My daughter was eating breakfast this morning while I reviewed pictures at Catholic News Service (video clip from YouTube). She asked me questions about Notre Dame and why they would invite (and honor) the President. I had no good answers.
"Maybe they didn't realize he is for abortion," she said.
"No, I'm quite sure they knew precisely how he feels about abortion," I told her. Then I recommended that she look to other Catholic universities when she considers a college (in about seven years).
In studying the pictures from Sunday, I had a few thoughts. First, it is obvious that President Obama's call for "a free exchange of ideas" is a farce. The President speaks freely from his podium, while others are taken away in handcuffs - priests, religious, laity. There is no free exchange of ideas on this day.
Secondly, I'm not sure there should be a free exchange of ideas, but the one who should not be speaking his mind at ND is the President of the United States. There should be no "free exchange of ideas" because this speaker has passed legislation that protects the right to take the life of the unborn - at every stage. If he had supported legislation for genocide or another holocaust or slavery, he would not have become president and he certainly wouldn't be honored at Notre Dame. Sometimes something is wrong - so wrong that the viewpoint simply shouldn't get a public venue. At the very least, it shouldn't get a Catholic venue, a Catholic honor, a Catholic endorsement (standing ovation, crowd chanting "Yes We Can", pat on the back, smiles and accolades). As Catholics, that is how we feel about abortion. It is an intrinsic evil. Yet, who is silenced?
Who has been denied the public venue? The pictures speak for themselves. . .
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