu
More than ever, we need the most prominent Catholic university to take a stand against the slaughter... to shine a light in the darkness... to UN-invite Obama. If not, Notre Dame sadly no longer deserves to be called Catholic.
Ryan - I can only imagine how difficult it was for you to write this - and the disappointment (is that even a strong enough word?) that you are feeling. But I am so very proud of you for always taking a stand for good and right - you have once again restored my hope! Let us continue to fight the good fight, my friend!
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As a Catholic Educator, I am deeply saddened to see the University uproot its foundations in the Catholic Faith and sever its fidelity to the clear teachings of the Church by providing this sort of honor and prestige to a man who is engineering the culture of death to whole new levels. The University is clearly disobeying the will of the Catholic Church, and this is not just a small issue regarding, say, whether or not to teach evolution. This is about the deepest moral fabric of the Catholic Faith, and to have a man who is tearing this fabric with great intensity and ferocity is almost unbearable. The University asks, "What would you fight for?", and I have fought for the dignity of human life. Now, the same University that encourages me to find something to fight for is bringing in the man who is implementing everything that I am (and continue) to fight against. What a sad time for this great nation and our beloved University.
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I know Tony Hollowell likes this one and I know his father at one point had it hanging in his office…so I will start with this...
"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."
But sadly...all I see on this blog is cursing...there is no mention here of light...only reactionary responses to very deep seeded beliefs...I see a fear laden desire to silence a voice…trembling at the idea of a dialogue with someone who takes a political stance on one issue which is so radically different than their own…
But what of the possibilities that come from this invitation…what of our Catholicity rubbing off onto him…what if people actually respectfully communicated with each other about their conscientious political stances…what if we gave each other the dignity of a patient ear…what if I just listened to him and he just listened to me…perhaps then we could stop driving people so far away, perhaps then people will feel less shame after having an abortion and live their God given lives with a better chance at healing, perhaps then progress would be possible and the number of back alley abortions could actually go down, perhaps then I would understand a bit more about my Christian brother, my Islamic sister, my human friend.
No…too novel an idea…to invite all to the table… to loosen the fears that keep you tightly gripped to your reality? A suggestion from how I see it …there is no issue worth fighting more than that of abortion…no issue which my heart cries over more than this one (and how I have cried over these murders)…yet nothing gets accomplished when we yell as loud as we can that we are in the right…save letting “those others” know where we stand…on the opposite side…
The problem here is that in this very loud yelling we are just separating into two warring communities…and in so doing we attempt to simplify a life that has great complexities that stem from minds that produce even greater injustices…but still you yell…WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON…SIGN THIS PETITION…TELL ME YOU ARE GOING TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT?!?! What a simplification of an incredibly complex life…I didn’t start with this because of all the hoopla that surrounds George W. Bush…but a question…would you have made such a stance if he were invited to speak…saying un-invite that man …as you yelled…I am standing up for the hundreds that were killed in the death penalty that he supported…I am standing up for the thousands of soldiers who died because of a poorly plotted war strategy…I am standing up for the silenced Palestinians whose voices can’t be heard behind that wall of the Israeli Lobby – Not me…I would have sat down…to hear what that man had to say…what good does it do to a silence another voice…too many already go unheard…what good does it do to say no sir…you can’t come here…your voice isn’t worthy of this place…you sir…are too different from me…
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continued...
I have learned from a Man who tells me that no man is unworthy…that all should be heard…and that only in that conversation can I really understand who that human really is…I know that without that dialogue…no progress will be made…nothing moves on this issue…except a set of exhausted vocal cords…
I can’t end there (again because this existence is far too complex)…as a Catholic who is in support of all the themes of Catholic Social Teaching…not just the first moral theme (Dignity of the Human Person) but the way that moral theme ties into the third (Option for the Poor)…it must be mentioned that hundreds of programs that this invited man supports go to help thousands who daily have dignity denied…For the poor he supports - The right to live a healthy life through programs reforming health care…the right to die with more than a dollar in hand through programs reforming social security…the right to a less oppressed life for our middle eastern brothers through foreign policy reform and appointments of people like George Mitchell…the right to a just Catholic education for the poorest of the poor…oh shoot…he just signed a bill that all but kills the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program...again, complicated…but I do want to logically talk about it…about all of it…not as a challenger…but as a brother…a fellow disciple of Christ…so that in the end…less will die and more will be dignified.
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Greg: The ironic statement of all ironies...
"For the poor he supports - The right to live a healthy life through programs reforming health care..."
How exactly will the countless murdered children (at his hands) get access to this grandiose health care plan you speak of?
Hence why John Paul the Great said,
“Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with the maximum determination.”
As for cursing the darkness vs. lighting a candle... perhaps you missed the bottom of my post... the part about needing "the most prominent Catholic university to take a stand against the slaughter... to shine a light in the darkness." They have covered the great beacon of light that is Catholic Education. They have added to the darkness. We need to hold a candle, flashlight, match... whatever we can get our hands on... to shed light on the increased confusion and darkness.
No trembling fear here, Greg. I invite Obama to "dialogue" any time, any place. I agree that Notre Dame should do the same. Invite the man to dialogue. Absolutely. However, we both know handing him the 2nd biggest Catholic world platform and HONORING him with a Degree has nothing to do with inviting dialogue. It's about choosing prestige at the cost of your soul.
I hear Obama loud and clear. Did YOU not listen to him?... on his first day in office he said through clenched teeth, "I have NO interest in continuing the stale and fruitless debate on abortion."
What do you think? Is Father Jenkins grand plan to reel him in with an award, then walk him to Air Force One while telling him the Gospel story of the woman caught in adultery, pat him on the back, and say,"Neither do I condemn you, now go and sin no more"... and problem solved? Notre Dame's Catholic identity restored? Please. I thought you said you were a realist?
Finally... you, Father Jenkins, and all who support this decision continue to dance around this one simple question:
What if George Wallace [or insert any famous dehumanizer HERE]...with his grand plans of restored "dignity" via job creation, etc, but at the same time his relentless pursuit to dehumanize an entire class of the population... had won his presidential bid in 1968, WOULD YOU HAVE SUPPORTED THE SO-CALLED "INVITATION TO DIALOGUE" IN THE FORM OF A COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AND HONORARY NOTRE DAME DEGREE?
And, yes, I was yelling! I am emotional! I am outraged! (by this scandal upon my beloved University, not by your sincere desire for "progress") .
I demand to know why nobody who supports this decision will touch this question.
[Also see Tony's response.]
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