Notre Dame's Betrayal of Faith

American Thinker ^ | April 05, 2009 | Selwyn Duke

[neverdem]

When John the Baptist said to King Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife," the price he paid was his head on a platter.  He had spoken Absolute Truth to power in a time when power was absolute.  It was the bravest of acts, the kind only undertaken by those very rare men for all seasons.

Lying in stark contrast to this is catholic (note the small "c") Notre Dame University's genuflection before Barack Obama, a man embodying the very antithesis of Catholic teaching.  As most are aware, the university extended an invitation to Obama to deliver a commencement address and, to make matters worse, will bestow upon him an honorary doctorate.  This, despite the fact that Obama has distinguished himself as the most militantly anti-life president in American history.  In fact, his support of abortion extends to the point of infanticide, and I speak of his, at best, indifference to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.  In opposing the Illinois version of this legislation -- thereby signaling his willingness to allow newborn babies to die in soiled store rooms -- he showed his true colors.  That is to say, it's not so much that the matter of when a baby gets human rights is above his pay grade; it's that he is morally degraded.

Adding to his impressive pro-death resume, Obama has rescinded the Mexico City Policy, thereby allowing our tax money to be used to promote abortion in foreign lands.  He is also using tax dollars to fund the harvesting of stem cells from nascent human life.  And he endeavors to establish a policy that would force health-care workers to either be party to abortion or risk losing their jobs ("Freedom of Choice" Act). 

But it isn't just on life issues that Obama is found wanting.  He also supports special rights for homosexuals (euphemistically called "gay rights").  Additionally, he apparently was a member of Chicago's socialist New Party in the 1990s, an association he has never adequately disowned.  This is relevant because embracing socialism is contrary to Catholic teaching.  As Pope Pius XI said plainly in 1931, "No one can be at the same time a sincere Catholic and a true Socialist."  (In fact, the Church has long condemned socialism - here and here, for instance).

Yet the inappropriateness of honoring Obama at Notre Dame doesn't have to be inferred from pronouncements from the past.  Contemporary Church leaders have made their voices heard as well, with 13 bishops publicly criticizing the invitation.  Among them is Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa, who said,

"For President Obama to be honored by Notre Dame is more than a disappointment, it is a scandal." 

Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark said,

"When we extend honors to people who do not share our respect and reverence for life in all stages, and give them a prominent stage in our parishes, schools and other institutions, we unfortunately create the perception that we endorse their public positions on these issues."

Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City wrote,

 "Catholic institutions of higher learning must always be places where the Catholic values we hold so dearly will always be supported and promoted - not where the culture of death is allowed to be honored or valued."

And, in a letter to Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis called the invitation an "egregious decision" and said,

"It is a travesty that the University of Notre Dame, considered by many to be a Catholic University, should give its public support to such an anti-Catholic politician."

Now, here some will say that Jesus was also criticized for consorting with sinners and responded with that heavenly wisdom, "The healthy are in no need of a physician."  Yet this isn't an analogous situation.  More appropriate here is, "The unhealthy are in no need of a podium."  I would have no problem with anyone offering Obama counsel - he could certainly use it.  I myself would be happy to talk with him if he asked; maybe I could muster shades of John the Baptist.  But what Notre Dame is doing is quite different: It is honoring Obama by bestowing a doctorate upon him.  Additionally, it is not giving him an opportunity to receive counsel but a forum in which to dispense it - and to malleable young minds at that.

Then there are those, such as the writers of this silly Los Angeles Times editorial, who accuse those on my side of hypocrisy, saying we were silent when pro-death penalty George W. Bush spoke at Notre Dame in 2001.  Well, let's examine this. 

There is no equivalency between abortion and the death penalty or, for that matter, what is supposedly President Bush's mortal sin, launching military campaigns.  The Church teaches that while capital punishment is hardly ever necessary in modern societies, it nevertheless is the right of "legitimate temporal authorities" to determine when it is justifiable.  The Church also promulgates Just War Doctrine.

There is no Just Abortion Doctrine. 

Unlike capital punishment and war, direct abortion is never morally licit under any circumstances.   

Having said this, there is a deeper issue to address.  We're all sinners, and we could probably pick any president and find ways in which he violated Catholic teaching.  And what about academic freedom?  As the L.A. Times opined, the issue at Notre Dame is "whether a distinguished university should ban a speaker with whom it disagrees or engage him . . ." and that all universities "sometimes need to be reminded of the importance of uninhibited debate." 

But the university isn't "engaging" Obama; it is giving him a forum in which to speak unopposed.  There will be no debate.  Of course, I realize that when the editorialists speak of "uninhibited debate," they refer to a general climate of academic inquiry and give-and-take fostered over time by exposure to different ideas.  But while this sounds good, it's nonsense.

While leftists can pontificate all they like about "academic freedom," they draw lines like anyone else.  Would they hire a professor or schedule a speaker who would advocate the extermination of a minority?  If not, why?  I mean, whomever they chose will be a sinner, and do not judge lest ye be judged.  And would they entertain a debate about the reinstitution of slavery or whether or not germs really cause disease?  How about trephination (drilling a hole in someone's head) as a solution to mental illness?

The point is that our gratuitous talk about "open-mindedness" is mere sloganeering, as we all consider certain issues to be settled.  As G.K. Chesterton once said, "The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."  A child cannot advance in math if he won't accept simple truths such as two plus two equals four, and science would never have ascended from a childlike state of primitiveness had man not accepted and then built upon simple scientific truths.  We might have debated Aristotle's geocentrism versus Copernicus' heliocentrism in 1600, but if we had still been wrangling over it in 1910, we would have been insane.  Perpetual open-mindedness in all matters is not a virtue because it isn't "mindedness" at all; it is the trumping of the mind.  The mind is there to find answers, not just ask questions.   

And moral truths should be treated with at least the respect of scientific ones.  "Open-minded" secularists will be quick to point out that morality isn't science, and I'll be even quicker to say they're hypocrites.  I reiterate that they draw their lines (slavery, racism, sexism, extermination of minorities, etc.), proving that their relativistic creed is mainly for use on other people's values.  They have their dogma, just like everyone else. 

But, leftists, here is a newsflash: This isn't about your dogma - it concerns Catholic dogma.  You have your values,  and you're very self-centered to believe they should prevail in a Catholic setting.  Not everyone is as numb to morality as you are, and believing Catholics understand that many matters you're confused about are actually settled issues.  We also understand that, as with science, man cannot progress morally unless he accepts known truths and builds upon them. 

The bottom line is that Catholic institutions (if they are to be authentic) have a responsibility to apply Catholic dogma, not the secular variety.  They have an obligation to draw Catholic lines, not merely replicate those of the Los Angeles Times.  They have a duty to instill students with Catholic teaching, not that of Berkeley.  Thus, in such an eminently sane setting abortion isn't a debated issue.  It's a settled issue.  And Barack Obama isn't just another president.  He is way over the line.       

Really, this whole affair smacks just a bit of evangelist Billy Graham's obsequious behavior with respect to the Clintons.  I'm referring to how he once called them a "great couple" and "wonderful friends," implied that Hillary Clinton might make a good president and once quipped that Bill Clinton "should be an evangelist" and "leave his wife to run the country."  Ah, Rev. Graham, "if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way . . . ."

We should remember that since every age has its Herods, we have to ask ourselves a couple of questions. Would recognize one if we saw him?  And, then, would we have the faith and strength to be a John the Baptist?

Contact Selwyn Duke

[neverdem]

I would like to know how Notre Dame retains its status as a Roman Catholic University? Aren't there some kinds of standards?

[HiTech RedNeck]

Would they hire a professor or schedule a speaker who would advocate the extermination of a minority?

Unwittingly they have in the person of Barack Obama. Abortion, by sheer demographics, is the silent genocide of the black race in America.

[Gator113]

If it’s no longer a Roman Catholic University, will it no longer have tax exempt status?

As for it’s standards, I’m afraid they are now going to be seen as having the same standards as Obama.

They are going to pay a heavy price.

[spyone]

Same with Georgetown.

[Kansas58]

Just saw some dufus “professor” from Loyala University, that Dem running against Freeper Pulido.
The Dem was all for stem cell research and abortion on demand.
All of your Catholic colleges are infested with these loons! The best thing would be for ND to be totally and completely humiliated by this, to the point that EVERY Catholic university has second thoughts about ever doing this again!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.

[Northern Yankee]

Outstanding!

I'd be curious to know when the last Bishop was invited to speak at a commencement at Notre Dame.

[jmaroneps37]

http://www.collinsreport.net/2009/03/31/notre-dame%e2%80%99s-invitation-to-obama-the-beginning-of-an-american-catholic-church-schism/
http://collinsreport.net

If they don't want to be Catholics let them become Episcopalians - they'll find a home there and plenty of parking around their new church.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I wanted to make sure you got these links to the ACTION news about Notre Dame: the UNINVITE OBAMA PETITION now has a phenomenal 240,416 signatures (click the link, sign up and send it to everybody in your Address Book!)

...And a BIG, BIG PROTEST IS A-COMIN' which stirs my activist imagination and makes me think Obama is gonna unite us after all :o)

Imagine 20,000 young, old, hip, square, tie-dyed, purple-haired, properly-hatted and mantilla-covered, yarmulke-wearing and rosary-praying, Catholic and not-Catholic-by-a-long-shot, All-Baby-Loving People United CLOSING DOWN THE STREETS OF SOUTH BEND singing

"We Shall Overcome --- O Ma-ri-a!...."

Please forgive me if I've pinged you more than once. I'm getting kinda excited, here... Please click on the links and get involved!

[philly-d-kidder]

St Joseph’s is worse..with Chrissie matthews!! he is a Catholic??

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

It's a betrayal of intellect, reason, common sense, and evidence.
You don't have to be a Catholic to see the errors and evil of Obama's policies.

The relativism and modernism at Notre Dame are intellectual errors affecting reason. The population control ideology that compels Obama to sign on to funding of abortion worldwide abroad is an error of reason.

[Desdemona]

I would like to know how Notre Dame retains its status as a Roman Catholic University? Aren't there some kinds of standards?

Yes, there are standards and it's up to the bishop to revoke the university's status. There are several that have been warned in recent years - Holy Cross, Boston College, Georgetown, etc. The ones that get themselves into hot water are the ones run by the orders, not that there are many diocesan colleges and universities. And most of them are actually run by lay boards with a priest as president or chancellor. There are a few good ones out there, but none of them seem to have a winning Division 1 basketball program, which is why they aren't household names.

[Desdemona]

If it’s no longer a Roman Catholic University, will it no longer have tax exempt status?

That depends on whether or not their 501c3 is revoked. That's more dependent on it being university than the Catholic designation.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

It retains its Catholic status by the weakness of the bishops and the pope. And by their failure to address the infiltration of Cathholic universities by anti-Catholic secret societies. The 1967 Land O’Lakes conference on modernizing and secularizing Catholic colleges basically castrated Catholic intellectual culture and Catholic identity at American Catholic universities by turning them over to liberal non-Catholics and modernist heretics, making that a goal. Although there have been statements of protest from time to time very few bishops have done that much to address this or to explain the nature of the problem.

[Desdemona]

Well, true. Rigali did go up against the Jesuits at one point over something happening at Saint Louis University and appealed to Rome. It didn’t make it as far as the pope, but the head of the order who refused to hear him. Rigali was right in all the ways that mattered, but had no real power to do anything about it.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

If the bishops wanted to the USCCB could issue a college guide, rating, evaluating, and ranking Catholic colleges and universities in terms of fidelity, Catholic identity, orthodoxy or heresy. The Cardinal Newman Society should do this, listing the names of the leading heretics and types of scandals going on at each institution - i.e., heresy, pro-abortionism, Vagina Monologues, percentage of anti-Catholics, non-Catholics, and perverts on the faculty, hostility toward Catholics and Catholicism, scandals.

At the moment most high school students are not informed of these dangers and evils at Catholic colleges. And the colleges lie in their catalogs and admissions publications. They present themselves as "Catholic" institutions. In many cases, this is false advertising since disturbed and deranged anti-Catholics on the faculty await the students.

Do they teach Catholicism in the theology department? Do they accurately present Catholic culture in the humanities and liberal arts departments? Are the professors Catholic? Is the president of the college a Catholic?

In the case of Notre Dame, that's an open question. The president is currently operating in disobedience to official church policy on pro-abortion politicians and honors at commencements.

[Mrs. Don-o]

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO A FABULOUS FIGHTING SITE:

THE P.O.P.E. PROJECT

Prevent Obama from Proclaiming Evil
at Notre Dame

---

And here's the contact info for the Fellows of the University, the powers behind the Trustees.

The link above (click POPE PROJECT)has their e-mails, but I strongly urge you all to be sure to (also) send actual paper snail-mail letters. A savvy recipient could simply filter out all e-mails with “Obama” or “Notre Dame” in the subject line, and many people don’t open ~any~ e-mails from people they don’t know.

But every letter -— you may be sure -— is opened.

If the recipient is no longer physically “there,” they’ll forward it.

One letter: they read it.

Ten-20 letters: they open, glance, then count them.

21-10,000 letters: they open, then they ~weigh~ them. (!!)

And for your edification, a handy link to a highly recommended poem for chanting aloud:

Lepanto

Trumpet that sayeth Ha!
Domino gloria!

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Fellows of the University of Notre Dame

---

Rev. E. William Beauchamp, CSC
President, University of Portland
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.
Portland, OR 97203
503.943.7101

Rev. Peter A. Jarret, CSC
101 Corby Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574.631.9002

Rev. Timothy R. Scully, CSC
0216 Hesburgh Center
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574.631.6196

Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C.
Provincial Superior
Priests of the Holy Cross
Indiana Provincial Administration Center
PO Box 1064
Notre Dame, IN 46556-1064
574.631.6196 (office)
574.289.0487 (fax)

Most Rev. Daniel R. Jenky, CSC
Catholic Diocese of Peoria
Spaulding Pastoral Center
419 N.E. Madison Ave.
Peoria, IL 61603-3719
309.671.1550

William M. Goodyear, Jr.
Chairman/CEO
Navigant Consulting, Inc.
30 S. Wacker Drive, Ste. 3100
Chicago, IL 60606
312.583.4700

Patrick J. McCartan
Jones Day Foundation
North Point
901 Lakeside Ave. Cleveland, OH 44114

Arthur R. Velasquez
President, Aztec Foods, Inc.
5005 S. Nagle
Chicago, IL 60638-1318
708.563.6600
800.475.7997

Richard C. Notebaert (Board Chairman)
Consultant, Boardroom Consultants
200 W. Madison, Suite 2800
Chicago, IL 60606
312.456.0080

[don-o]

bump

[fatima]

Here’s a bump Mrs. Don-o.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Check it out.

They are reportedly receiving hundreds of letters.

And Check THIS out.

As of posting time, 240,416 signatures.

Tell them what you think. Do your part!