Notre Dame Faculty to Obama: ‘This Is a Grave Violation of Religious Freedom and Cannot Stand’
- Status
E
Ender
Guest
Uh, not yet. The opinion expressed by the 25 faculty members does not necessarily represent that of Fr. Jenkins. I have been unable to find a list of those who signed but I’d be willing to bet that Fr. Jenkins name is not among them. It is also worth pointing out that there are probably hundreds of professors at ND so it is also inappropriate to claim that a statement signed by only 25 of them represents a statement by the university. Jenkins has given no indication that he has rethought his support for Obama even in light of this “grave violation of religious freedom.”
Ender
C
catharina
Guest
posted yesterday in Catholic News:
go to the article and you’ll see name of all who signed
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=644562
thread is called
“Statement by religious scholars on contraceptive coverage policy change”
if link fails
PS link to FOXNews must be opened to full screen to allow view of names
foxnews.com/interactive/politics/2012/02/10/statement-by-religious-scholars-on-contraceptive-coverage-policy-change/
T
timcin
Guest
25? That’s a small minority of the faculty and Fr. Jenkins didn’t sign it.
AFAIC the majority of the Notre Dame faculty leans center to left.
My view of ND has not and will not change unless an earth shattering change
in the leadership and faculty turns it back into a true Catholic university.
It will probably be a cold day in hell when that happens.
K
kimmielittle
Guest
Well said!!!
C
Corki
Guest
An insurance policy that includes prescription drug coverage costs more than one that is “major medical;” a policy that includes cosmetic surgery is more expensive than one that only includes medical surgery; a policy that includes orthodontia is more expensive than one that only includes basic dental care. Also a policy with no or low deductibles or co-pays is more expensive than one with higher levels of cost sharing.
Yes. As of now, the Obama “compromise” is an unfunded mandate to insurance companies. Those companies can choose to pass on the expense or to not insure employers who would be “exempt”. The insurance companies are not required to absorb the expense.
No, still not quite accurate. It’s not just the ROTC training that a Quaker institution would object to. ROTC is a program that results in actual military service. ROTC classes are generally taught by active duty military personnel. To make the analogy accurate, it would be to say that a Quaker college must either engage active duty military as PE instructors or to allow them on campus to recruit students to join the ROTC program and to train them on campus AND that it must accept this training as fulfilling the college’s PE requirement.
You are right, it’s tortured. That’s because the objection to the HHS mandate is not at all similar to the objection of Quakers to military service.
B
baylee
Guest
I bet these 25 were also against Obama coming to the college.
X
Xuan
Guest
Fr. Jenkins wrote a letter to HHS last September 28 after the mandate was first announced, voicing his strong opposition to it. They already have his objections on record.
E
Ender
Guest
Based on the names and affiliations provided by this article, the statement was signed by three members of the ND faculty other than the individual who wrote and issued it. Clearly, this is not a statement from the ND faculty.
Ender
M
manualman
Guest
What he is saying is that in the insurance world, every new bit of coverage is examined by actuaries so calculate the average cost effect applied by each member of the insurance pool (the people covered). That cost, plus the administrative and profit markup is added to the cost of the premium.
Some argue that providing contraception actually LOWERS the long term insurance costs since pregnancy care, childbirth and long term coverage of kids adds up to a lot of money. Buried in this assumption is the idea that if insurance doesn’t provide contraception ‘for free’ then people won’t use it. Know anybody who would use contraception, but doesn’t because it isn’t free? Me either. It’s bad assumption, purposefully ignoring the real world. In the real world, people with jobs that provide health care buy their own contraception when they want it. Giving it to them “free” will only increase the monetary output of the insurance company, so they will raise premiums.
This is how insurance works. The cost of coverage is spread evenly among everybody. For care crucial to health and well being (i.e. transfusions), it is reasonable to force coverage against some objectors (say JWs). For elective drugs like this, I say let people buy their own.
And before you say it, yes, I agree that Viagra and vasectomies should be in the same category.
C
catharina
Guest
D
Dale_M
Guest
It may be worth noting that in 2010-11, Notre Dame’s instructional faculty numbered 982 full time and 103 part-time. So 25 faculty members is a small percentage.
H
Havard
Guest
Leave it up to CAF to turn anything possible into a way to criticize Notre Dame. 
D
donsnow
Guest
What’s wrong with that?Leave it up to CAF to turn anything possible into a way to criticize Notre Dame.
H
Havard
Guest
I don’t know, perhaps Notre Dame is not the devil? I’m not saying the university is perfect, but for heaven’s sake, this is a positive news story, not a negative one.
As for the numbers, and how representative they are, let me say this: I’m friends with only three of the Notre Dame professors who signed the letter, but I can tell you with certainty that there are plenty of professors at ND who would have signed it. Their names aren’t on the letter. Why? My guess is that it wasn’t circulated well. Heck, Dr. Rice’s name isn’t on there… anyone who even knows of him knows he would have signed it.
Another case in point, I have a staunchly Catholic friend at the Becket Fund, the not-for-profit law firm bringing forth the first lawsuit over this matter… two of his colleague’s names are on there, but his isn’t. Does that mean he doesn’t support the statement? No… I’m sure he would have signed it if it had been brought to his attention too.
So I know for a fact that the signatures here are not representative for the numbers at not only ND, but other at organizations as well.
J
Jersey_Jeepster
Guest
Havard, out of curiosity, do you know if any of the people you mention in your post were against giving Obama an honor during his visit 2-years ago?
H
Havard
Guest
Definitely.
If you’re interested in the topic, I highly recommend Dr. Rice’s book, What Happened to Notre Dame?
There have been a lot of promising signs that Notre Dame is heading in the direction of orthodoxy. Professors Carrozza and Associate Dean Garnet (who signed the letter) are both young, rising stars in the law school, and theology Professor Cavadini (who signed the letter), the Director of the university’s Institute for Church Life was appointed by Pope Benedict to serve on the International Theological Commission and the Holy Father further personally honored him by inducting him into the Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great.
Oh, and on another note, I also just noticed that Professor Nicole Garnet (Associate Dean Garnet’s wife) isn’t listed as having signed the letter. I know she would have, so that just seals it for me that the list isn’t at all comprehensive.
J
Jersey_Jeepster
Guest
This sounds like good news to me. I was very disturbed at the way Obama was elevated when he spoke at Notre Dame and I think Catholics noticed how he was treated and felt it was OK to support a vehemently pro-abortion president. Add to the Notre Dame fiasco the support that Sister Carol Keehan has given this administration and Obamacare and one can understand why Obama would feel he can force Catholics to supply contraceptive and abortion services for their employees in health care coverage.
Catholics were largely responsible for electing Obama. I can only hope that these confused Catholics have awakened and are now willing to follow Church law or stop calling themselves Catholic.
D
donsnow
Guest
Good afternoon, Harvard,
Thank you, for filling us in on these details.
God loves you,
Don
I
iloveangels
Guest
NO. Hats off to the law department at Notre Dame and the students of Notre Dame. Hats off to the protesting faculty.
I hope Fr. Jenkins finally realizes that he was played like a dime store harmonica, and I hope he’s ashamed of himself enough to try to make what’s left of this right again.
- Status