Blogs For Victory

Notre Dame students take the commencement invitation to task:

On the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, when we remembered the appearance of the Angel of the Lord to Our Lady and her response, her “Fiat” of surrendered love to the Father’s invitation to become the home of the Incarnate Word, the struggle for fidelity to the Catholic Faith on the U.S. Campus which bears her name continued…

In defense of the unborn, we wish to express our deepest opposition to Reverend John I. Jenkins, CSC’s invitation of President Barack Obama to be the University of Notre Dame’s principal commencement speaker and the recipient of an honorary degree. Our objection is not a matter of political partisanship, but of President Obama’s hostility to the Catholic Church’s teachings on the sanctity of human life at its earliest stages. His recent dedication of federal funds to overseas abortions and to embryonic stem cell research will directly result in the deaths of thousands of innocent human beings.

We cannot sit by idly while the University honors someone who believes that an entire class of human beings is undeserving of the most basic of all legal rights, the right to live.The University’s decision runs counter to the policy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops against honoring pro-choice politicians. In their June 2004 statement Catholics in Political Life, the bishops said, “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.”

Fr. Jenkins defends his invitation by saying that it does not honor or suggest support for the President’s views on abortion, but rather support for his leadership. But our “fundamental moral principles” must be respected at all times. And the principle that requires us to refrain from the direct killing of the innocent has a special status even among the most fundamental principles. President Obama’s actions have consistently shown contempt for this principle, and he has sought political gain by making light of its clear political implications. Leadership that puts the lives of the most innocent at risk is leadership we must disdain. In the face of President Obama’s actions, Father Jenkins’ words ring hollow…

There is a species of Catholic who seem to take a perverse joy in extending honors to people who are in clear opposition to basic Catholic teaching. The more extreme the person’s opposition to Church teaching, the more eager are such Catholics to embrace him – Obama wouldn’t have made it to this honor had there been someone out there in America of both greater prominence and stronger opposition to Christian belief about Life issues. The invitation to Notre Dame indicates that for all intents and purposes, President Obama is the most anti-Life person available.

We Christians are commanded to show love towards all, to forgive all who repent no matter what their sins are, to show respect for everyone regardless of their beliefs or actions – an unfortunate reality of modern, American life is that too many Christians forget that love doesn’t mean make nice/nice with those who oppose us; forgiveness can only come after repentance; respect for persons doesn’t extend to necessarily respecting their views, especially when their views are so clearly wrong. In what way should we show our love for President Obama? By praying for him, daily; by praying that he will have a change of heart and come over to the Culture of Life. We are also to pray that he will lead our nation well and that he will increase the justice and peace of our society – but just as we pray that the pornographer will give up his ways, this doesn’t mean we’re to offer honors to unrepentant pornographers. Obama has to change, then we can honor him with commencement addresses and honorary degrees. To do otherwise entirely degrades what it means to be commencement speaker at Notre Dame.

As I’ve said before, it is not for us Christians to beg for crumbs at Caesar’s table – it is for Caesar to come to the Lord’s table, and join with us in His work. Obama knows in his heart what he should be doing – whether or not he will follow the dictates of the conscience God has given him is his choice and none of us can judge him. But we can judge his actions, and just as much as his actions show him to be in opposition to us, so must our actions make clear that we are not beholden to him.