Sometimes things would be so much easier if we looked at the whole picture instead of focus on the little things and blow them out of proportion. In the latest bit of uproar and controversy in America, the Catholic bishops have lashed out on Notre Dame University for inviting President Barack Obama to be the guest speaker at the school's commencement, which occurred yesterday. The reason for the criticism is due to the fact that Obama is a supporter of stem cell research and abortion, which really shouldn't come as a shock to anyone because after all he is a Democrat. Several church bishops, politicians and Notre Dame students had asked the Notre Dame Administration to rebuke the President's invitation and something about this doesn't really sit right with me.
I'm not here to tell you what your views on abortion to be and whether I agree or disagree with your views does not matter here. When it comes down to it, there is no wrong answer because it's what you believe and who I am to say that your beliefs are wrong.
What does bother me is that President Obama was invited to address a speech on how these students must learn to deal with the working world that they're about to walk into. For months, President Obama has said repeatedly that he wants to focus on the youth because they are future. I'm not sure about everyone else but I'm finding it difficult to understand how abortion and stem-cell research has anything to do with rebuilding the American Dream. The Catholic Church has no proper grounds to use Obama's views on abortion and stem-cell research to make such harsh criticism for the college's decision to invite the president as an honorary speaker. No matter how you look at it, it's a clear violation of separation of Church and State and the disgusting part is not one of the local major news stations seemed to really focus about it but it's something that people should be aware about. '
This controversy over inviting President Obama to speak at Notre Dame reminds me of the recent controversy that happened at the College of Staten Island. For those unfamiliar, the drama department put on a show called "The Well of Horniness" and some issues arose over changing the title of the play for promotional ads, which brought up the issue of censorship. I don't really know if people are unaware of what's protected in the First Amendment regarding freedom of speech and the press, or if they are fully aware of it and just use it to put the attention on themselves. The same can be said for this issue about President Obama's invitation and the bishops who wanted to get their fifteen minutes of fame stepped up and made their accusations. There were several people who followed along and some even protested the event. I'll give the media kudos for straying from Obama's views on abortion and stem cell because that is not the story here. However, what the media failed to do is to inform us that there is a limit to criticisms that we can make towards other and to make such a big production over a commencement speech because of someone's political views is a bit pundit and violates that separation of church and state. The media chose to ignore this, which shows us that it's ok to not listen to advice from someone who doesn't agree with everything that I believe in.
By the way, President Obama says that the abortion issue is on the backburner of his agenda and stands a fair ground on the issue saying that he supports it but only in rare situations. Please feel free to leave me any comments.
This has been Ian Feldman speaking words of wisdom.
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1 comment:
Hi Ian,
One important aspect you miss here is the honorary law degree the school decided to bestow upon the President. This implies support by the school across broad aspects of Mr. Obama's life, including his stated convictions on abortion. If they had merely invited him to come speak, there may not have been as much of an outcry.
The US Bishops approved a policy in 2004 which stated in part: “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.” Say what you will about the policy, but there is no question that giving an honorary law degree to Mr. Obama was a violation of it. That is the real issue here.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean about the separation of church and state. Notre Dame is a privately run school; the first amendment specifies limitations on what Congress (and by extension, the government) can do.
Jeff (who recently joined the Catholic church)
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