Is a person arrested for trespassing when he breaks into a burning home to save a child?
Obviously not. While it is “against the law” to break into a house – when it comes to saving a life, such things are permitted.
The law that permits abortion is unjust. It cannot be defended by any Catholics.
When a Catholic institution honors (I’ve corrected you on this before – it’s not just a speech) a man who ardently supports this unjust law its a very serious wrong.
Now you’ve just spent a lot of time asserting that peaceful protestors have done something “wrong” and should be punished for it. But this does not take into consideration the gravity of the crime of abortion. Additionally, the so-called wrong that was done, occurred on a campus where they claim to believe in God, in Jesus Christ and in the pro-life teachings of the Catholic Church.
There are a few issues in your logic here.
No one is disagreeing with you that it is a very serious wrong, a grave scandal for Notre Dame to honor President Obama as it did. BUT the nature of this scandal is not of the same nature as abortion itself. The crime of abortion did not take place on Notre Dame’s campus. Honoring Obama is not equal to murder. Honoring Obama does not show unequivocal support for abortion; rather, it shows that those honoring him don’t believe that LIFE is an important enough “issue” when it comes to making political judgments. THIS is the root of the scandal at Notre Dame.
Because of this, trespassing on Notre Dame’s campus as a prayerful witness against honoring President Obama is not at all like sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics–an action which violates no laws and which is directly intended to save lives about to be ended by abortion. No lives were about to be ended by abortion on Notre Dame’s campus when the trespassers entered; there was no urgent need for them to walk on to campus in order to save lives (as would be the case for entering a burning building to save a child).
The simple fact of the matter is that outlets were open to any and all pro-life protesters (including Alan Keyes, I’m sure, who would have been welcomed to campus had he not vocally advertised the fact that he was coming to South Bend to join forces with Randall Terry and intentionally get himself arrested!) to protest the Notre Dame scandal on Commencement weekend, and several clearly chose not to take those opportunities. otjm and I are not arguing that pro-life protests were entirely out of place at Notre Dame, but that protesters who in fact shunned ND Response’s activities and invitations and “went their own way”–the way of street theater and intentional arrests–shouldn’t be turned into martyrs for the pro-life cause, or be viewed as somehow more effective than the thousands of “licit” protesters who gathered on campus.
You’re worried that the government will clamp down on pro-life activities but if the new policy is that nobody should ever risk getting arrested, even in protesting an unjust law – then the government’s job is going to be a whole lot easier.
The protesters at ND may have been protesting unjust abortion law, but they didn’t get arrested
under an unjust law. They got arrested for breaking a just law. Unless, of course, you’re arguing that private property trespass laws are unjust…
Other than the fact that you are insistent that these peaceful protestors should be prosecuted, I don’t know what you’re advocated at all. I don’t think you’ve given any ideas – except to pray and not do anything that Fr. Jenkins won’t like (since its supposedly his private university).
You’re not talking to me, here, but it seems that you’re not taking much time in reading otjm’s posts. It’s clear to me that he/she is sincere and incredibly pro-life, but just happens to disagree with you on this point. Perhaps passion for the cause is blinding you to this sincerity or to understanding the entire argument?
But as for myself, I’m grateful for those who risked getting arrested to show that our opposition to abortion is not just what we do when it’s convenient – but that people are willing to pay a personal price to try to stop it.
I don’t understand why the entire Notre Dame scandal and all that it involves boils down to the issue of abortion. I’m sure you don’t mean to only be railing on the abortion issue, as I’m sure you know that the pro-life position is much broader and all-encompassing than opposition to abortion. But even besides the fact that Obama is the most anti-life president to ever hold the office, the issues at Notre Dame run deeper. ***They bring to light deep cultural problems that divide Catholics in America, as well as internal Catholic identity problems that Notre Dame has been experiencing for quite some time. ***
Addressing these issues in particular requires MUCH more reflection, thought, prayer, and WORK than can be done by outside protesters (such as the Keyes/Terry group) and staged, intentional arrests. The goal of ND Response in this regard was to address these Notre Dame-specific issues with ideas and support from people who truly understand the university, have good will for Notre Dame, and still hope for its Catholic future. THIS was really the division point between ND Response and Terry’s group (or the non-Catholic group that flew the graphic abortion images trailing behind the airplane over campus for hours a day, every day, before Commencement): the fact that students still truly “love thee, Notre Dame,” and others would have the place shuttered or burned to the ground.
Methinks we are finding the same divisions here.
