Crazy Catholics Attack Notre Dame Over Obama Commencement

by Michael Jones · 2009-03-21 11:52:00 UTC
Topics:

Obama

You have to hand it to the Catholic Church - they certainly do provide a bountiful amount of material to blog about. Case in point, this group of Catholics who are attacking the University of Notre Dame for having President Barack Obama as their graduation commencement speaker this year. Why does Obama's appearance at the University get these Catholics all hot and bothered?  To quote (emphasis added in the original):

Notre Dame has chosen prestige over principles, popularity over morality. Whatever may be President Obama’s admirable qualities, this honor comes on the heels of some of the most anti-life actions of any American president, including expanding federal funding for abortions and inviting taxpayer-funded research on stem cells from human embryos.

The honor also comes amid great concern among Catholics nationwide about President Obama’s future impact on American society, the family, and the Catholic Church on issues such as traditional marriage...

These folks are nuts. But when you have the head of your Church saying that condoms spread HIV/AIDS, and that gay marriage is a bigger threat to the world than climate change, it's no wonder that folks this far to the right of the mainstream feel they have the influence to squash a commencement speech by the President.

Of course, the other question here perhaps is why President Obama would accept an invitation from a University that continuously sacrifices academic expression because of pressure from conservative bishops, like in Notre Dame's refusal to allow a Queer Film Festival on its campus, or the university's decision to arrest a group of college students from Soulforce who attempted to dialogue with the student body over the issue of LGBT rights and discrimination two years ago.

Still, I'll hand it to the university for picking Obama despite knowing that there would be fallout from the Catholic right in this country.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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