ND Obama

A friend of mine asked me what I thought about the big tizzy Notre Dame people are in over Obama speaking at commencement. I hadn't heard about it, but my first instinct was that it's probably a pro-life thing, which of course, it is. She mentioned something about him wanting to force hospitals to perform abortions, even Catholic hospitals. That just sounded ridiculous, so I had to do some research this morning and see what was up. Here's my summary for her, b/c I would contend she was only partially informed.

I assume this is the flap you're talking about. I hadn't heard anything about it until you mentioned it. I guess I'm not Catholic enough or something. ;-)

The best analysis I found at factcheck discussed a bill that has been introduced in previous years--but not yet this year--that he has expressed support for. It basically says the govt can't interfere with a woman's reproductive decisions. It doesn't say it will force hospitals or individuals--Catholic or otherwise--to perform abortions.

So I think that while some people may be referencing the freedom of choice act, which doesn't seem to mean what they are saying it means, the response is more general opposition to his views on reproductive issues, stem cell research, and rescinding some conscience rules that were greatly expanded in December by the outgoing Bush admin.

I still find it silly that people would get up in arms about a commencement speaker for not espousing every Catholic teaching. Or even the Catholic teachings they think are most important. At one level, it's simply an address from an inspiring leader. Attributing their own agenda to to it misses the point, especially in an academic institution comfortable exploring the nuances of contemporary issues. More deeply, I'm frustrated by people who shout their pro-lifeness from the rooftops as the greatest good, but fail to account for other Catholic tenets that the same pro-life people they support fail to advance: assistance for the poor, opposition to the death penalty, a living wage, a humane immigration policy, opposition to unjust wars (it's nearly impossible to have a "just" war in the way the Church defines it in the 21st century), stewardship of the environment, etc. It just seems hypocritical to me. I know there are contradictions in my own thoughts on some of this stuff, but I think the fact that I recognize them allows me to consider an issue like this more conscientiously.