Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Barack Obama Invited to Speak at the University of Notre Dame

Is School Honor a Dishonor to Catholics?


Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame
Ben Franske, wiki media commons


By Tony Vega

On May 17, 2009, Barack Obama will be honored as Notre Dame's commencement speaker, Notre Dame's president Rev. John I. Jenkins invited Obama to the event. The “honor” has outraged many Catholics and should earn the ire of all Christians.

Barack Obama’s policies and ideals run counter to morality and are in line with a perverse pro-abortion stance, which transcends the usual Democratic and Republican debate on the abortion issue. In the world of moral relativism, Barack Obama is its champion.

Obama’s radical abortion stance and position as an avid foe of the Born Alive Protection Act [1] places him left of NARAL Pro-Choice America. NARAL released a statement that said, “NARAL does not oppose passage of the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Floor debate served to clarify the bill’s intent and assure us that it is not targeted at Roe v. Wade or a woman’s right to choose.” [2]

The radical abortion issue alone should revolt every American, including those Pro-Choice Christians and non-Christians, but Obama’s radical ideals do not end there.

Obama failed to protect children from pornographic material in public libraries and schools, [3] Obama was the only senator to vote against measure SB 485 (1999), a measure to prevent sex offenders from earning early release [3], he failed to protect schools and houses of worship from sex shops being established close by [3], [4].

Obama voted no to prohibit taking minors across State lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions, including knowingly transporting a minor across state lines to get an abortion after committing incest with a minor. [5]

Obama enjoys a record that unravels traditional and sound values, measures that if successful will harm the most vulnerable among us; no wonder why Obama was able to, with ease and poise, joke about the Special Olympics.[6]

The University of Notre Dame’s invitation to Barack Obama caught the attention of many Catholics. The Cardinal Newman Society wrote a letter to Notre Dame's president, Rev. John I. Jenkins and established an online petition against Obama’s appearance.

“It is an outrage and a scandal that “Our Lady’s University,” one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage.”- The Cardinal Newman Society.

Follow the link to read the entire letter and to sign the petition, Petition to Fr. Jenkins.

The bishop for the Ft. Wayne/South Bend diocese said Tuesday he is boycotting the university's graduation ceremony. Bishop John D'Arcy said his decision "is not an attack on anyone, but is in defense of the truth about human life."

"This will be the 25th Notre Dame graduation during my time as bishop. After much prayer, I have decided not to attend the graduation. I wish no disrespect to our president; I pray for him and wish him well. I have always revered the Office of the Presidency, but a bishop must teach the Catholic faith in season and out of season and he teaches not only by his words - but by his actions." [7]

Is this response over the top or is there validity in a sense of outrage and scandal for a Catholic University to bestow such honor upon Barack Obama? What say you Christians, do you share a similar sentiment or does relativism permeate your religiosity? Perhaps, allowing ones political ideology to trump their Christianity is acceptable in this environment of moral relativism.

1- http://www.bornalivetruth.org/obamarecord.php
2- http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18647
3- http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18967&keywords=obama
%5C%27s+voting+record

4- http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2
5- http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=7733&can_id=9490
6- http://americanangle.blogspot.com/2009/03/real-march-madness-2009.html
7- http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/24/pro-life-group-calls-on-notre-dame-to-rescind-obama-invite/

1 comments:

Justice Lives Not said...

I have seen all I need to see of our new President. However, as far as what's transpiring with the intentional destruction of our economy, I believe the same things would be happening if McCain had been elected. This was supposed to happen no matter who became President!

I will say this, though; so many of the radical Left who criticized our spendthrift congress under Bush, strangely enough, have nothing to say about the Democratic controlled congress on the Obama watch doing pretty much the same thing!