Posted on 05/17/2009 9:53:54 AM PDT by wagglebee
I am beginning to wonder if principles still have a place in a post-modern world. I am also starting to feel somewhat like a dinosaur for believing that principles should always take precedent over the prestige of a national platform. That should be especially true if the platform is attached to the largest and most revered Catholic University in America.
But on May 17th, Notre Dame will join the ranks of those with stars in their eyes and a lack of starch in their resolve. They will allow President Barack Obama, the most pro-abortion rights President in our nation’s history, to address their graduating class. His place of honor will be a moment of dishonor for devout Catholics around the world who believe that life begins at conception and should therefore be proclaimed by the Church and protected by law.
Opinions on Obama’s visit are split between those who believe he deserves to speak because he holds the office of president and those who believe he should be disqualified because he holds no respect for the sanctity of life. So far, at least 60 Catholic bishops have publicly denounced the visit and at least 354,000 people have signed various petitions expressing their outrage. Bishop John D’Arcy, the Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend, issued a statement describing his thoughts about Obama’s role in the sanctity of life debate. “While claiming to separate politics from science, he has in fact separated science from ethics and has brought the American government, for the first time in history, into supporting direct destruction of innocent human life.”
But not everyone agrees that President Obama should not be allowed to speak. In fact, the consensus on campus seems to be that any president should be welcomed at Notre Dame. The Observer, the Notre Dame campus newspaper reported receiving 313 letters from alumni and 299 letters from students. Seventy percent of the alumni letters strongly disagreed with Obama’s visit while Seventy-three percent of students supported the scheduled appearance. Thomas Heitker, freshman biology major, expressed the personal conflict between principles and prestige saying, “We can’t just forgive his viewpoints, we can’t just let it go without expressing out thoughts on it. But he’s only speaking at three universities this year and to be one of out so many is something we should be proud of.” Clearly for Heitker, the prestige that comes with a presidential visit trumps the viewpoints that defy forgiveness.
Of course, it should be noted that President Obama has not asked for forgiveness over his views on abortion. After declaring during the Saddleback debate that the ultimate question of when life beings was “above his pay grade,” President Obama must have received a substantial pay raise shortly after his inauguration. He moved swiftly and confidently to send American tax dollars around the world to pay for abortions and he seemed to be very sure that life is expendable when he sentenced countless human embryos to be sacrificed on the alter of questionable science.
Perhaps the most bizarre twist to this already twisted tail comes with the realization that Notre Dame, in inviting President Obama to speak and award him an honorary degree, is violating a 2004 directive issued by the U.S. Conference of Bishops. The directive reads: “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” Notre Dame’s action of ignoring the Bishops directive sets up a collision of ideology and theology between Catholic religious leaders and the educators who are supposed to support and teach Catholic doctrine. Trading the defense of Catholic Church teaching for a personal audience with the most powerful political leader in the world will leave the Catholic Church with little or no moral authority.
In Haggai’s day, God condemned the children of Israel for “living in paneled houses while the house of God remains a ruin.” How much more will God condemn those who live in the false security that comes with the prestige of this world while the truth of His Word is set aside? Perhaps those who believe Notre Dame should turn a blind eye to President Obama’s views on abortion should consider the question of Amos who asked, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?” Or maybe they would be swayed by the words of Paul who said, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” Surely they would resonate with the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:30, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
First, Georgetown University agrees to cover the symbol of Jesus at the request of the Obama Administration and now Notre Dame agrees to honor Obama by giving him a platform of plausibility in the eyes of the world. It appears that at least among Catholic educators, the precepts and principles of God’s Word are taking a back seat to the prestige of the office of President of the United States.
___________________________________________________________________
Dr. Tony Beam is Vice-President for Student Services and Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville University in Tigerville, South Carolina.
Dr. Beam nails it here!
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The underlying principle at the heart of America's constitutional protections, according to Thomas Jefferson, is declared in these words:
"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them."
Life and liberty, therefore, once "endowed" by the "Creator," are inseparable and "unalienable." Thus, the first claim asserted by America's Founders was to an inherent, "Creator-endowed," unalienable and inseparable right to life and liberty which is prior to the right of any other being's determination (including the woman whose body houses the developing child).
If rights came to us by "grants" from individuals or collections of individuals (judges, legislators, or the executive branch), then the consequence of that idea would be that those rights would be "alienable"--an idea in opposition to the Declaration and the Constitution's goal of securing the "Blessings of Liberty."
Hopefully, more and more Americans will come to realize that "ideas have consequences." In the society, once the concept is accepted that life and liberty are not inherent and derived from the Creator, but by permission (grant) of individuals or government, then no person's life and liberty is secure at any point.
The question being highlighted by today's events at Notre Dame is crucial to the preservation of liberty for all citizens--not just those in the womb.
Cafeteria Catholics...
From Notre Dame to Notre Shame in a single day.
Plausable deniability as in Job ... Satan approaces God and essentially says, Give me a shot sat him (Job) and he will curse you (God).
God does not allow direct contact with Job to Satan ... Satan can say ... "I never touched him"
ND will be able to say, we never endorsed abortion.
Think there is surely, first. . .an Obama ‘calculation’ in here. Did Obama let it be known - by whatEVER means - that he would like to be the on the Notre Dame campus accepting this honorarium? There are so many political threads here that tie into an Obama agenda; find it hard not to think this was the case.
“Trading the defense of Catholic Church teaching for a personal audience with the most powerful political leader in the world will leave ——NOTRE DAME-—— with little or no moral authority.”
Forget group behavior and group ethics.
Make your choices one by one based on your values and then associate with like minded choosers.
This Notre Dame flap is counter-productive in so many ways.
But condemnation is such a great national sport these days, I don't expect it to fade away in favor of individual responsibility taking its place.
To call legal access to abortion a right is a corruption of both the language and the founding concepts of this country. Rights are not bestowed by governments or poorly crafted supreme court decisions, they are bestowed by God. To suggest that God facilitates the heinous practice of fetuscide is taking God’s name in vain.
A lack of principles means that someone can't be trusted, or depended on. Our system just can't work this way any longer.
When is the Pope going to grow a pair and stop kissing little babies for photo ops and start joining the real world. I would love to see him show up at the ND commencement, protest, get arrested, and really piss off the world.
If he showed himself to be a real man of God, do what God dictates in the scriptures, I would most likely quit the Protestant Church and go Cath. At this point, the Protestant Church isn’t doing much except taking the money I tithe and pissing it away in Africa when our own country is going down the toilet.
no, the Notre Dame controversy is a warning shot over the bow of the presidents ship.......you forget Obama has an agenda to force Catholic hospitals, doctors and nurses to perform abortions on demand. if we do not stand for life, we stand for nothing. Notre Dame let us down, we needed to stand up and tell that university, Fr. Jenkins and Obama that we will NOT be silenced.
Marxism replaces God with government. You can’t serve two masters, you can’t worship God and worship government equally, or at the same time. The quote “render unto Ceasar” is misunderstood by many religious people.
Don't you see that ignoring it was the much better option? You're giving the media something to talk about with which they do not agree. Your condemnation is harming only you.
When I left the Methodist Church many years ago they were raising money to build field hospitals for the Viet Cong, and supporting anti gun efforts.
no, it is forcing Obama to think about how much more escalated will be the resonse to forcing abortion on Catholic hospitals, doctors and nurses. this is a war......for the unborn.
No, to remain silent implies consent.
ou're giving the media something to talk about with which they do not agree. Your condemnation is harming only you.
Wrong, the media will talk about it anyway. According to polls released Friday, the number of people who are pro-life has increased dramatically in the past six months.
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