First of all – I’m a bad blogger. I wrote this post, and the one I will post next on a plane, fully 5 days ago now. Is it really that hard for me to just copy and paste? Oy. Anyway – I submit the following to you, fair reader...
And every day some brand new issue rears its head to piss you off… Well, not so much new issues. It seems we are destined to re-live and re-hash the same worn-out issues day after day, week after week, year after year. The first of these we’ll ‘wade’ into – and the one currently making the media rounds – is abortion. Good ol’ divisive Roe v. Wade. We all know the back-story on the recent surge in the subject’s popularity – but here’s a quick recap. The University of Notre Dame invites President Obama to give the commencement address and receive an honorary law degree. Conservatives rail against the decision. Students and pro-lifers protest, some students even boycott their own graduation. Obama is a baby killer! His agenda is not in line with the university, or its Christian values.
Before continuing on, I feel compelled to remind myself of the quote that first inspired me to blogify on the matter. “Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.” For pro-lifers – the pro-choicers aren’t vicious baby-killers. For pro-choicers – the pro-lifers aren’t all fundamentalist doctor office bombers.
It’s so hard to take that message to heart when conservatives and pro-lifers say that it was “inappropriate” for the president to speak at ND. That is was wrong for him to accept an honorary degree. The vast majority of those in attendance, whether or not they agree with Mr. Obama’s stance on abortion realize that; a) He’s the freaking president (democratically elected by a sizeable margin, including a win of the state of Indiana); 2) He’s an immensely intelligent individual; and D) he, exhaustively it seems, works to bring all parties to the table and recognize every position’s validity and underlying principle. Part D especially seems rather Christian to me. Respect and patience for the other side, no? Love and compassion for all at the table? And to all that, in the case of the Notre Dame controversy, I merely say, take a look at duLac - The Guide to Student Life at the University of Notre Dame. Just a quick bit of web-surfing turned up all the support one needs to drive the point home:
The University of Notre Dame strives for a spirit of inclusion among the members of this community for distinct reasons articulated in our Christian tradition. We prize the uniqueness of all persons as God’s creatures. We welcome all people, regardless of color, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social or economic class, and nationality, for example, precisely because of Christ’s calling to treat others as we desire to be treated. We value gay and lesbian members of this community as we value all members of this community. We condemn harassment of any kind, and University policies proscribe it. We consciously create an environment of mutual respect, hospitality and warmth in which none are strangers and all may flourish.
Done, right? Not quite. As much as we all want to include - it being the spirit of the democratic process and all - there will always be people that think it’s morally and ideologically prudent to exclude.
This bit of rhetoric brings me to a broader “freedoms” question: So, Christians want their values more entrenched in daily life in America, right? How is such a move any different than the imposition of Sharia, or Islamic law, in majority Islamic nations? The problem with these fundamentalist views is that they exclude and discriminate tremendously against minorities in the population. How is that right, or even anything resembling right? I understand the drive to evangelize. I understand the desire to follow God’s will and do right in the world. But stop for a moment and see what’s really happening. A universal foray into Christian values and principles for those who are not Christian - of which there are millions in this country - is simply dangerous. How can it be righteous to impose upon anyone? While many people in this country are Christian, or support values that Christians embody, we must be sure not to further blur the line between one’s freedom to worship, and another’s civil liberties, even if that other is in a minority position. But people will be who they will be. And they will passionately believe what they believe. Such a deceptively vicious cycle...
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