Notre Dame & Barack Obama
Dear Blog Visitors: It should be no surprise that controversy surrounds Notre Dame’s invitation to President Barack Obama to be its keynote speaker at this year’s graduation ceremony. I applaud Notre Dame for not caving into unfair criticism. In recent political races, conservative Catholics have come across as a one-issue group. This is not meant to criticize those who work on behalf of the sanctity of human life. However, I would urge Catholics to look at the wide spectrum of issues that are pivotal to their faith, including the rich legacy of social-justice documents that have been passed down since the 19th century. When I worked as an issues writer on John Kerry’s campaign, he was unfairly targeted by conservative Catholics as being ‘pro-abortion.’ I defended him against these attacks, because he stated over and over again that he was opposed to abortion, but at the same time, he defended the rights of women to make informed choices. My position is exactly the same. During th...