Obama to Give Commencement Speech at Notre Dame

[KathleenElsie]

This is a totally inappropriate comment. You may not agree with President Obama’s agenda, but he is not Hitler.
It’s comments like this that turn the rest of American society off to Catholics.

My mother and grandmother were in Germany just prior to the actual violence and the stories of how the general population acted would curl your hair. Thank God they got out and were able to bring four relatives with them before visas were no longer issued.

Hitler and his government murdered around 12 million while the majority turned a blind eye to the carnage. How many will die because BHO and his government while the people turn a blind eye to the carnage?

People can decry the comparison, yet it is still a truth that people need to be honist about.

 

[adamsapple]

President Obama is not responsible for the number of abortions in this country. No president is responsible for that. It’s the people who have abortions who are responsible. President Bush was against abortion and that didn’t stop anyone from having one.

You’re pointing the finger at the wrong people. The anti-abortion industry has been a complete failure. The industry is determined to legislate behavior which won’t change notwithstanding any law. This is plainly evident in countries like Guatemala and Mexico where back-street abortions, illegal clinics, etc. thrive. The law didn’t change anyone’s mind in those countries. Why do you think it would change minds in this country???

If you can’t change the minds of women who have abortions, then you have failed. I guess you can lock them and their doctors up if you get a law passed to demonstrate your “success”, but I don’t think God or anyone else would be pleased with that.

 

[Tsuwano]

President Obama is not responsible for the number of abortions in this country. No president is responsible for that. It’s the people who have abortions who are responsible. President Bush was against abortion and that didn’t stop anyone from having one.

You’re pointing the finger at the wrong people. The anti-abortion industry has been a complete failure. The industry is determined to legislate behavior which won’t change notwithstanding any law. This is plainly evident in countries like Guatemala and Mexico where back-street abortions, illegal clinics, etc. thrive. The law didn’t change anyone’s mind in those countries. Why do you think it would change minds in this country???

If you can’t change the minds of women who have abortions, then you have failed. I guess you can lock them and their doctors up if you get a law passed to demonstrate your “success”, but I don’t think God or anyone else would be pleased with that.

I agree that President Obama isn’t responsible for the number of abortions in America even though he supports legislation allowing it. I also agree that scare tactics and villifying those politicians who support abortion legislation will not solve the problem. But I think you are wrong if you think the pro life movement is about legislating behavior more than it is about protecting the right to life of those who are most innocent and least able to defend themselves. A law repealing abortion is as much about legislating behavior as a law against murder. It’s true that we hope behavior changes and a greater respect for life takes hold in our communities and among our fellow citizens, but the primary focus in opposing abortion is the protection and defense of life.

 

[catharina]

…

The industry is determined to legislate behavior which won’t change notwithstanding any law.
…
If you can’t change the minds of women who have abortions, then you have failed.

You’re very young. You don’t have any personal memory of the laws that WERE in place.
Not so long ago, abortion was outlawed, NOT glorified by this nation.
Several generations of Americans can remember those times.

Why do you seem to have a personal problem with the issue of defending life?

 

[redrosetea]

I heard Obama speak about not wanting his daughters to be punished with a baby…Calling a baby punishment sums Obamas views up rather succinctly

He is the most proactive abortion supporter I have ever seen. He not only wants late term abortions to resume, he wants to force the unwilling to do them, and Catholic hospitals to allow them…he just doesn’t want abortion to survive he wants it to thrive, and people not to be able to be a conscensious objector to this evil act…By their fruits ye shall know them

 

[Not_a_Die_Hard]

So now proclaiming the truth of the Church’s teachings is “narrow minded” and “hostile?” That’s pretty shocking, coming from a self-proclaimed Catholic. Do you or do you not believe that the Church’s teachings on life are true?

Not only does Obama not support, he actively works against the pro-life cause. I personally won’t apologize for my strong response. We should guard against hatred, but anyone with a properly formed conscience cannot help but respond with revulsion at Obama’s callous disregard for the unborn.

So in your opinion, we “ask for it” because we stand up for truth? So charitable of you. Are you also “ashamed to be Catholic?”

You are the perfect example of why there is Catholic bashing. Your gross intolerance of those who don’t subscribe to the teachings of the Catholic Church is glaring. This country allows for freedom of speech and religious beliefs, It has nothing to do with a properly formed conscience, it is about respect for others and their views. .

 

[Not_a_Die_Hard]

No it is no wonder when those that call themselves “catholic” are not willing to support the teachings of the Catholic Church.

I consider myself a good practicing Catholic, but I never subscribed to the “sheep mentality” that is so prevalent among some conservative Catholics. Yes, there are some church teachings that I do not necessarily agree with and I am not alone in this regard.

 

[redrosetea]

We don’t have to agree, but we must obey…Pope Benedict flatly said Catholics must defend life

 

[Not_a_Die_Hard]

We don’t have to agree, but we must obey…Pope Benedict flatly said Catholics must defend life

And this has been the message of all previous Popes, but the frailties of human nature continue to prevail.

 

[redrosetea]

You either believe or you don’t…The pope is Peter…He has the power to loose and bind and no one else

 

[catharina]

I consider myself a good practicing Catholic, but I never subscribed to the “sheep mentality” that is so prevalent among some conservative Catholics. Yes, there are some church teachings that I do not necessarily agree with and I am not alone in this regard.

“some church teachings that I do not necessarily agree with …”

What might those be?
Being part of a group in dissent is not a validation of holiness or truth.

 

[MrS]

I consider myself a good practicing Catholic, but I never subscribed to the “sheep mentality” that is so prevalent among some conservative Catholics. Yes, there are some church teachings that I do not necessarily agree with and I am not alone in this regard.

Your choice.

From the Lord’s lips to Peter’s ears… “… feed my sheep, tend my flock, feed my sheep…”

Maybe the Lord was wrong… we don’t need to be shepherded.

 

[ChristinaM]

**You are the perfect example of why there is Catholic bashing. ** Your gross intolerance of those who don’t subscribe to the teachings of the Catholic Church is glaring. This country allows for freedom of speech and religious beliefs, It has nothing to do with a properly formed conscience, it is about respect for others and their views. .

Thanks, I’ll take that as a compliment! After all, Christ said we are to be in this world and not of it. Conforming to the world is not exactly a virtue.

I suppose in your mind “intolerance” is the only real sin. I haven’t been able to pin down a definition of exactly what “intolerance” is. As far as I can tell, it is having the audacity to disagree with the prevailing moral relativism of American society. How is it “intolerant” to say that a Catholic University should not honor those who are radically pro-abortion? And, how, pray tell, am I preventing Obama from expressing his views?

The belief that the unborn are not people is not one that I personally find worthy of respect. Don’t confuse acknowledging someone’s freedom to hold a certain belief (I never denied that) with respecting that belief.

 

[Freshman88]

You are the perfect example of why there is Catholic bashing.

Being hated by the world is actually a good thing, it means were doing things right.

 

[Freshman88]

but the frailties of human nature continue to prevail.

And they will always continue to prevail until the Second Coming. Until that day we have to fight against our sinful human nature, not accept it.

 

[TMC]

The outrage a few are expressing over this is truly puzzling. Making someone your commencement speaker is not an endorsement of all of his policies. Obama is the sixth president to give a commencement speech at Notre Dame, and the ninth to receive an honorary degree. Each of those had policies at odds with Church teaching, but there were no “outraged” refusals to attend.

This is entirely a political controversial, not a religious one. If you disagree, ask yourself this, if Notre Dame invited Rudy Guilani or Condi Rice to speak, would you see this outrage. If not, then why for Obama?

 

[redrosetea]

You are making party assumptions and I doubt that matters much to many. It didn’t matter to the Bishop, and it doesn’t matter to me…Don’t assume to know what others have in their hearts

I don’t support either party, or am I a fan of any of the people you have named…I could suspect you are showing your own political bias when you wrote that, it doesn’t mean it is so

 

[Corki]

You are the perfect example of why there is Catholic bashing. Your gross intolerance of those who don’t subscribe to the teachings of the Catholic Church is glaring. This country allows for freedom of speech and religious beliefs, It has nothing to do with a properly formed conscience, it is about respect for others and their views. .

Go ahead and Catholic bash but at least get the terminology right.

Tolerance does not equal acceptance. We aren’t out to round up and punish those with different views. The Church and her members have been extremely tolerant of dissidents from without and within.

Freedom of speech does not mean that you can say anything you want at any time. It does not mean that you cannot be challenged or disavowed. And it does not extend to speaking as an invited guest on the campus of a private university.

Freedom of religious beliefs is about the government. The constitution does not allow the government to restrict a persons religious beliefs. It is not an absolute. The Church is completely correct in stating what beliefs constitute faithful teaching. The Church’s expectation is that all Catholics work to properly form thier conscience according to those beliefs. This is not a freedom of religion issue, it is a matter of defining faithfulness to Church teaching. All other faiths are free to set their own set of beliefs. And the government can’t interfere. That’s freedom of religion.

Respecting others views and positions does not mean that we need to accept them or condone them. We respect thier right to express them. It does not mean that we can’t call a fellow Catholic out who expresses views contrary to Church teaching.

 

[HouseArrest]

President Obama is not responsible for the number of abortions in this country. No president is responsible for that. It’s the people who have abortions who are responsible. President Bush was against abortion and that didn’t stop anyone from having one.

You’re pointing the finger at the wrong people. The anti-abortion industry has been a complete failure. The industry is determined to legislate behavior which won’t change notwithstanding any law. This is plainly evident in countries like Guatemala and Mexico where back-street abortions, illegal clinics, etc. thrive. The law didn’t change anyone’s mind in those countries. Why do you think it would change minds in this country???

If you can’t change the minds of women who have abortions, then you have failed. I guess you can lock them and their doctors up if you get a law passed to demonstrate your “success”, but I don’t think God or anyone else would be pleased with that.

You can replace the word “abortion” in your paragraph above with the word “robbery”. Does it make sense now? Why have any laws at all? People still steal, regardless if we have laws in place, so why bother? Every man for himself?

Yes - the prolife community needs to do both - to put laws into place AND educate the public, which would be much easier to do if we as Catholics remained consistent and did not choose an abortion president as a speaker and an honor recipient. If we are going to change the minds of women in America, why not start there? You just made an argument against yourself. And the prolife community IS doing both. Just google abortion counseling and you’ll find plenty.

One reason for the law is to protect one of the victims, the baby. Your paragraph above seems to forget that there is someone else involved other than the mother. Of course the mother is a victim as well. Abortion is a business in which a lot of people make a lot of money, and the procedure is being sold to them.

 

[Follower]

The outrage a few are expressing over this is truly puzzling. Making someone your commencement speaker is not an endorsement of all of his policies. Obama is the sixth president to give a commencement speech at Notre Dame, and the ninth to receive an honorary degree. Each of those had policies at odds with Church teaching, but there were no “outraged” refusals to attend.

It would be helpful if you identified precisely what you are referring to by “policies at odds with Church teaching.” Were any of those purported “policies” on the same level as abortion? That is, were any of them things that the Church has unequivocally declared to be always and everywhere intrinsic evils? Or were they, instead, matters that Catholics in good standing can disagree about and still be Catholics in good standing?

This is entirely a political controversial, not a religious one. If you disagree, ask yourself this, if Notre Dame invited Rudy Guilani or Condi Rice to speak, would you see this outrage. If not, then why for Obama?

Your suggestion that inviting a pro-abortion-rights Republican to be commencement speaker at a Catholic college would not draw similar protests is simply wrong - and demonstrably so. In fact, when a Catholic college invited Giuliani to be its commencement speaker, the very same “outrage” resulted, complete with a Cardinal Newman Society (and others)-led national protest, a refusal by the local bishop to attend, and a letter from the local bishop urging the school to rescind the invite. The school was Loyola College of Maryland; the local bishop was Cardinal Keeler; and the year was 2005. See, e.g., the following links:
washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/19/AR2005051901733.html

lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/may/05051901.html

Giuliani also drew a stern rebuke - an abortion-based rebuke – from Rhode Island’s Catholic Bishop in response to receiving an invitation to a Giuliani presidential campaign fundraiser, as these links show:
nytimes.com/2007/06/05/us/politics/05rudy.html
dioceseofprovidence.org/files/05-31-07_My_R.S.V.P.pdf

To take another example, in 2005, Republican pro-abortion-rights Congressman Sherwood Boehlert voluntary withdrew as commencement speaker at a Catholic college in upstate New York – the St. Elizabeth College of Nursing in Utica – after abortion-based protests seemed poised to trigger the rescinding of his invitation. See, e.g.:
encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-132547352.html

Many, many, many more examples can be readily found; all one has to do is look.