God, Obama, Notre Dame

I find it odd sometimes that I'm sounding like a "liberal" to my friends (especially my pro-life friends) because I am not scandalized by the invitation of Obama to Notre Dame.  In fact, I'm in favor of this invitation, and of all of the vigorous critique surrounding it.  In a certain sense you could say that I'm on both sides of this battle, but I think for different reasons than either side has for their position.  Ken Woodward has similar thoughts on this topic in the Washington Post today that I encourage you to read for yourself.

Two things:

First, the sincerity of the moral outrage that this decision to invite Obama has provoked is rather incredulous.  Most people seem to express "shock" that Notre Dame would invite such a vociferous supporter of abortion to speak at "Our Lady's University" at all.  I find this disingenous.  Most of the critics long ago wrote off Notre Dame as having secularized beyond recognition as a Catholic University.  The protest being waged is not aimed at defending or protecting the integrity of Notre Dame as a catholic institution.  Instead, it is a political tactic.  The faith, for both the "left" and the "right" on this issue, is reduced to nothing more than a political position. 

There does not seem to be any interest in the Christian event, rather there is only concern with "winning."  Those who oppose abortion are hoping for a black eye on the President they see as their "enemy."  The political situation is bleak, but here at a Catholic University, they have a chance to "win."  The "Culture Wars" of Pat Buchanan's days are in full swing and this is the vestige it's 80's success.

Second, clearly no one believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the lord of everything and we don't believe that anyone can authentically meet Jesus of Nazareth in the Church, i.e. through another Christian.  We think that those who become Christian's do so because they are "convinced of the truth" rather than put in wonder by an encounter which occurs on a personal level through another person.  We think that Christianity is the natural law, or that Christianity is dogma, or that Christianity is moral perfection.  We confuse Christianity with being "right."

In this mentality, Obama going to Notre Dame has no value for Obama.  Apparently it's irrelevant that he will be among thousands of Catholics.  Ignore that he will have personal encounters with priests who faithfully hold to the Church's teachings (I know Fr. John Jenkins) and at least one other honoree who is among the most sincere and authentic Christians of profile in America, because we don't believe that an encounter with the Body of Christ can change him, impact his life, convert him.  We don't believe in Christianity.

The problem of Obama at Notre Dame is not a political one.  That argument is a red herring.  The real problem is that Christianity is not believed, even by its adherents.

ND, Obama, & "What about abortion?"

In my senior year as a student at the University of Notre Dame, I was involved in a little act of civil protest.  Needless to say, the reaction was mixed.  I was glad to have made a friend that day, however, in Cappy Gagnon, the head of Notre Dame's Security Police.  Had I to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same, except that maybe the protest would have been a little less reactive and more planned.  My problem with the event was not with, as Cappy says in his article, Liberman's right to say what he thinks.  Rather, my problem was with the fact that he was campaigning for office and using the University of Notre Dame as a platform for this campaign.  All in all, despite the reaction, I'm glad I did it.

Now, 9 years later, Notre Dame will be visited by another pro-abortion politician.  This time that politician is not campaigning, and he is not using Notre Dame as a platform (he has a bigger platform than Notre Dame already).  This time the politician is the President of the United States of America.  For some reason, and certainly not because I support this politician (I don't, for the record), I'm not opposed to his speaking at Notre Dame.  It seems fitting to me that the President would accept this invitation (as G.W. Bush did in 2001) and that the university would issue it.

I'm not convinced that this invitation is a rejection of Notre Dame's Catholic identity.  Nor am I convinced that this somehow gives scandal by some sort of tacit accpetance of abortion, somatic stem cell research, or gay marriage.  Nay, I think the University can invite him, invite the dialogue surrounding his invitation, and still call itself Catholic in support of those aspects of her own agenda that are in direct contradiction with some of his.

I just don't see a problem with it.

Mind you, I still think it would be cool if a student (or thousands) exercised their own conscience and protested it in some way.  I like revolution.

Peace by Police, not Co-Existence

Bono's dream that everyone "COEXIST" is certainly born from the experience of violence lived in Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland.

A situation that has seemed peaceful for the last 5-10 years of economic success is threatened once again by a "blame them" mentality that becomes prevalent in a weak economy.

John Waters is worried.  As one of the most prescient voices of modern Ireland, his worry carries a lot of weight.  Peace is a fragile thing, but freedom even more so.

Ideologies Die, In Time

The death of the ideology of Capitalism is evident all around us.  I'm glad that Crossroads Cultural Center blog "Paper Clippings" is pointing out this very interesting article.

What is Needed is a Caress from the Nazarene

It's been about a month since the Italian woman Eluana Enlargo* passed away after being denied nutrition and hydration because of her permanent non-responsive state.  Many saw this as a "mercy" killing because she would not enjoy the "quality of life" that a human being "deserves."  Yet, in front of her death (murder?) what we need most is not a political solution, but a caress from the Nazarene.  Here is the judgment of Communion and Liberation on that event:

How needed is a caress from the Nazarene!

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“Existence is a space that has been given to us and that we have to fill with meaning, always and in every situation” (Enzo Jannacci, Corriere della Sera, February 6, 2009).

But how can a life like Eluana’s be filled with meaning? Does it still have any meaning?

The death of Eluana hasn’t closed the door on this question at all. It’s not all over, a failure of hope for those who wanted her to continue living, or liberation for those who held that the situation was no longer bearable. Precisely now, the challenge becomes more radical for everyone.

The death of Eluana goads us to ask ourselves how we collaborated to fill her life with meaning. What contribution did we give to those who were more directly struck by her illness, beginning with her father?

When reality has us up against the ropes, our measure can no longer offer the meaning we so need for going on. Above all, before painful and unjust circumstances that don’t seem destined to change or be resolved, we begin to wonder what meaning there can be. Is life just a rip-off?

The sense of emptiness advances if we remain prisoners to our reason reduced to measure, incapable of withstanding the impact of contradiction. We find ourselves bewildered and alone with our powerlessness, with the suspicion that deep down, everything is nothingness. Can we “fill with meaning” a life when we find ourselves before a person like Eluana? Can we bear suffering when it exceeds our measure? Alone, we can’t make it. We need to run up against the presence of someone who experiences as full of meaning a life that we ourselves instead experience as a devastating void.

Not even Christ was spared the shock of pain and evil, to the point of death. What made the difference in Him? That He was more perfect? That He had more moral energy than us? No, so much so that in the most terrible moment of His trials, He asked to be spared the cross. In Christ, the suspicion that life is ultimately a failure was defeated: His bond with the Father won.

Benedict XVI reminded us that to hope, “The human being needs unconditional love. He needs the certainty which makes him say: “neither death, nor life … will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38- 39). If this absolute love exists, with its absolute certainty, then—only then—is man “redeemed”, whatever should happen to him in his particular circumstances.” (Spe salvi 26).

The presence of Christ is the only fact that can give meaning to pain and to injustice. Acknowledging the positivity that overcomes all solitude and violence is possible only through the encounter with people who testify that life is worth more than illness and death. For Eluana, these witnesses were the nuns who cared for her for so many years, because, as Jannacci said, today as well, “How needed is a caress from the Nazarene; how badly we need a caress of His,” of that man who two thousand years ago said to the widow of Nain, “Woman, do not cry!”

February 10, 2009
Communion and Liberation

*[Eluana Englaro, in a coma for 17 years since a car accident when she was 21, died this week 72 hours after she was deprived of water and food, in the midst of a government emergency session to overturn the decision of the Court of Cassation in Rome, the highest appeals court of Italy, allowing her father to order her death. The nuns and staff at the nursing home where Eluana had been cared for had refused to obey the court order to stop her water and nutrition, even entreated her father to leave her with them, and let her live, but last week he transferred her to a clinic willing to participate in her death. Finding such a clinic was quite difficult, as the Italian Minister of Health and Welfare had issued guidance saying that under Italian law, withdrawal of food and hydration from helpless disabled persons in the care of public health facilities is "illegal." In January 2009, an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was rejected because the pro-life coalition presenting it did not have a legal link with Eluana. Considered the “Terri Schiavo” case of Italy, this event has been the subject of searing political debate, even causing a breach between Premier Berlusconi and President Napolitano, the former who pressed for the emergency legislation to save her, the latter who refused to sign it into effect.]