Posted by
Mike Bates on Sunday, March 29, 2009 2:34:37 PM
Today's Chicago Sun-Times features the column
"Obama speech tests Notre Dame's strength" by Carol Marin. She begins:
It takes courage to be a Catholic educator. In
America's culture wars, abortion is the trump card of every moral
discussion. Or so the righteous right requires us to believe.
At Notre Dame, the most Catholic of Catholic universities, a
national protest is building over the decision by the school's
president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, to invite President Obama to give
the commencement address on May 17.
Marin then goes on to write that Obama's done much more than
advancing abortion and embryonic stem cell research. For example, he's
"trying to stop the economy from going over a cliff." She approvingly
quotes a former Catholic university administrator saying the role of
those institutions is to "espouse academic freedom where people are
allowed to research, teach and hear many voices on campus . . ." And
what would an article mentioning the Catholic Church be without at
least one reference to pedophilia? Marin doesn't disappoint in that
regard.
You'd think Marin, who prides herself on journalistic
professionalism, would at least have started the column with the
facts. Obama was not merely invited to give a commencement address. Notre Dame's own Web site acknowledges he will also be "the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree."
This clearly conflicts with the policy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which provides:
The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should
not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral
principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which
would suggest support for their actions.
One speculates as to how far Marin's support for many voices being
heard on college campuses goes. Does she think David Duke would be an
appropriate speaker at Howard University? How about a Holocaust denier
at American Jewish University?
Carol knows from personal experience that the free speech notion
only extends so far. A dozen years ago, Marin quit a Chicago TV news
anchor job because the station hired Jerry Springer to do
commentaries. The May 1, 1997 Chicago Sun-Times published an article
by Marin on the subject. She wrote:
This fight is not about Springer. It is about respecting
the intelligence of the public we serve. It is about protecting the
journalistic values to which many of us still subscribe.
Yet she doesn't admit that the Notre Dame-Obama controversy is about
protecting the moral values to which many Catholics think a Catholic
university should subscribe. No, it's all about "the righteous
right." You know, the people who "require" everyone to believe certain
things.
Jerry Springer makes as much sense as Carol.