Friday, May 08, 2009

Obama at Notre Dame?



Well here's the latest hotbed of controversy . . . people say you should avoid talking about two things with others, faith and politics. I'm going to ignore that wise advice and talk about both.

Our Nation's President has been invited to speak at commencement at Notre Dame University. Notre Dame, as you may know, is a Catholic Religious University. The Catholic Church has been very vocal about the issue of human life, and our President has been very vocal about a woman's right to choose. Typically, when a person speaks at a university commencement, they receive an honorary degree. Typically, when a national leader speaks at a commencement it's a pretty big deal for the university too!

And yet, it looks like a recipe either for greater controversy or huge reconciliation. I've heard that every North American Catholic bishop has spoken in opposition of this event. On the flip side, universities are considered to be hubs for the liberal exchange of ideas. I wonder what the subject/content of such a graduation speech might be.

I wonder how this will all resolve, and I wonder what people think about the issue in general. Your thoughts?

1 comment:

Alise said...

I think that the invitation bodes well when there can be a greater focus on the similarities between people of faith than focusing on the differences. I felt the same way about Rick Warren giving the opening inaugural invocation. I hope that this will be a step for ALL people of faith to make the move toward civility and unity rather than choosing anger and division.