Closing Arguments: Protesting Obama at Notre Dame

Obama has obviously earned his right to speak anywhere in this country (by being elected) and any organization should be honored to have his presence with them. If any school is recognizing the freedom of speech this country claims to uphold, then they should be proud to have President at their commencement. Protestors have the right to their freedom of speech, but it does reflect an attitude of still being in the dark ages.

Graduation is one of the most important days in every student’ life. Obama and NotreDame will have many memorable moments. Thsi is not their day to celebrate.Let the college students enjoy the once in alife time event with their families. Both Notre Dame and President Obama are sadly ingorant that it it not their day. They need to allow the memories of the day to be positive and respect their students. Controvery only removes the emphasis from the achievement of the students theselves and negates their achievement. It is inconsiderate for both Obama and Notre Dame to take the spotlight. Shame on them.

I am saddened by the fact that the protestors are going to such extremes. How can productive dialogue exist in this environment? I am also sad for the over 2,000 ND graduates will have their graduation marred by arrests and that some ceremonies have been moved inside for safety reasons. This weekend should be about the graduates and all they’ve accomplished.

Obama should NOT have been invited to speak at the Notre Dame graduation !!!!
Who ever sent that invitation out to this man should not have a job on Monday morning. And there should be NO honorary degree given to him either…..

What is the big deal america I mean come on I’m catholic and it dosen’t bother me that Obama is going to speak at Notre Dame. I live in Indiana and I plan on attending Notre Dame and the only thing that bugs me is that you’re saying that Notre Dame should not have invited him, but I think it is a mile stone yah so what he pro-chioce so freaking what I’m pro-choice. Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal but all of a sudden america has to get sensetive about this. Why don’t you all just suck it up and care about something more important like the war in Iraq or Global Warming, You Know usely this would go by with out a secound glance but owe we’re going to get sensetive and whine about. the thing that I have to say is Boo freaking hoo.

No, the university should not have invited Obama to speak, but not because of his beliefs on abortion. They should not have invited him, because he should be in his office getting some work done, with the economy and country in ruins and still no single-payer, nationalized health-care and pension systems. The university is doing We The People a major disservice by pulling Obama away from the job that we are paying him lavish government salary and benefits to do. Stay in your office and work, Obama. The rest of us are breaking our backs out here in the real world.
Also, how does Obama justify going to speak at one university over all the others?
Yes, on your second question. It is highly appropriate for the students to protest his visit, both because he should be back at the office working and because his views on abortion are twisted and warped.

What if you could tell your granndkids that President Obama spoke at your graduation? This is something that Notre Dame Students should be proud of and not be stupid and protest it. Why is it that there were no protests for any of the things that Bush did? The people that are going to protest on sunday and the people that are whining and crying about are just uninvolved citizens that are to lazy to care about what they think so they have to jump on the band wagon for something as stupid as this situation. I think that any of the students that protest shouldn’t be allowed to graduate, and the other people who are protesting should be forced to watch president Obama speak. And to all the people who are whining and complaning on this site should get a freaking life already!

And another thing to petronella taht if you really cared you would get your nose out of you bible long enough to relise what time we live in, and another thing I am not a “Cafiteria catholic” I someone who thinks that the peolpe that complain and critize other people are just to ensecure about they’e own religon. I do belive in pro-chioce and don’t need anyone telling me that being catholic and being pro-chioce are at differnt ends of the specturm.

Two problems. What is pro-choice and what is pro-life? I believe in choice when it comes to rape and health of the mother, but not as contraceptive.
So if I vote for a pro-life candidate what do I get?
Second is there a pro-life candidate out there that is moderate on any social issues, health care, the poor, war, taxes,?
If it is pro-life you want then it seems to me that you have to moderate your views on a number of issues to win, if are not willing to do that then you are not really pro-life, because you will loose every time.
Nice of you to claim to be pro-life, but when it comes to making the hard choice to how do you achieve some of your goals it is all or nothing. Meantime we have contraceptive abortions.

TO Judy Meyer: Times may change, but values do not. The Ten Commandments still rule. Keep in mind that “normal” is just a statistical term. Normal and righteous are two very different concepts. In Noah’s day, most of the people were normal, that is, they thought what they were doing was okay because everyone else was doing it. There were only 8 people who were righteous: Noah and his family. God allowed everyone to perish in the flood except Noah and his family. To God, it doesn’t matter what times we live in. What matters is: did we follow the Ten Commandments? Are we loving or are we hating? Are we helping others or are we hurting others? Are we building up or are we tearing down?

Let’s remember that Notre Dame has no difficulty accepting tuition dollars from anyone – pro-choice or anti-ab – or from federal programs that help pay that tuition. We enjoy freedoms in America and President Obama represents that – Notre Dame grads should be proud he chose to speak to them on their memorable day. If the University or the Church has problems with that, they should re-evaluate their cash flow.

TO Thinking: Hello. You raise some good questions. Pro-life means the baby does not die regardless of the circumstances. There is no compromise on this issue. Viewing life as sacred and our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit puts everything else in perspective. Eventually, pro-life will win.
Those who find themselves in tough situations need only to trust in God and His Divine Providence. Remember, it is not OUR goals that are important, it is God’s will that prevails. Fear of the Lord (honor to God) is the beginning of Wisdom.

TO Judy: My goodness, you sure like to write. A couple of points for you to ponder:
1. If you or I were raped, we would take our rapist to court. Most likely he would not be entitled to parental rights. If we did not want to keep the baby, we could let another family raise the child.
2. Regarding thinking for ourselves: we can only make decisions based on the information we are given. I am passing on information that is not generally known because people are not reading the Encyclicals or the Catechism. They are GREAT and reliable resources.
3. It is not an ideal I am writing about. It is truth.

Good night, Judy.

What is wrong with th epicture is that just because you support Abbortion dosen’t mean that I support waterboarding and i am a Catholic and the only reason that am Pro-choice is not the murder of inocents but because of the health of the mother and the baby.

I would just like to say to all of that think you know about the catholic churh that aren’t catholic should just give it a rest. And to those of you that aren’t from Indiana and think you know about are colledges should do some homework. All catholic schools like money i mean DUH!! they’re private and don’t get money from the government like public schools!

I don’t believe the person inviting President Obama to speak at the graduation even thought about the abortion issue He just wanted a big name, Unfortunately he should have used
some of his reasoning to realize that
the President passed the abortion bill
as soon as he could because thats the democratic platform. While he may give a nice speech he is really talking to
his party, not the graduates. Its all
politics as usual. Abortion is wrong it is the taking of an innocent life.

For those who don’t Obama to speak that’s your right to speak out against it. For those who want Obama to speak..it your right to speak out for it..this is America! Freedom of Speech, But I cannot remember any protestations when all these Catholic priests were, and are still being accused of molesting little children..maybe am missing something..but isn’t that something to protest against! Me thinks me smell some hypocrisy here..anyway, that seem to be the order of life now..HYPOCRISY!

Us Catholics are all for inclusion and tolerance. The word ‘catholic’ means universal. However, we can’t tolerate acts by some that hurt or kill others. Should we tolerate racists and bullies?
Another thing, let’s put this pedophile thing in perspective. Sure, it is terrible that a minute minority of priests were guilty of such behavior; but pedohilia, sexual abuse, spousal abuse, rape, etc are rampant problems throughout our society. The media has completely given the public a distorted view to think this is problem related to Catholic priests.
Back to Obama at ND, the problem is ND INVITING him and giving him an AWARD !
If he asked to come or was invited to come for a discussion where knowledgeable people familiar with early life issues were able to respond to his policies that would be fine. But to put him on stage as a model to imitate is completely absurd and gives students a wrong message.
This is not to diminish the great historical significance of an African American being elected president after so much racial problems over the years.
Also this is not to say Obama does not have many good qualities.
However, abortion is a life or death issue. It is not that we are protesting something such as eating meat on Fridays.

Fr. Jenkins needs to go. Maybe Obama can put him in the Cabinet where he would fit right in with the other baby killers that are running this country.

I wonder if Obama was anti-homosexual instead of anti-life would Jenkins let him on the campus. Unfortunately we all know the answer to that one.

No wonder the Catholic Church is losing members. It has no morals left.

Well to David, the pope does know best and being catholic doesn’t mean that we want every one to belive what we belive. And I’m young but I dan’t rember anyone telling me that the catholic church hurt any protestants.

Free speech doesn’t guarantee an audience. I don’t see David Duke being invited to speak at Howard University. In 1989, Howard student body was not too happy to have Lee Atwater on their board. One major function of education is to transmit the value system of the society, so excluding Obama as inimical to right-to-life issues seems appropriate to me.

Yes Jenkins will bow to Obama as he turns his back on the Catholic Church. I don’t think that Jack has it right but I do believe that Jenkins is a heretic.

Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of All and that’s the end of it.

Seriously Its not that big of a fraking deal! Obama may not be perfect but you know he’s the best president that we’ve had in a while!So just suck it up already!!

The worst part of this hole ordeal is that this is all over the news and other shows, i mean come on. there were no segments on anything about what bush was up to. We just let him live his stupid life. But the second that Obama just alittle out of the ordenary the entire freakin country is jumping down anyones throught that agrees with Obama.